Juli Crockett
Juli Crockett (born August 1, 1975) is a playwright and theater director, retired (undefeated) professional boxer and amateur champion,[1] lead singer of the alternative country band The Evangenitals, and producer of The 1 Second Film.[2] Born in Coffee County, Enterprise, Alabama she is the daughter of fiction writer Linda Crockett and non-fiction writer Daniel Savage Gray.
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[edit] Education
Currently pursuing her PhD in the Philosophy of Media and Communication at The European Graduate School where she is the Director of Alumni Relations,[3] Juli began her education in Theater at Pinellas County Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. Crockett went on to receive a BFA in Acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Directing at the California Institute of the Arts, where she also serves on the Alumni Association's Board of Directors.[4]
[edit] Theatre Work
As a playwright/director, Crockett is best known for her adaptations of classic works of literature and philosophy. Her spoken word opera "(or, the whale)" -- an adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick written and directed by Crockett with music by sonic artist and Avatar: The Last Airbender composer Jeremy Zuckerman-- debuted in Los Angeles in 2001. It was also presented at the 2001 Moby Dick Conference at Hofstra University and also performed by the TENT group in Portland, Maine.[5] "The Dawn of Quixote: Chapter the First", an adaptation of the first chapter of Don Quixote by Cervantes, has been performed several times in Los Angeles and was featured in EdgeFest and EdgeFetish, a Los Angeles cutting edge theater festival, and in the sprit of Don Quixote performed without an admission charge for the EdgeFest performances (gleaning partial standing ovations from the audiences), as well as being made part of the Saturday Explorer Series at the 24th Street Theatre. Most recently, the play was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland at Venue 13, produced in part by the California Institute of the Arts. Crockett's band, The Evangenitals, provided the live score for the play. "Orpheus Crawling", an experimental opera based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, was composed by Zuckerman, with libretto and direction by Crockett. Orpheus Crawling was workshopped at the 24th Street Theatre and premiered in NOW Fest at the REDCAT in Los Angeles in August 2007.[6] Crockett's original work, "History of Water", premiered at the 24th Street Theater's Saturday Explorer Series on May 10, 2008 and was performed as part of the Downtown Film Festival's Sustainable LA festivities.
"History of Water" and "The Dawn of Quixote" have been adapted as radio dramas and performed on KPFK's Pacifica Performance Showcase and are available in the Pacifica Radio Archives.
Crockett's directing-only credits include Bertolt Brecht's "In The Jungle of Cities" at the Red Room in New York City, "Living in Boxes" at the Salvation Theater in Los Angeles, and the US Premier of R. Murray Schafer's "Loving" at the CalArts Modular Theater.
In addition to writing and directing experimental theater, Crockett has studied modern dance and choreography, improv at the iO WEST in Hollywood.
[edit] The Fighting Life
As a boxer, Crockett was brought to the attention of the general public in 2005 after being featured in Sports Illustrated, US News and Music Connection Magazine due to her professional connection to Jerry Boyd (a.k.a. F.X. Toole) and the film Million Dollar Baby.
A slight media storm also occurred after her first professional bout, in which she knocked out her opponent 70 seconds into the first round. This fight was televised on Fox Sports. Crockett's second professional bout, against Christina Rodriguez, went the distance (4 rounds) and was televised live on ESPN2.[7]
Crockett retired undefeated at 3-0 (2 KO's).
[edit] Music career
The Evangenitals, co-founded in 2003 with jazz/gospel/opera singer Lisa Dee, have received considerable media attention in the LA Weekly, Music Connection Magazine, and other publications & radio stations for their singular brand of "hillbilly truckstop lullabies." They are considered a unique presence in the neo-folk/freak-folk movement. As stated on the Orphan Records website, "Though not entirely unclassifiable, the Evangenitals are versatile and multi-layered, and will likely carry a 'slash' in their genre classification for as long as they exist as a band of Southern Californian country bumpkins."[8]
The band's first album - "We Are The Evangenitals"[9] - received rave reviews from fans, selling out of its first printing and receiving a 5 star rating on iTunes. The Evangenitals' second album "Everlovin"[10] was recorded in South Pasadena at Del Boca Vista[11] studios in January 2007 and released in October 2007.
In the fall of 2007 The Evangenitals went on the "Road to Oprah" tour with a documentary film crew from The 1 Second Film.[12] The Evangenitals are composing songs for the The 1 Second Film's "making of" documentary that will accompany its lengthy credits. The Evangenitals will also be appearing in the documentary. So as to appear more media friendly during this time, The Evangenitals went under the moniker, The Love Punks.
Writer Colum McCann spoke in an interview of Juli Crockett and the music of the Evangenitals saying, "For pure craziness, there are lots of other bands, including one that I can't write to but I've become a big fan; they're called the Evangenitals. They're from Los Angeles. One of the front singers is a former boxer-slash-philosopher. She's a fantastic singer. Her name is Juli Crockett." (Powells.com/Colum McCann).[13]
In addition to fronting The Evangenitals, Crockett also performs with Cash'd Out, the world's premier Johnny Cash tribute band, singing the June Carter parts in their stage show.
Crockett and Lisa Dee also perform outside of the band under the name Evangina.
[edit] Activism
Crockett is a vegan, a passionate advocate for animal & human rights, and an active member of the animal protection organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and a member of several environmental, animal rights, and human rights organizations. Crockett is a producer of The 1 Second Film, the worlds largest nonprofit collaborative art film and a Comedy Mentor with the organization "Laughter For A Change" which brings the healing power of laughter to at-risk communities through comedy and improv training and workshops.
[edit] References
- Streisand, Betsy. A Million Dollar Maybe US News and World Review, February 14, 2005.
- Nacy, K. The Evangenitals - What Every Mega Church Is Missing The Orphan Review, October 17, 2007.
