Video: A.C.T. Is Raising the Volume on Hip-Hop with the New Musical, CO-FOUNDERS

A new hip-hop musical has taken over San Francisco! American Conservatory Theater is now presenting the world premiere of Co-Founders. Created by three extraordinary Bay Area voices—Ryan Nicole Austin, Beau Lewis, and Adesha Adefela—the musical features a deliciously catchy score that draws from the Bay’s rich hip-hop traditions, as well as soul, gospel, funk, jazz, R&B, and more.

Witness the launch of the next great hip-hop musical, born in the heart of the Bay! Co-Founders is the story of an underrated young Oakland coder, Esata, who hacks her way into the most competitive startup accelerator in San Francisco. Determined to save her house as an influx of wealth threatens to push her community out, Esata forms an unlikely partnership with a prep-school dropout. In a field where the privileged make a killing while folks across the bridge grind to survive, can Esata win Silicon Valley’s game without leaving her community behind?

The cast of Co-Founders includes: Adesha Adefela, Austin Dean Ashford, Ryan Nicole Austin, Rolanda D. Bell, Jordan Covington, B. DeVeaux, Aneesa Folds, Roe Hartrampf, Keith Pinto, Deanalís Arocho Resto, Tommy Soulati Shepherd, and Ryan Torres.