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Long Beach’s SEX MONEY POWER. Photo by Matt Kollar.<\/em><\/p>\n The origin of Long Beach-based vaudeville group SEX MONEY POWER is rightly a series of LOLcat memes, which in 2012 inspired local musicians Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza to create LOLpera, an epic and absurd opera about the quest for meaning in the modern world and the fight of good versus evil. The script was written entirely using captions from cat memes.<\/p>\n Their unprecedented production, which recruited a number of the creators\u2019 talented friends involved in the local music and theater scene, was lauded. LA Weekly<\/em> named it \u201cPick of the Week,\u201d and the group was invited to perform in New York and Washington D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the summer tour, the opera had finished its run. But the band \u2014 a mini-orchestra of some eight members that included horns, strings, accordion, piano and drums \u2014 decided to continue on for fun. The members, each involved in other projects, appreciated the free-form approach of their music. They spent time deconstructing 80s pop songs and writing satirical and theatrical tunes.\u00a0Over the last year, the group has added more members and become more focused on a vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea was, we wanted to have a name that would espouse everything that we want, anything anybody wants,\u201d explained drummer Josiah Miller. \u201cWhat it came to represent was the excess of the American Dream. Maximalism. We all have this dream of being successful and having everything we want, but there\u2019s this price that comes with that, that often is not examined. So we\u2019re trying to examine that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n SEX MONEY POWER, led by multi-instrumentalists Matt Kollar and Warkentine, is a satirical, powerhouse mesh of vaudeville, rock and anti-pop. Their sound is quirky and theatrical, with the sounds of the french horn, trombone, violin, accordion, drums, piano and tap dancing all interlacing. Admittedly, it\u2019s \u201cnot something everybody\u2019s gonna get,\u201d Miller said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll the lyrics are very well-intentioned and part of the vibe of the message we have,\u201d said Sumner LeVeque, SMP\u2019s french horn player. \u201cIt\u2019s not musical theater; it\u2019s theater with music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Since finishing up their yearlong residency at Casa in Costa Mesa and playing a string of shows at Clancy\u2019s, the group has been taking it slow, performing fewer shows with more intention.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always wanted to do something bigger than just a show, something larger than just being a band,\u201d LeVeque said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnything For Your Money!\u201d\u00a0on April 1 at The Institute of Abnormal Arts in LA is SEX MONEY POWER’s biggest show to date. Danielle Kaufman, the show\u2019s director and an honorary member of the group, described the theme as a \u201cmockery of an over-processed, over-saturated, overindulgent culture,\u201d and true to SMP\u2019s nature, the show will be absurd, hilarious and original, and in a very fitting venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you walk into the space it looks like a clown\u2019s nightmare,\u201d Kaufman said.<\/p>\n The first hour will have interactive art installations \u2014 \u201choly shrines\u201d to sex, money and power. With SEX MONEY POWER carrying the entire show, the band will be accompanied by a mostly Long Beach-based cast of dancers, performance artists, burlesque, circus arts, drag, parody advertisements, magic, puppetry and even a human blockhead.\u00a0There will also be visits from a cast of characters including a scientist, a meat mogul and a fisherman. Audience participation is guaranteed. A special guest DJ will end the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve put together as big of a show as closest to what we\u2019ve always wanted to do,\u201d LeVeque said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anything For Your Money! takes place\u00a0Friday, April 1 at 8:00PM at the California Institute of Abnormal Arts in Hollywood. Tickets are $10 and entrance is for 21+. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n