Hip-Hop Theatre Festival June 11-18
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 10, 2005
This year, the festival will highlight work developed throughout the year during HHTF's "Critical Breaks" Workshop series and Opening Night will invite the "best of" HHTF back the to the stage. From solo works to ensemble pieces, HHTF unites the best of both emerging and established hip-hop artists from around the country in an arena that stretches the limits of theater, dance, spoken word and live music. Hits from past festivals include: Will Power's Flow, Sarah Jones' Surface Transit, Jonzi D.'s Lyrical Fearta and Ben Snyder's In Case You Forget. "Over the past five years, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival has grown from a fledgling project of Caseroc Productions and Hip Hop Theatre Junction into an independent non-profit organization with a national scope. HHTF seeks to bring audiences and artists from the Hip-Hop generation together with traditional mainstream theater audiences. HHTF's mission is threefold: to invigorate the fields of Hip-Hop and theater by nurturing the creation of innovative work within the hip-hop aesthetic; to present and tour American and international artists whose work addresses the issues relevant to the hip-hop generation; and to serve young urban communities through outreach & education celebrating contemporary language and culture," states a release.Hip-Hop Theater Festival: NYC 2005 is made possible by the generous support of Ford Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Rush Philanthropic, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Theater Communications Group and British Council US. 2005 collaborators and venues include New York Theater Workshop, Dance Theater Workshop and the Apollo Theater. This year HHTF also makes stops in the San Francisco Bay Area (May), Washington D.C. (July) and Chicago (September).
Opening Night: HHTF 5th Anniversary Celebration
New York Theater Workshop (79 East 4th Street)
Tickets available by calling 212.460.5475 or at www.TheaterMania.com
An exciting roster of past HHTF favorites come together to kick-off the 5th Anniversary of the Festival in NYC. Catch the return of some of HHTF's best – Special performances by Danny Hoch, Ben Snyder, Full Circle, reg e. gaines and many more.10:00 PM
Late Night Series: Opening Night Party
Sutra (16 First Avenue @ 1st Street)
Sponsored by TheaterMania.com
After the show, chill and celebrate with the HHTF family. Drink Specials all night with DJ Ski Hi spinning classics, hip-hop, reggae and house late into the night.TUESDAY, JUNE 146:00 PM
Ace Performance For Teens: Big Voices presented by Russell Projects
Apollo Studio Theater (253 West 125th Street)
Tickets available by calling (212) 531-5303 ($5.00 for H.S. Students & Youth Groups)
Big Voices NYC – a group of performance poets that met working on a Royal Shakespeare Company project – bring rich language, exuberance and diverse perspectives to the Apollo Studio. PattyDukes, QueenGodis, Shaun Redwood, BJ, Abigail Nessen, and Ruby Pan each contribute to a larger voice needing to be heard.
Critical Breaks Showcase: What You Say White Boy? by Playback NYC
New York Theater Workshop (4th Street Theater – 83 East 4th Street)
Tickets available day of, door sale only or by visiting www.theatermania.com ($10.00)
Playback NYC uses music, dance, freestyle hip-hop and improvisational theater to transform the stories of our audience into the art of theater. With the encouragement and support of HHTF, Playback NYC has begun experimenting with how to sample, mix and fuse the 500-year-old tradition of Commedia del'Arte with today's Hip-Hop.WEDNESDAY, JUNE 157:30 PM
Solo Series I:† Witness To War
Dance Theater Workshop (219 West 19th Street)
Tickets available by calling (212) 691-6500 or at www.TheaterMania.com
($20, $15 students & seniors)
Witness to War features excerpts from two solo performances:
• Excerpt from Live From the Front Lines: Petrol & Protein by Jerry Quickley
In the days before "shock and awe," Jerry Quickley went to meet the people of Baghdad and cover the peace movement for KPFK Radio, bringing that unique insight to Live From The Front: Petrol & Protein combining music, poetry, video and powerful performance style to tell the story of his travels to and ultimate expulsion from Iraq.
• Excerpt from Tel Aviv to Ramallah by Yuri Lane
Yuri Lane is a human beatbox with the ability to generate the sounds of a band, DJ or city street with his lips alone. His new beatbox play, From Tel Aviv to Ramallah, was inspired by travels in Israel and the West Bank in 1998 and 2000. 9:30 PM
Critical Breaks Showcase: Breathe by Javon Johnson
Co-presented with the Lark Play Development Workshop
New York Theater Workshop (4th Street Theater – 83 East 4th Street)
Tickets available day of, door sale only or at www.TheaterMania.com ($10.00)
When two young men, one black, one white, find themselves incarcerated and sharing the same cell, they reflect on the tensions, decisions and conditions that led them to prison. A stunning story of two American families from Chicago caught between making a living and raising a family. 11:00 PM
Late Night Series: Needle To Da' Groove
Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street)
Tickets available at the door ($10 dollars, $5 dollars with Festival Ticket Stub)
Under the direction of Tracy "Evil Tracy" Thomas, NTDG is a Hip Hop DJ/Turntablist-multimedia production with theatrically influenced elements including three world-renowned DJ crews (ACTION FIGURE CREW [AFC], DEF TEC and FIRST ELEMENT) coming together with live musicians, skilled technicians and artists to illustrate the past, present & future roles of the DJ in Hip-Hop culture. Features a special guest DJ (TBA) spinning tunes into the early morning. THURSDAY, JUNE 167:30 PM
Solo Series II:† Tales From The Hood
Live Pre-Show Music Mixed by DJ Center @ 6:30
Dance Theater Workshop (219 West 19th Street)
Tickets available by calling (212) 691-6500 or at www.TheaterMania.com
($20, $15 students & seniors)
Tales From The Hood features excerpts from two solo performances:
• Excerpt from Reminiscence of the Ghetto by Angela Kariotis
In her one-woman show Reminiscence of the Ghetto & Other Things That Raized Me, Angela Kairiotis explores a view of urban vernacular and false assumptions, economic status and self-worth, from redefining the word ghetto as an adjective to being white vs. Greek, and the philosophy of cool all explored through wild stories and a rowdy cast of characters.
• Excerpt from NE 2nd Avenue by Teo Castellanos
Teo Castellanos NE 2nd Avenue brings voice to Miami's marginalized urban populations, exploring underlying issues of racism and social injustice, acknowledging the differences among us and ultimately discovering the common threads that bind us together. 9:30 PM
Critical Breaks Showcase: Welcome to Arroyo's by Kristoffer Diaz
Lark BareBones Production
New York Theater Workshop (4th Street Theater – 83 East 4th Street)
Tickets available day of, door sale only or by visiting www.theatermania.com ($10.00)
When two Nuyorican siblings discover a secret past linking them to the origins of Hip Hop, they are forced to question their legacy and their future. Welcome to Arroyo's is a humorous play about the "what if" questions that life poses. MC/DJs press play & pause on the action along the way.
FRIDAY, JUNE 17 & SATURDAY, JUNE 187:30 PM
AMERICAN PREMEIRES: 13 Mics and Solo For Two
June 17 Live Pre-Show Music Mixed by DJ Kuttin' Kandy @ 6:30
June 18 Live Pre-Show Music Mixed by DJ Reborn @ 6:30
Dance Theater Workshop (219 West 19th Street)
Tickets available by calling (212) 691-6500 or at www.TheaterMania.com
($20 regular, $15 students and seniors)
• Benji Reid's 13 Mics
England's Benji Reid, along with 3 musicians and a DJ, takes us on a journey from bebop to hip-hop and all stops in between. Using body popping as a physical vehicle, transported from mic to mic with the hi-energy of freestyle popping, Benji Reid becomes a "human sampler" creating a 21st century hip-hop track in 13 Mics.
• Niels "Storm" Robitzky's Solo For Two
In Solo for Two, Germany's Neil "Storm" Robitzky conducts us through the highs and lows of life with humor and authenticity. Interacting with his own projected image, he creates a clever portrayal of two people united for better or worse, as they move through the city and life as acrobat, tightrope walker and machine, accompanied by an electrifying score. 8:00PM
Critical Breaks Showcase Production: Deep Azure by Chadwick Boseman
Apollo Studio Theater (253 West 125th Street)
A Congo Square Theater Production
Tickets available by calling (212) 531-5305 ($10.00 / General Admission)
When a promising student of a historically black college is killed by a corrupt police officer and the authorities refuse to prosecute, his girlfriend finds her life's worth and purpose as she struggles over the loss. SATURDAY, JUNE 18th10:00 PM
LATE NIGHT SERIES: CLOSING NIGHT PARTY
LOCATION TBA
Another legendary HHTF Closing Night Party sponsored by Azzure Denim.For general information check out www.HipHopTheaterFest.org or call (718) 497-4282.
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