Trapped in the Re-bar

Last night, Seattlest was witness to a monumental pop culture event: Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series' interpretation of R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 1-12). Look, if you don't know by now about this epic tale of adultery, berettas, incontinent midgets, and terrible rhyming, we really can't take the time to explain it to you. Just go here, watch all twelve chapters, delight in the so-bad-it's-goodness, and you can thank us later.

Once you've done your homework, head to the Re-bar to see it performed live. Ian Bell and Ross Whippo's production does the original justice, in that it is wonderfully, awesomely bad. Featuring three R. Kellys---Sarah Rudinoff as R. Kelly the narrator; "Awesome"'s Kirk Anderson as R. Kelly the saga's Sylvester; and Ian Bell as R. Kelly himself, mystified by his own artistic genius (care of the DVD's meta-ridiculous commentary track)---the performance pretty much quotes the original word-for-word. When the source material is this rich, there's really no need to embellish. The cast keeps things appropriately low-rent, singing from scripts and using the simplest of props (cardboard cars, toy guns, black licorice for cornrows). This is by no means a serious, professional staging, nor should it be. Instead, it is an irreverently reverent homage to a masterpiece of lowbrow high art. We loved it, especially for its inclusion of Chapter 13 (also known as Chapter 6.5), previously only available as part of R. Kelly's insane solo MTV VMAs performance last year.

Tonight's the last night, so unless Brown Derby decides to bring it back sometime in the future (pleeeeeeeease!), this is your final chance to see this hilarious show. Get there early. Re-bar's not taking reservations and when we arrived right at 7, there was a line of people well past the terayaki place. Last night sold out before 7:30, so don't slack. You must see this show.

Re-bar
1114 Howell St.
Doors 7pm, show 8pm, $10 cash, 21+