S. Samuel
Music veteran Saul Williams has reportedly landed a spot in the upcoming Holler If Ya Hear Me stage play slated to take place in late spring.
According to reports, Williams will take New York City’s Palace Theatre on June 19 to lead the musical’s way.
Let’s just clear up some confusion that we’ve already seen floating around the internet: Williams is not, we repeat, not portraying Shakur in the musical. The plot of the play takes in the Midwest, where two friends (one of whom, presumably, is Williams) struggle to escape from the grips of poverty. It’s a plot line not unlike Shakur’s own, and will feature the late rapper’s hits, including “California Love,” “Keep Ya Head Up,” and “Me Against The World.” (Music Times)
The upcoming musical will reportedly break new ground for hip-hop culture.
Williams is an ideal choice for the lead in a musical that inevitably will need to incorporate rap. The actor has also gained renown for his performances of hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and often a hybrid of the two forms. Hip-hop has yet to gain much of a foothold on Broadway despite its mainstream strength in the music industry. The closest thing an official Broadway number has had to hip-hop was 1978’s Runaways, a production from Elizabeth Swados. We don’t have to explain that rapping is far different from the typical melodic approach of a Broadway musical, and writers have shied away from hip-hop because of it. (Music Times)
Details about the musical landed across the Internet in early January.
The musical titled Holler If You Hear Me is set to hit the stages of the Palace Theater in New York on May 26th. Instead of being a musical based on his life and times, it will be a tale of friendship, family, revenge, change and hope” set to the musical backdrop of classic Pac material, the musical is definitely something to check out. Be sure to mark your calendars for May 26th and cop tickets if you’re in the New York City area. (Stupid Dope)
Recently, buzz about director John Singleton being connected to a Tupac biopic surfaced.
After the project spent just over three years on the backburner, it’s official: John Singleton is in to direct the upcoming Tupac Shakur biopic. According to Variety, the Boyz n the Hood director reentered the project nearly three years after dropping out because it’s a film he’s long wanted to make, and Singleton was close friends with Shakur before his tragic death. “Tupac was the guy who I planned to do a lifetime of films with,” Singleton told Variety. “His passing deeply affected my life as well as countless people in this world. His life story is as important to my generation.” (Complex)
