We’ve got pairs of tickets to give away to the show at Presidio Theatre May 13 and 14! To win: Send an email to marke@48hills.org by Sat/7 at midnight with the subject “God in Three Persons” and your full name and the date of the show you prefer in the body. We’ll let you know by end of day Sunday if you’ve won our random drawing. Good luck!
Here’s more on the show:
Witness the terrifying gospel of Mr. X and The Holy Twins, brought to life by legendary SF-based art rockers The Residents and celebrated video artist John Sanborn! A live video-concert performance of God In 3 Persons featuring a seven-piece ensemble, adapted from The Residents’ groundbreaking 1988 album of the same name, will receive its “West Coast Premiere” at the beautiful, newly-renovated Presidio Theatre (99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, Calif.) on May 13 & 14, 2022. The SF Bay Area production follows its pre-pandemic “World Premiere” at The Museum of Modern Art, which received rave reviews from Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, BrooklynVegan, DangerousMinds, and others. The work now contain all of the songs from the entire album for the first time, making it the definitive version of the show. God In 3 Persons is presented in co-production with The Cryptic Corporation.
Support the filming of the performance here.
In this propulsive and brooding rock oratorio, The Residents’ anonymous lead singer, performing as Mr. X, preaches of his encounters with a pair of ambiguously gendered conjoined twins (portrayed on video by noted genderqueer porn star Jiz Lee). Their physical union has magical healing powers…or so he claims! A confession of faith-mongering complicated by a crisis of desire, God in 3 Persons functions as a darkly twisted cautionary tale about the risk of losing yourself in the process of refusing to accept others in their entirety.
The story will be told using fabulously lurid multi-layered video projections created by Sanborn. The Residents, who have remained anonymous since their 1972 debut, will provide live accompaniment, performing here as a six-piece musical ensemble with vocalist Sivan Lioncub, reprising her role as the Chorus from the original album. The piece will be directed for performance by Travis Chamberlain with musical direction by Joshua Raoul Brody and puppetry and background design by Leigh Barbier. Steve Saporito produces.Â
God in 3 Persons is sung in rhythmic spoken word fashion, similar to the talking blues, and driven by a bombastic and dynamic score derived almost entirely from the first few bars of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” along with the melodic hook from the Swinging Medallions 1966 hit “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love.” Despite being one of their most critically successful albums and a fan favorite, God in 3 Persons has never toured as a concert or live performance.Â
Performances are May 13 and May 14. Tickets are $50 for general admission. Tickets are now on sale at https://www.presidiotheatre.org/show/2022theresidents.
