The Residents

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!

This one-night-only 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, receives its Southern California premiere at The Alex Theatre, Saturday, June 18, 2022.

God in 3 Persons notably received its pre-pandemic world premiere presentation at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in January of 2020, garnering rave reviews from Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, BrooklynVegan, DangerousMinds, and others.

The work now contains all of the songs from the entire album for the first time, making it the definitive version of the show.

The Los Angeles production of God In 3 Persons is presented in co-production with The Cryptic Corporation and Steve Saporito in association with The Alex Theatre and Nederlander Concerts.

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 is told using fabulously lurid multi-layered video projections created by Sanborn.

The Residents, who have remained anonymous since their 1972 debut, 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.

Travis Chamberlain serves as director of the performance, with musical direction by Joshua Raoul Brody, and puppetry and background design by Leigh Barbier. Steve Saporito produces.

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 The Residents’ most critically successful albums and a fan favorite, God in 3 Persons has never toured as a concert or live performance.

Tickets are available Friday, May 20, at 10AM, via Ticketmaster.