Overtone Industries is proud to present a revival of one its very first shows, Katy Cruel: A Play with Songs, running for two performances over the second weekend of June on Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9, 2019 at a private site-specific location near Burbank, California. Directed by O-Lan Jones with libretto and music by Jones and Kathleen Cramer, Katy Cruel is an intense slice of life that takes place during the American Revolutionary War where we see the beginnings of America. This show is being presented as part of Overtone Industries 40^th anniversary of mythic story telling through theatre and music.This limited engagement will take place at a rustic farm in Shadow Hills. Read the rest of this entry »

Overtone Industries, in collaboration with By The Souls of Our Feet (BTSOOF), is proud to present Part I of their epic tale, Cynosemma: A Dirge from the Dog’s Tomb, running for four performances over the weekend of Friday, August 17^th through Sunday, August 19, 2018. Co-Directed by Nathan Singh and Sabina Zuniga Varela with music by O-Lan Jones and libretto by Megan Breen, Cynosemma is a ritualistic opera ripped from the myth of Hecuba. Part I is a ceremonial exploration of the ancient but immediate clash between possession and liberation. The infamous Queen of Troy (played by Jones), along with her daughters and a tribe of women face off with the men responsible for the fall of their city. The limited engagement will take place at Son of Semele. Audience members are invited to stay afterwards for refreshments and a post-show symposium.

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Overtone Industries is currently presenting The Spontaneous Combustion Choir World Tour of Los Angeles, a series of performances by the Spontaneous Combustion Choir for Los Angeles audiences, which started in January and runs into March 2015. In addition to performing, the choir will engage audiences in the collaborative creation of spontaneous music. The Spontaneous Combustion Choir is a catalyst for instant improvised chorale music. Conducted by O-Lan Jones, the group’s singing method builds harmonic chords, weaves melodies, and integrates rhythms, with singers who incorporate basic vowel sounds and no words; resulting in instant, cohesive, a cappella chorale music.

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Bezerk Productions and Highways Performance Space present Melody of Chaos, an evening of free-spirited and psychologically intense visual and performing art, on Saturday, January 17, 2015. The event features the work of Linda Carmella Sibio, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1977 and is known for her cathartic performance and visual art that explores madness and creativity. The evening will start with an original new performance piece by Sibio, “Human-Pig Hybrid.” The work is a nonlinear exploration that juxtaposes cultural notions of “the pig” with mental illness. The night also features a performance by the Spontaneous Combustion Choir, conducted by O-Lan Jones. Read the rest of this entry »

Overtone Industries, a celebrated force in the evolution of contemporary music theatre and experimental opera, will share the stage at REDCAT, CalArt’s downtown center for contemporary arts, with two other Los Angeles-based arts organizations during the kick-off weekend of the New Original Works Festival 2014 (NOW Festival), Thursday, July 24, through Saturday, July 26, 2014. Overtone Industries will present the first glimpse of ICELAND, a new multidisciplinary work, written, composed, and directed by O-Lan Jones in collaboration with critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Emmett Tinley. The production will feature a fourteen-member cast, with two soloists, a twelve-member choir, and a chamber orchestra. ICELAND is a modern love story, set in a mythical and timeless world, where elemental forces and ancient creatures challenge the hero and heroine on an archetypal journey.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Theatre @ Boston Court presents O-Lan Jones: 20 Years of Theatre and Music, for one night only, on Saturday, October 20, 2012 in Pasadena, CA.  Nine songs by O-Lan Jones have been selected for the performance from the following five productions: After Stardrive, Katy Cruel, The Dybbuk, The Woman Who Forgot Her Sweater, and The Woman in the Wall.  Selections include Appalachian duets, operatic solos, and tribal pieces, which will be performed by recurring cast members from Overtone Industries, Jones’ experimental production company that creates original music theater and opera.  As a special treat, the evening will also feature the first public performance of Jones’ improvisational group, The Spontaneous Combustion Choir.

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Nonprofit organization Overtone Industries presents the world premiere of its new opera The Woman in the Wall, with two weekends of performances opening Friday, March 23, 2012 at the Masonic Lodge in Culver City.  Reuniting the award-winning Overtone creative team of the critically-acclaimed 2010 Songs & Dances of Imaginary Lands, The Woman in the Wall is an operatic work by Composer O-Lan Jones and Librettist Kathleen Cramer, conducted by David O, and produced by Vibrant Production Management.  Inspired by the 14th Century tradition of The Anchoress, the opera is a “mystery play” in the ancient tradition; it explores the openings and paths inside that are revealed when all doors are locked shut.  For more information, please see http://www.overtoneindustries.org and https://www.facebook.com/overtoneindustries

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"War Machine" photo credit: Michael Tullberg

After seven years in development, non-profit organization Overtone Industries is set to launch their site-specific theatricale, Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands, with three weekends of performances opening Thursday, July 8, 2010.  Billed as a contemporary opera, the large-scale, genre-bending production integrates an astounding array of innovative art installation, dance, voice, live and recorded music, projected video, costuming, community participation, and theater. Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands was developed and cultivated by Director O-Lan Jones in an extensive guided collaboration that involves twenty one librettists, eleven composers, Costume and Scenic Designer Snezana Petrovic, Musical Director David O, Instrument Inventor Bart Hopkin, Choreographer Nina Winthrop, twenty performers, a nine-piece live orchestra, dozens of crew members, scores of community volunteers, and many others.

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Overtone Industries is engaged in a massive community arts project, currently underway, to create props and costumes from recycled materials for their July site-specific contemporary opera, Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands directed by O-Lan Jones. In May and June, creative volunteers are invited to Overtone’s “Songs & Dances Craftacular Weekend Workshops,” a series of free public art workshops where donated recyclables are being transformed into sets and costumes for the innovative music theater production. Overtone Industries is looking for crafters, artists, knitters, and the general public of all ages to collaborate on the project by participating in the art-making process via the community workshops. Workshops are being held Saturdays and Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., through June 20, 2010 at the Songs & Dances Warehouse, 8840 Washington Street, Culver City, CA 90232.

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Illustration by Snezana Petrovic

After seven years in development, non-profit organization Overtone Industries is set to launch their site-specific theatricale Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands, with two weeks of performances opening Thursday, July 8, 2010.  Billed as a contemporary opera, the genre-bending production integrates art installation, dance, voice, live and recorded music, projected video, costuming, community participation, and theater.   Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands was conceptualized by Director O-Lan Jones in an extensive collaboration that involves twenty one librettists, eleven composers, Costume and Scenic Designer Snezana Petrovic, Musical Director David O, and many others. Read the rest of this entry »