HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME Previews

[iluvtheatertrash]

As much as I didn't care for the first act, I would agree that maybe in the right hands this could've been something exciting.

[haterobics]

There's a story in the NY Times today about the show:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/theater/holler-if-ya-hear-me-uses-songs-by-tupac-shakur.html

[ucjrdude902]

I'm confused on the "stadium seating" everyone is speaking of. Anyone up to explaining this to me?

[newintown]

I love this quote form that article: “Holler if Ya Hear Me,” which opens at the Palace Theater on June 19, and weaves 21 songs by Shakur (two of which are musically arranged versions of his poems)...

So - "musically arranged" is the new term for "composed music?"

Since this show elevates Shakur and only Shakur, the composers are irrelevant, I guess. Or only worthy of footnotes at best.

[neonlightsxo]

ucjrdude, they explain it on the website.
http://hollerifyahearme.com/
Just click on tickets

[haterobics]

"I'm confused on the "stadium seating" everyone is speaking of. Anyone up to explaining this to me?"

They removed the normal orchestra seats, and the orchestra seating now rises up and "connects" to the mezzanine.

Err, actually, let's see if I can steal their photo...

[ucjrdude902]

Hmm. Cool concept in my opinion. How many seats does this eliminate from The Palace?

[little_sally]

Oh, it's produced by a South Korean theater impresario. That explains that.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Re the "stadium seating" - they didn't remove any seats, they just installed the stadium seating riser and cut off the back half of the orchestra. The seats are still there. I was confused when I walked in and saw the graffiti wall that constitutes that location that the stadium seating starts.

Even with the considerable amount of seats they eliminated (I don't know the exact number but it looked like exactly half of the orchestra section) there will still plenty of seats available in mezzanine and the balcony.

[haterobics]

"How many seats does this eliminate from The Palace?"

620.

[ucjrdude902]

Anyone returned and noticed if they have or haven't made changes?

[Pammylicious]

I was there and left at intermission. I hated every minute of it. First act was 1:15, so I have no idea if cuts were made. When people started yelling at the rappers like they were at a church sermon, I knew I had to get our of there.

[broadwaydevil]

I also left at intermission for the first time ever for a Broadway show. It was uncomfortably bad. And not in a train wreck kind of way, but more in a puzzlingly confused how did anyone think a paying audience would like this kind of way. The direction is horrific as is the blocking so much so that I never knew who was talking, who any of the characters were, or what was going on. There may be a good show buried in there somewhere but this just has far too much muddled confusion to save it at this point.

[little_sally]

broadwaydevil, I'm glad you also found it difficult to figure out who was talking/rapping/singing. Glad it's not just me.

[bwaylyric]

I got to see this last night. Overall, it wasn't the trainwreck I was expecting. I enjoyed it more than I thought.
Lots of bad audience behavior, though. One guy a few rows away from me knew all of Tupac's words and rapped along every number...out loud. No one near him was brave enough to shush him. Thank goodness he left (or moved) at intermission.
At intermission, I complained to an usher about all the texting and facebook activity during the show. She said unfortunately, they're not allowed to stand in and monitor during the entire show. (Is this policy real?) She went on to say that she predicts this will be a common activity during this show.

[DramaTeach]

Saw it this afternoon and after hearing everyone's comments on here, I was very hesitant. There's definitely work to be done (trim the second act, tighten the actual book, cut some profanity), but I really enjoyed it. The talent was strong and the music/lyrics were powerful. There were too many deep, slow, individual songs in Act II, and it started to lag, but when everyone came back together for "California Love," it was infectious. "I Get Around/Keep Ya Head Up" was my other favorite.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Saw this tuesday, with the little tech hiccup at the end of act one. Very excited to see this again after opening!

[Famebroadway2]

Where do i even begin? I was at the matinee yesterday and this show is just.....BORING! The story is almost nonexistent, the staging is boring, and it could stand to have A LOT MORE choreography ADDED. This show is a flop, but not even a "its so bad its good" flop. This one just lies there for over 2 hours and nothing happens. It wasn't until Act 2 that i realized they were loosely telling a modern version of West Side Story.

The cast is all uniformly great and doing the best job they can with this dreck of a book. Tonya Pinkins is severely underused. The lyrics are hard to understand most of the time (with fast rap i don't know if they will be able to ever fix that).

The one thing that I did LOVE was the lighting. The light design was excellent! If it wasn't for that i would have left at intermission.

This is going to close faster than a drive-by shooting.

[neonlightsxo]

Saw it Friday night. The first act had so much potential, I enjoyed it. I mean, it needs work but I was excited by it.

The second act...oh boy. Awful.

[Mister Matt]

Oh, it's produced by a South Korean theater impresario. That explains that.

That explains what?

[chrisampm2]

FameBroadway2, how does a drive-by shooting close?

[roadmixer]

Don't bother FameBroadway2 with such questions... they are just stereotyping and being glib all at once. So clever...

[everythingtaboo]

I haven't seen the show, but maybe it's a reference to a drive-by shooting in the show?

Or, crassly, the drive-by that killed Tupac?

Seeing the show tonight. Really hoping the Tony voters have left town because based on the reaction so far, they may want a recall on that Best Director Tony they gave Kenny Leon last night.

[finebydesign]

LOL ask Leon about Hoopz haha.


"At intermission, I complained to an usher about all the texting and facebook activity during the show. She said unfortunately, they're not allowed to stand in and monitor during the entire show. (Is this policy real?) She went on to say that she predicts this will be a common activity during this show. "

I blame Kyle!

[bwayphreak234]

Based on the pictures I have seen, it looks like this show is using remnants of the set the West Side Story had when it played the Palace a few years back.

[TimesSquared]

**Some Spoilers**

I found the show disappointing too. I had high hopes for it. There's lots of good material there and I loved most of the music and most of the cast, but I had two real problems with it.

First, the haphazard flow of energy and narrative drive. The book writer and director just let the tension flag too often. Whenever a number or plot point would gain momentum, the air would suddenly be let out of it, either with a poor finish to a number, or by an overlong, meandering, or poorly-placed book scene.

The second big problem for me was the lead character's performance—an inexcusable flaw in any show. Saul Williams may be a star of the slam poetry world, but he is not an engaging actor, advanced acting degree notwithstanding. There was no trace of sexuality in his portrayal of John. The character has just been released from years in prison, and to be sure, he's repressing his passion for the woman he lost to another man while locked up, but you need to see and feel that passion anyway—that sexual heat. The scenes between John and Corinne should smoulder once she breaks through the wall he's built, but they are cold. I also couldn't understand much of his rapping. At first I blamed the sound design, but later realized I could hear every lyric from all the other actors.

I can't help comparing him with Chad Boseman from the workshop, who oozed sex and longing despite his post-prison feelings of isolation. Boseman's powerful performance anchored John as the true heart of the show. He was superb. I look forward to seeing him in the film Get On Up, as James Brown in August. GetOnUpMovie.com

I think the lead character in this show deserves/needs at least one sung solo song that shows more than just his anger. One would think there might be one Tupac poem that could have been set to music for him. Then again, writing the right defining piece for any character in a musical is notoriously difficult—having to choose from a fixed number of existing works to define that character is next to impossible. If it doesn't already exist, you've got nothing. Christopher Jackson's character has more character development and a couple of great songs. Maybe the story should have been built around his character, merging elements of John's story into his. Plus Jackson can sing. Williams can't—his few sung lines in Unconditional Love were not good.

I agree with the posters who suggested that the conceit of John's drawings creating the world of the play should have been followed through right to the end. It was a great idea that they just kind of dropped. I wish George C. Wolfe, a dramatist as well as a director, had helmed this show.

A silly final thought, but something I found distractingly implausible. That purple Cadillac that Griffy and Benny had painstakingly restored obviously meant everything to Griffy. He's constantly wiping every fingerprint and speck of dust off the finish. No car freak would let anyone even LEAN on such a car, much less let people dance on the hood and stomp around on the white leather seats. I guess you could say that with Griffy's father and best friend dead, he doesn't care anymore, he's just happy that the "rumble" didn't happen and everyone's having fun. But all I could think during California Love was "What is Griffy thinking about this?" :)