LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just before Janelle Monáe’s DJ set at Cinespia — an outdoor movie series framed by the marble mausoleums of a storied Hollywood cemetery — the multi-hyphenated performer wasn’t just focused on rehearsing a setlist.

Instead, Monáe paused to guide a symbolic circle inspired by “The Craft.”

Inside a candle-lit mausoleum, Monáe and several close friends recreated a moment from the 1996 cult classic film that they would later introduce to a sold-out crowd at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The group swayed and chanted, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board” before declaring “This is for the witches tonight.”

“It’s really about community for me,” Monáe said backstage with The Associated Press before performing a 20-minute set. “We love the ritualistic nature of what Halloween m

See Full Page