- Juli Crockett
Juli Crockett (born
August 1 ,1975 ) is aplaywright and theater director, retired (undefeated) professional boxer and amateur champion [http://www.womenboxingrecords.com/crockett1.htm] , lead singer of thealternative country band [http://www.evangenitals.com The Evangenitals] (tm), and producer ofThe 1 Second Film [http://the1secondfilm.com/producer/44] . Born in Coffee County, Enterprise,Alabama she is the daughter of fiction writerLinda Crockett and non-fiction writerDaniel Savage Gray .Education
Currently pursuing her PhD in the
Philosophy of Media and Communication at TheEuropean Graduate School where she is the Director of Alumni Relations [http://egs.edu/main/administration.html] , Juli began her education inTheater atPinellas County Center for the Arts inSt. Petersburg, Florida . Crockett went on to receive a BFA inActing atNew York University 'sTisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Directing at theCalifornia Institute of the Arts , where she also serves on the Alumni Association's Board of Directors [http://www.calarts.edu/alumni/alumniassociation/boarddirectors] .Theatre Work
As a playwright, Crockett is best known for her adaptations of classic works of literature and philosophy. Her
spoken word opera "(or, the whale)" -- an adaptation ofHerman Melville 'sMoby-Dick written and directed by Crockett with music by sonic artist and "" composerJeremy Zuckerman -- debuted in Los Angeles in 2001. It was also presented at the 2001 Moby Dick Conference atHofstra University and performed by the TENT group inPortland, Maine [http://www.stlawrencearts.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl?year=2004&view=Event&event_id=52] . The "Dawn of Quixote: Chapter the First", an adaptation of the first chapter ofDon Quixote byCervantes has been performed several times in Los Angeles and was featured in EdgeFest, a Los Angelescutting 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. Orpheus Crawling, an experimental opera based on the myth ofOrpheus andEurydice , was composed by Zuckerman, with libretto and direction by Crockett. Orpheus Crawling was work-shopped at the24th Street Theatre and premiered at theREDCAT in Los Angeles in August 2007. [http://redcat.org/season/0506/com/now3.php] Crockett’s most recent work, “History of Water”, premiered at the 24th Street Theater’s Saturday Explorer Series on May 10th, 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 thePacifica Radio Archives .In addition to writing and directing experimental theater, Crockett studies
improv at theiO WEST in Hollywood and performs regularly with the group HAMMERSPACE. She is also 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.The Fighting Life
As a boxer, she 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 (akaF.X. Toole ) and the filmMillion 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 onFox Sports . Crockett's second professional bout, against Christina Rodriguez, went the distance (4 rounds) and was televised live on ESPN2. [http://www.womenboxingrecords.com/C/crockett1.htm]Music career
[http://www.evangenitals.com The Evangenitals] , formed in 2003 with friends Lisa Dee and Brett Lyda, 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 theneo-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." [http://www.orphanrecords.org/2007/10/evangenitals-what-every-mega-church-is.html]The band's first album - "We Are The Evangenitals" [http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/evangenitals] - received rave reviews from fans, selling out of its first printing and receiving a 5 star rating on
iTunes . The Evangenitals' second album "Everlovin" [http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/evangenitals2] was recorded in South Pasadena at Del Boca Vista [http://www.delbocavistastudio.com/] studios in January 2007 and released in October of 2007.In the fall of 2007 The Evangenitals went on the "Road to Oprah" tour with a
documentary film crew fromThe 1 Second Film . [http://roadtooprah.com/] 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.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)" [http://www.powells.com/authors/mccann.html]In addition to fronting The Evangenitals, Crockett also performs with [http://www.cashdout.com Cash'd Out] , the world's premier
Johnny Cash tribute band , singing theJune Carter parts in their stage show.Activism
Crockett is a
vegan , a passionate advocate for animal &human rights , and an active member of the animal protection organizationPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and a member of several environmental,animal rights , and human rights organizations. Crockett is also a producer ofThe 1 Second Film , the worlds largest nonprofit collaborative art film.References
Streisand, Betsy. "A Million Dollar Maybe". US News and World Review, February 14, 2005. [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050214/14crockett.peo.htm]
Nacy, K. " The Evangenitals - What Every Mega Church Is Missing". The Orphan Review, October 17, 2007. [http://www.orphanrecords.org/2007/10/evangenitals-what-every-mega-church-is.html]External links
* [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050214/14crockett.peo.htm US News article: Million Dollar Maybe, A real-life version of Maggie Fitzgerald]
* [http://the1secondfilm.com/producer/44 Juli Crockett Producer Profile for The 1 Second Film]
* [http://www.womenboxingrecords.com/crockett1.htm WBAN Boxing Record for Crockett]
* [http://www.evangenitals.com Evangenitals Official Site]
* [http://www.evangina.com Evangina Official Site]
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