Should I see that? I also cannot go without saying that there was something deeply embedded in a lot of the reviews that went deeper than just a dislike of the play. What do you mean by that? The idea of having a play that centers around, How do you stop the cycles of gun violence in our community? Do you think the subject matter played any role in the lack of attendance? We knew that we were entering a zone where entertainment had been fully aligned with escapism. There is no disconnect between this and Iggy Azalea, an Australian girl rapping with a southern accent, being Number One on the charts. With the musical closing after one month, is there a future for other hip-hop musicals? Who are we fooling? More hip-hop musicals are inevitable if Broadway wishes to survive.
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Despite its soaring performances, this musical treatment of the works of Tupac Shakur places its searing source material in service of a generic gangland saga. By Marilyn Stasio. The quick answer: Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the marketing campaign. Despite a clunky book, this show is on fire. The creatives, including Edward Pierce sets and Mike Baldassari lighting , have contributed some great arena-style stage effects. And by sectioning off orchestra seats, a portion of the Palace Theater has been turned into a talk-back auditorium and hip-hop museum. The music arranged, orchestrated and supervised by Broadway man of steel Daryl Waters for a piece orchestra is terrific: percussive, propulsive, insistently danceable and surprisingly tuneful. But the performers are so overly miked that the lyrics are almost unintelligible.
Broadway Review: ‘Holler If Ya Hear Me’ With Songs by Tupac Shakur
The ensemble has just learned the number from the choreographer Jared Grimes, and is getting ready for a break before Kenny Leon arrives. True Colors Theater Company , which Mr. Leon co-founded in , opens the show on Sept. Leon first directed in a short-lived Broadway run that raised questions about whether hip-hop could find an audience there.
Perhaps as a result, Mr. No one character is meant to represent Shakur himself. But the lyrical density of rap — in words per minute, many of the songs are off the charts — makes an uneasy fit for theatrical presentation, since the sizzling phrases fly by almost before you can grasp their meaning.
