Why Inara George is giving these L.A. theater veterans their flowers

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Inara George now views that time with the same gentle sadness you’d feel when remembering a past romance or a special experience like studying overseas.

She remembers performing at a small theater on Pico Boulevard, close to LaBrea Avenue, right next to a barbecue restaurant. The backstage area was behind the theater, and they’d often sit outside in their elaborate, tight-fitting costumes while the neighboring restaurant smoked brisket.

Musician Inara George, known for her solo work and as one half of the duo Bird and the Bee, remembers a summer job she had in her twenties. She performed in a musical called “The Wandering Whore,” set in 18th-century London, with music by Eliot Douglass and lyrics by Philip Littell. The show played at the Playwrights’ Arena in Los Angeles in August 1997.

George recalls a scene in the production where her character dies, is then brought back to life by a ghost, and is subsequently involved in a disturbing situation – someone pays for sexual acts with her character. She seemed hesitant about including this detail in the article.

“It was just such a rich time.”

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You know, it’s been about thirty years since I first discovered that time period, and especially the music from Douglass and Littell. I’ve always loved their stuff! That’s why I’m so excited about this new album, ‘Songs of Douglass & Littell.’ I actually put aside my own songwriting to cover nine of their songs – they’re these fantastic, but somewhat unknown, West Coast musical theater composers. Their songs are just so searching, funny, and emotionally rich. Take ‘Tired Butterfly,’ for example – it’s about a busy bug just trying to find a moment to rest! Or ‘The Extra Nipple,’ which is a surprisingly touching song about dealing with heartbreak.

This album is similar to the classic “Song Book” records Ella Fitzgerald made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Like those albums, it features George’s interpretations of songs by legendary songwriters like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin – masters of the Great American Songbook.

You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about Frederick Douglass and Jonathan Littell lately. I’ve known Jonathan since I was a kid, actually – we both grew up performing at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon. It feels important to me to really celebrate these guys and give them the recognition they deserve. It’s about giving them their due, you know? Letting people know their contributions mattered.

While the album draws inspiration from George’s early artistic experiences, it also reflects his perspective as a 51-year-old coming to terms with getting older.

Influenced by jazz vocalists like Helen Merrill and Chet Baker, as well as the classic Brazilian album “Elis & Tom” by Elis Regina and Antônio Carlos Jobim, George has shifted her musical style. Her new sound incorporates jazz elements with piano, strings, and horns, creating a cool and airy backdrop for her vocals, moving away from the more electronic and folk-based sounds of her earlier work with The Bird and the Bee.

“I wanted to create an album that felt authentic to where I am in life,” explains George, who is raising three teenagers with her husband, director Jake Kasdan. “I wasn’t trying to sound young again – I wanted to make music that reflects my current stage of life.”

I recently spent some time with the singer at her lovely home, which is nestled near Griffith Park. It was a quiet afternoon – the kids were at school, and her husband, Kasdan, was off filming. But even in the stillness, you could feel the music all around. A drum set stood ready, a grand piano beckoned, and I even spotted a guitar that belonged to her late father, Lowell George, the founder of the amazing L.A. band Little Feat. It was poignant to learn he passed away when she was just four years old, but his musical legacy clearly lives on in her home and, I suspect, in her heart.

She describes this stage of life as a strange in-between for women. Even something as simple as getting dressed feels different. When she was younger, she focused on whether an outfit was cute or sexy. Now, she finds herself wanting to wear suits all the time, which she finds amusing.

Douglass, who contributed piano to the new album, was particularly struck by the stability and emotional depth in George’s vocals. He notes that the musical arrangements were a new challenge for her, and he was impressed by how confidently and intelligently she tackled them.

I’m so excited to see Douglass perform with George this Friday night! They’re joining over a dozen other talented musicians for a concert at Largo at the Coronet, and it’s all for a great cause – raising money for LA Voice. That organization does amazing work helping people get involved in issues like immigration and affordable housing, and I’m really happy to support them by going to the show.

George considers her album, “Songs of Douglass & Littell,” a deeply personal endeavor. She explains that at a certain stage in an artist’s career, achieving massive sales isn’t always the primary goal, and this record wasn’t created with that in mind. This contrasts with artists like Laufey, who have achieved widespread popularity and arena-level success.

“I’m just about the experience,” she adds, “and this has been an amazing experience.”

It all started a few years ago when George held a reunion for people who had worked with Douglass and Littell in the 1990s. They got together, shared wine, and reminisced about shows like “The Wandering Whore” and “No Miracle: A Consolation,” which was a musical piece inspired by the grief and loss caused by the AIDS epidemic.

Growing up, George was known for her dramatic flair at Theatricum Botanicum – Littell recalls meeting a striking young girl with large, expressive eyes. She initially pursued acting at Emerson College in Boston, but she left school and returned to Los Angeles, where she ultimately found success as a musician. Besides her work with The Bird and the Bee, a duo she formed with Grammy winner Greg Kurstin, she’s collaborated with groups like The Living Sisters and even performed vocals with the Foo Fighters.

She always remembered her time in experimental theater after college. Getting back in touch with Littell, who also wrote the words for André Previn’s opera based on “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and Douglass, a former pianist with Cirque du Soleil, inspired George to find a way to save their music and share it with people today.

In 2024, she formed a small group for a performance at the Healing Force of the Universe record store in Pasadena. Her longtime collaborator, Mike Andrews, who had produced her previous solo albums, suggested they record the music they played. Because she had written so many slow songs, she asked Douglass and Littell to create a couple of faster, more upbeat pieces, and one of the results was the lively track “La Lune S’en Va.”

Does George speak French?

“Not at all,” she replied with a smile. “But Philip really enjoys it. It’s a lot of fun—I immediately agreed to participate. I think my pronunciation is pretty good, too.”

She recorded the album with a small group of musicians in the studio over three days. They did this both to get a lively, energetic sound and because of budget limitations.

I’ve reached a point where making music feels more like a passion project than a career, and honestly, that’s okay with me. I’m self-funding everything through my own label, Release Me Records, which is a big shift. It does make me think about how hard it is for musicians who aren’t at the very top or bottom – that middle class seems to be shrinking. But it’s also cool to see older songs find new life! I was so happy when “Again & Again” by The Bird and the Bee recently blew up on TikTok. It’s become our most-streamed song on Spotify with 86 million plays, which is amazing – even more popular than our dreamy cover of “How Deep Is Your Love.”

For George, recognizing the influence of the “incredibly talented and sensitive” people who helped her develop as an artist feels more important than anything else right now.

She shared that the music of Douglass and Littell is deeply meaningful to her, and she finds herself wanting to listen to it more and more these days.

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2026-03-20 22:32