Courtney Love has been so caught up in tabloid-style news for years that we forgot that she produced some damn good music at one point and that an actual artist existed somewhere in there. Everyone can feel good about her newest project, a song-cycle-style play featuring herself and songwriter Todd Almond, should be a good splash of cold water on our cynical critics' faces. The former Hole vocalist/guitarist will perform in Kansas City Choir Boy as part of the annual Prototype Festival, an event showcasing experimental theatre.
The play features almost no dialogue in between actual songs as it tells the tale of the titular "Kansas City choir boy," Almond, who is content to compose and perform on his piano in the middle of the country while his beau Athena (played by Love) makes a dash for New York. Eventually he tries to win her back but the lure of the big city lights are just too bright.
The New York Times compares it to David Byrne's Here Lies Love in the way the performance will encompass the audience from all directions throughout the performance. Of course, that's much easier to do when the venue hosting the performance holds a mere 84-person audience. The Here performance space in the South Village of Manhattan will host Kansas City Choir Boy from January 8-17 but good luck getting tickets at this point.
This will be Love's first foray into musical theatre. She told the Times that she hopes to pursue bigger stages in the future but that Kansas City would be a comfortable start. The entire production involves six other "sirens" who dance and provide background vocals throughout, while a string quartet contributes actual music, supplemented by more urban beats provided by Almond's character's laptop.
Check out the rest of Prototype's lineup here.
