Indiggo and the Indiggo Twins are the stage names for Gabriela Modorcea and Mihaela Modorcea, twin sisters and Romanian-American professional actresses, dancers, singers, and writers. They were born in Romania, received visas for extraordinary artistic abilities, became American citizens and live in New York City. They speak English, French, German and Romanian and sing in seven languages.
They wrote, composed, choreographed, designed and perform their Off Broadway play Wicked Clone The Cinema Musical (2018) based on Mihaela's 500-page novel Wicked Clone or how to deal with the evil (2016). New York City Guide's Theatre Editor Griffin Miller describes the show as “a rare piece of visual and audio creativity” that "turns the tables on tradition by telling ‘the story of a vampire bitten by a human being’”. They wrote, composed, arranged, designed and performed their original cast recording album of 25 "immortal" songs.[1]
American rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled Indiggo's single "La La La" (2011) on their collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). New York Times reviewer Jon Caramanica describes the sample as "moving" and a "gem".[2] Their singles "Hip Hop Jam" (2003) and "Be My Boyfriend" (2006) entered the top of the charts and the singles and their album Indiggo found commercial success in Germanic territories. They signed a worldwide, multi-year, co-publishing/grand rights deal with international music publisher Imagem.
The twins were born in 1985[3][4] in Brașov, Transylvania, Romania.[5] Their father, Grid,[6] a PhD, writer,[7] filmmaker[6] and critic,[8] worked for 30 years as a film producer and screenwriter at the Romanian National Center for Cinematography and for Romanian National Television.[7] Their mother, Violeta,[6] has a PhD and is a writer,[9][10] literature teacher[11] and translator of Mongolian,[12][13] Russian,[14] and American[15] literature.[16][11]
At the age of six, they began studying piano, guitar,[citation needed] canto and dance.[11] At the age of twelve, they debuted on Christmas Eve on Romanian Television singing the carol "Colinde, colinde", written by Mihai Eminescu, generally regarded as Romania's greatest poet.[17] They have performed regularly on German and European TV shows.[11] They speak English, French, German and Romanian and sing in seven languages.[11]
MediaPro Music released their first CD album Indiggo (2000),[31] containing several hit singles: "Nu-mi pasa", "Clar de luna" and "Am eu grija de mine",[32] and selling in over 20 European countries, including Austria, Germany and Switzerland.[citation needed] Indiggo's first Europe-wide single, "Hip Hop Jam", (BROS Music, 2003), a song with Cuban influences[33] produced by David Brandes, entered the German charts.[34]
"Be My Boyfriend" (2006)
On February 24, 2006, they qualified for the National Final of the Romanian qualifications for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest and on February 26, performing "Be My Boyfriend", they finished seventh.[35] On March 10, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Ariola, released the pop/rock CD single "Be My Boyfriend",[36] which entered the German charts.[37]
In August 2011, rappersJay-Z and Kanye West released their first collaborative album, Watch the Throne.[2] The track "Murder to Excellence" contains a sample of Indiggo's "La La La".[41]Complex's Kathy Iandola says "La La La" is a "tribal pop track" that becomes "haunting" as Jay-Z and Kanye West discuss the rise in murder rates and black on black crime.[41] The rappers describe Indiggo as "ambassadors of the great Romanian tradition".[28][2]
On December 16, 2011, DAS Label, Inc. released Indiggo's "La La La".[42]Complex, a New York City youth culture magazine reporting on trends in music with a focus on hip hop, ranks Indiggo's "La La La" 18th on their Best White Girl Vocal Samples in Rap History,[41] and the New York Times' Jon Caramanica describes it as "moving" and a "gem".[2]
Wicked Clone The Cinema Musical (2018)
Working since 2010,[43] through three showcases[44][45] and three productions,[46][47][48] they wrote, composed, choreographed, designed and perform their Off Broadway play Wicked Clone The Cinema Musical (2018).[1] Basing the show on their 500-page bestseller Wicked Clone or how to deal with the evil (2016),[1] a cinema novel,[49][50] the original story begins in 15th century Transylvania, with the birth of identical twin sisters Mihaela and Gabriela, and tracks Mihaela, whose desire to be human and loved takes her to modern day New York City; and Gabriela, who ventures through time and space to return her sister to her vampiric heritage.[1] The 90 minute[1] show is a blend of musical theatre and film[49][43] with a mystical story,[51] film projections from beginning till the end,[46] 21 original compositions,[1] dancing[51] and a symphonic soundtrack.[1]
City Guide's Theatre Editor Griffin Miller describes the show as "a rare piece of visual and audio creativity" with "totally Transylvanian vogue" costumes, "supernatural ambience, unique staging and ... immortal" performances that "turns the tables on tradition by telling 'the story of a vampire bitten by a human being'", and says, "this wildly inventive show—involving singing, dancing, time-travel, film, and a symphonic soundtrack—beckons theatregoers to the underbelly of Nuevo Entertainment".[1]
They released a cast album of 25 original songs through Broadway Records digitally on September 21, 2018,[52] and physically on October 5, 2018,[53][54] which they wrote, arranged and produced.[55] They play piano, guitar and drums and sing in different harmonies.[55] The album has four opening songs, 19 songs from the show (from "La La La," sampled in Watch the Throne, to "I am Like God") and two closing songs.[56]
Other endeavors
Poetry
In 2006, Mihaela published her first poetry book, Rage and Love.[11][57] In 2015, she published her second poetry book, Wicked Clone or how to get reborn.[58]
Stage
In 2006, they played the leads Louise and Henriette in the musical The Two Orphans at the Casandra Theater,[20] the theatre of the "L. L. Caragiale" National Theater and Cinema Art University,[59] winning the Grand Prix at the Graduates' Gala.[20] Monica Andronescu in Jurnalul National describes the show as a parody of a typical romance where an abandoned child is found after years of suffering and wandering. She continues, "An extraordinary explosion of energy and talent sums up the show The Two Orphans … It is worth highlighting the interpretation of the two orphans, Mihaela and Gabriela Modorcea, who prove, besides acting talent, real musical skills."[59]
After seeing their performance, Romanian playwright Dumitru Radu Popescu, former chairman of the Romanian Writers' Union,[60] wrote a play for them, Two Sisters, published in the award-nominated[61] volume Mr. Fluture and Mrs. Fluture.[citation needed] Later, Romanian director Mihai Maniutiu cast Mihaela and Gabriela in Eugene Ionesco's The Future is in Eggs.[62] Romanian Alexa Visarion directed them as the Twin Towers in America Alive, a show in memory of September 11, 2001.[63]
Film
Gabriela acted in the movie Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj (2006)[64] as "Taj's Sister". In 2009, they acted together in the Russian-American film Lyubov v bolshom gorode[64] (No Love in the Big City[65][66]), as "Bliznyashka No. 1." and "Bliznyashka No. 2.".[66][67][better source needed]
Modorcea, Gabriela; Modorcea, Mihaela (2018), Wicked Clone or How to Deal with the Evil (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) (Liner notes), New York City, New York: Indiggo Twins{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^Biblioteca Județeană „G.COȘBUC” [County Library of George Cosmic], Nuvela mongolă contemporană [Contemporary Mongolian novels], archived from the original on August 16, 2018, retrieved August 15, 2018
^Esenin, Serghei (September 8, 1977), "Mirgorodul de fier" [The Iron Mirgorod], România Literară (in Romanian), translated by and presented by Modorcea, Violeta, Bucharest: Fundaţia România literară [Literary Romania Foundation], pp. 20–21
^Hitparade.ch | Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade [The official Swiss hit parade], "Indiggo - Hip Hop Jam", swisscharts.com, Urdorf, Switzerland: Hung Medien, retrieved September 8, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Hitparade.ch | Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade [The official Swiss hit parade], "Indiggo - Be My Boyfriend", swisscharts.com, Urdorf, Switzerland: Hung Medien, retrieved September 11, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Modorcea, Violeta (2009), Contractul sau Cum am devenit vampiri [The contract or How we became vampires : Dracula's girls'/Indiggo twins' show] (in Romanian and English), Craiova, Romania: Sim Art (Aius), OCLC895468656
Modorcea, Violeta (1997), Viziuni teatrale complementare : Cehov şi Gorki [Complementary theatrical visions: Chekhov and Gorky] (in Romanian), Bucharest, Romania: EMIN, ISBN978-9-7396-9495-7, OCLC895714216
Nuvela mongolă contemporană [Contemporary Mongolian novels] (in Romanian), translated by Modorcea, Violeta; Ciurca, Mariana, Bucharest, Romania: Univers, 1978, OCLC997439129
