Karen O performs in her opera, "Stop The Virgens."
Photo: Courtesy of KK Barrett and "Stop the Virgens"
Since it was first announced over the summer, I've been waiting impatiently for Karen O's psych-rock opera Stop the Virgens, a music-infused theatrical opus produced in conjunction with The Creators Project. Three weeks ago, I found myself standing with hundreds of others mere feet from the stage at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, anticipating the marriage of indie rock and over-the-top visual spectacle. As you might already know, Karen O is the frontwoman of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (she's also one of our fave style slayers FYI), and she co-created the project with production designer KK Barrett, known for his work on Marie Antoinette and Where the Wild Things Are (to which Karen contributed original music). Even though the show ran for only eight days, we still can't stop thinking about it or hoping that it will be remounted again soon because, folks, I'm here to tell you that this thing was AMAZING. If you can imagine 40 girls on a black circular stage running around in gleaming white choir robes while maniacally spitting up fountains of blood, a commanding female figure singing at them like an ice princess overlord while drums pound and guitars snarl in cacophonous harmony, then you have only a slight idea of what Stop the Virgens is all about.
Bringing together a talented (and pedigreed) team of musicians, performers, and designers to create a visual and aural carnival incorporating Karen's signature assault of audacious punk rock wit, the look and sound of the show was INSANE (as in, insanely AWESOME). Karen's longtime stylist and the show's costume designer Christian Joy, as well as wig master and makeup artist Mike Potter, known for his work on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, created humped monsters, lobster claws, giant horns, human hair dresses, lotus flower glasses, and sumo wrestler wigs, and took Karen O on a mythological style journey from evil goddess to '60s girl group enchantress. It all has to be seen to be believed. Lucky for me (and for you), MTV Style got an exclusive peek...
