HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME Previews

[bwayphreak234]

Thank you, Whizzer! The plot makes sense now. Sounds pretty damn dry, though.

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

The problem with most of the plot's action is that it happens off-stage or before the start of the play begins. We don't get to watch it happen- we only hear about it, and that's where the confusion sets in.

They never firmly establish the Saul/Jackson/Saycon relationship. We don't get to watch Saul getting arrested or Jackson's rise to prominence or Benny getting shot. Hell we barely get to meet Benny except for two seconds in the opening sequence. As mentioned the Four Fives never appear on stage, although they are the main source of conversation for the drug dealers. Jackson has a daughter who is never seen.

Saul gets the worst treatment of the lot. Though he is a co-lead we discover almost nothing about his life. Most of his dialogue is spouting political rhetoric or messages of social activism. He acts more like a narrator inserted to the story than a fleshed out character.

[dave1606]

I saw this last night and what really bothered me about it was how separate the music and the book scenes were. They seemed to have little to do with one another.

The story is murky at best. I think that the biggest mistake is making the Four Five a faceless gang. They never seemed like much of a threat or a character as we never saw them. Overall, the whole thing comes across like an afterschool special.

I will say that to give credit where credit is due. Even though it comes out of NOWHERE, California Love is brilliantly staged and was one of the few moments of excitement in the show. It was the only time I found this justifying itself as a musical.

The staging is very ugly. for the most part Characters are standing in front of dark black walls (that occasionally have projections). Cheap is definitely the word that came to mind.

The cast is very talented, but the material just isn't worthy. The piece also suffers from "town" musical syndrome where the entire cast shows up in a scene without warning or explanation.

[JeffDaEgg2]

I swear the two guys with guns came from the wings after California Love and not randomly out of the car. Hmmm, apparently I was on Christopher Jackson's drugs.

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

Jeff- You're correct. The guys did come from the wings with the guns. It's two of the male ensemble who were dancing during California Love that dove into the backseat of the car to hide when the gunmen walked in that made people laugh.

[Wilmingtom]

What Whizzer says. The lack of dramatic action cripples the storytelling, no matter how valuable to other contributions to the production.

[newintown]

Yes, but who wrote the music?

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

Since most of the hooks are samples from other songs, I can only imagine that this list of composers is quite long. From the California Love article on Wikipedia:

The original version contains a sample taken from Joe Cocker's 1972 song "Woman to Woman". The remix version contains a sample taken from Kleeer's 1984 song "Intimate Connection". The chorus, "California knows how to party", was sung by Roger Troutman using his characteristic talk box and was taken from the 1982 song "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson & The Street People which was written by Larry Troutman and Roger Troutman. In the song where Troutman sings "shake it, shake it baby", he interpolates the chant he used on his 1982 Zapp single, "Dance Floor".

Dr. Dre usually gets a lot of credit for writing/producing this track.

You would have to go through each song one by one and I'm sure it would add up to dozens of songwriters.

[newintown]

Are there no composer credits in the Playbill?

I think I'm more disturbed that no one seems to care who wrote the music than that no one knows who wrote the music.

I mean - a lot of these songs are musically entirely different things than they were when first recorded, aren't they?

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

Oh! I found a "music credits" page in the back in small print. The first song, My Block, has EIGHT people credited for writing the music. All lyrics are by Tupac.

I wouldn't say they are musically different at all. I mean they are orchestrated and arranged (e.g. the entire ensemble sings "California, knows how to party" instead of just one guy) but they are the same music you would find on his albums.

[newintown]

Really? Please do correct me if I'm wrong, never having paid a lot of attention to Shakur's oeuvre, bur wasn't the bulk of his output rap - spoken word over a repeated simple line of music or rhythm?

The bits of these songs I've heard sound much more sung than the stuff of Shakur's with which I'm familiar.

[little_sally]

For all those in attendance last night, what was the running time?

[haterobics]

I wasn't there, but it was posted at 10:50p yesterday that the show had ended 10 minutes earlier.

[brdway411]

it started about 8:10, and we were out by 10:40. so about 2.5 hours with intermission.

[little_sally]

Thank you!

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

newintown- Tupac himself didn't do much singing, you're correct, but it seems that most hit rap songs have a guest singer who comes on to sing the hook.

Like if there were ever to be an Eminem jukebox musical, someone would rap the Eminem portions of "Monster" and then someone else would sing the Rihanna hook portion.

An actor raps the Tupac portion of California love and then the entire ensemble sings the Roger Troutman sung hook, but that sung part was always in the song. It was originally just sung by one man and now has been arranged and orchestrated to sound like a full ensemble number, but no new music was written.

[iluvtheatertrash]

I ran out at intermission. The only thing I can say is that it's not even offensively bad. It's just boring. Just plain boring.

Although I do question how the use of the N-word every 3 seconds can possibly be deemed 'poetry'...

[Rainbowhigh23]

There was no storyline to make it other than a number of Tupac's rap songs strung together with dance sequences. I too was bored out of my skull and fell asleep during act 1. I stayed for Act 2 because the musical performances are very well done and loud.

[Hackasaurus_Rex]

"Although I do question how the use of the N-word every 3 seconds can possibly be deemed 'poetry'..."

Poetry or any art is not defined by how palatable the language or images are. Even though I haven't seen this show, it seems to me (in this case) the N-word sounds like it is probably very appropriate and poetically effective given the subject matter.

[brdway411]

It was part of the language of the show. And to me seemed appropriate. It's really no worse than HASA DIGA EBOWAH song.

[A Director]

>I ran out at intermission. The only thing I can say is that it's not even offensively bad. It's just boring. Just plain boring.

Although I do question how the use of the N-word every 3 seconds can possibly be deemed 'poetry'...

If I had to choice between seeing Holler If Ya Hear Me and something called Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day, I'd pick the first one. The second one sounds like a rip off of a show currently running.

[haterobics]

"It's really no worse than HASA DIGA ETOWAH in Book of Mormon."

So the n-word is only equally as bad as three made-up words?!

[Mr. Nowack]

I find it amusing that nobody can remember the characters names! It's just Saul and Jackson and Saycon.

[CapnHook]

My reaction to the show:

I went in with the lowest expectations, and was surprised that there was merit in the work. The piece has a lot of potential to be an impactful work of art. They need to trim 10-15 minutes of unneeded material, tighten all the cues, and smooth out the transitions; and, they need to do this immediately. It's very typical for a show to have those issues in previews, but it's absolutely deadly for a show like this, where many in the audience may not be accostumed to the style of music. It's killing the potential for any positive word of mouth.

Which brings me to my largest complaint: the producing. This is a show that could have benefited from an out of town tryout. It could have benefited from being in a smaller theater. It could benefit from much better marketing. It could benefit from not having patrons walk into a theater and having empty seats facing a solid wall be what they first see. Even if the creative team can improve the material, it won't matter at all if the show closes. I admire the artistic efforts and wish the show success, but it's frustrating to see the imminite doom due to poor producing.

[mschwager]

I saw this tonight and agree completely that the producing is really hurting the show. I will say, despite the show having some great moments (all of them songs, not scenes), I was utterly bored almost the entire time. While I appreciated what they were trying to do, it really just missed the mark. There was no plot and the little that did happen, happened off stage. Also, the set design was non-existent. I thought there were some phenomenal songs. Holler If Ya Hear Me, California Love and Dear Mama among them. Also when there was true choreography it was energetic and perfect for the show. I also was really impressed with the lighting design. It wasn't without flaws, but design-wise was the strongest element.

There was a technical difficulty going into the last scene of the first act, although it didn't stop the show. A stage manager's voice was heard however. Also, where I was sitting, the audio levels were very off at times, with the orchestra being way too loud for much of the show. These things will likely be fixed in the next few performances.

I thought Christopher Jackson and Ben Thompson were standouts. Ben's voice is awesome! Also, I wish Tonya Pinkins had more to do, but nothing we can change about that.

[Broadway Local]

In terms of jukebox musicals, I think it's pretty good. Better than naming a character Rhonda so they can sing a Beach Boys tune about her. Here, the lyrics were about drugs and guns and death and despair and so was the admittedly thin story. Not as good as AMERICAN IDIOT but nowhere near as bad as WE WILL ROCK YOU.

The show's not about Tupac, but it serves his music well. And that's why I went, to see what they'd do to iconic rap tunes such as "Dear Mama" and "Changes." But let's face it, being able to now call "Thugz Mansion" a show tune is kinda funny. I'll request it next time I'm at Marie's Crisis.

So in terms of the score, my faves from the first act were "Life Goes On" and "I Ain't Mad at Cha," but IMHO the best of the night were both in the second act. The perfectly-placed "Hail Mary" was ominous and foreboding, and it kinda made the 2-1/2 songs after it a bit unnecessary (if they're looking for something to cut). And then the 11 o'clock number, Dr. Dre's masterpiece, "California Love" -- this is the one I hope they do on Jimmy Fallon or the Tonys or wherever rap musicals go to promote themselves these days.