Theatre Is Evil is the second studio album by Amanda Palmer, and first with her band The Grand Theft Orchestra. It was released on September 7, 2012 in Australia, on September 10, 2012 in the United Kingdom and Europe, and September 11, 2012 in the United States and Canada. The album has been released by Palmer's own record label, 8 Ft. Records, with distribution handled by Cooking Vinyl in the UK and Europe, and Alliance Entertainment in the US.
The album debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart with 24,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, much of which can be attributed to her Kickstarter campaign.
The album was written over the four years since her solo debut album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, in 2008. The recording and release process was funded by a Kickstarter project that raised a total of over $1.2 million.
An art book, filled with images inspired by the content of this album commissioned to artists Amanda knows, has been released.
About the Grand Theft Orchestra
The Grand Theft Orchestra is composed of Amanda Palmer, Michael McQuilken on drums, guitarist Chad Raines, and Jherek Bischoff on bass. Thor Harris replaced McQuilken for the second half of the live tour of this album. The band regularly switches instruments during their live performance, including in their version of The Dresden Dolls's song "Missed Me".
Title
After posting the album name to her Twitter account, there was a debate amongst fans about whether the album should be spelled "Theater Is Evil" or "Theatre Is Evil". Palmer took a vote and "Theatre Is Evil" eventually won, causing some of the CDs to have to be reprinted.
Kickstarter
The album was crowdfunded by $1,192,793.00 pledged via Kickstarter. Backers could choose from a number of bundles offered for different investment amounts. At the time it closed, this was the most successful Kickstarter campaign by any musician.
Promotion
The song "Do It With a Rockstar" was released on a limited basis to promote the album in June 2012, followed by "Trout Heart Replica", "Want It Back" and "The Killing Type".
In September 2015, in promotion of the album, an EP called Selections from Theatre is Evil was released.
On December 19, 2015, a piano demo of "Grown Man Cry" recorded in 2007 was released.
On December 23, 2015, a demo of the song "Bottomfeeder," under the name "Raggin' On The Man", was released.
Music videos
The first music video released for this album was a stop-motion video for the song "Want It Back" and features Amanda Palmer prominently nude on a bed with the rest of the bandmates, clothed, as the lyrics to the song crawl across their bodies. It was "filmed on and around Brunswick Street in Melbourne, Australia in March 2012" and was produced, edited, and directed by Jim Batt.
The second music video was for "The Killing Type," directed by Tim Pope, who had previously directed many videos for The Cure. It features scenes from the band playing in an all-white room, dressed in all-white clothes, playing all-white instruments and another scene where Amanda seems to contemplate killing her lover while in bed with him. A music video for "The Bed Song" was also shot as part of the band's residency at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, which was the first residency in a new program led by Gideon Lester, to have artists do their work with student assistance on campus. The video was released February 14, 2013.
Amanda Palmer has also released lyric videos for every song on the main disc of Theatre Is Evil on her YouTube channel.
Through Patreon donations, a retroactive music video was produced for "Grown Man Cry" and released on July 27, 2017.
Tour
Palmer planned an extensive tour schedule in support of the album. In June 2012, Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra began with a short six-date stint of small club shows throughout Europe and the US, beginning in Berlin and ending in Boston. A full-scale tour began on September 10, 2012, this time reaching 33 cities throughout North America and Europe. According to Palmer's husband, she planned to spend approximately 14 months on the road in support of Theatre Is Evil.