It's been a breakthrough year for hip-hop in theater. In June, the propulsive “In the Heights” won the Tony Award for best musical; locally, La Jolla Playhouse staged “The Seven,” a bold fusion of rap and Greek tragedy.
Now, the Old Globe is adding hip-hop to its repertoire: The Balboa Park-based theater has announced it will produce the regional-theater premiere of “The Kingdom,” a musical based in both hip-hop and rock, this winter.
Workshop versions of the show, which has a book and lyrics by Aaron Jafferis and music by Ian Williams, won awards at two music-theater festivals in New York as well as a Richard Rodgers Award for new-musical development.
Jafferis draws on his own experiences growing up on the streets of New Haven, Conn., to tell the play's story of two friends who get caught up in a violent, gang-related power struggle.
The twist with the local production is that “Kingdom” will run not only at the Globe itself, but also at Lincoln High School's Center for the Arts. The show, to be the centerpiece of a series of youth workshops and community events, is part of the theater's initiative to develop artistic programs in the ethnically diverse southeastern part of the city.
The area “has been dealing with gangs, and (has) young people who live with these issues,” Globe CEO/executive producer Louis G. Spisto said, “and fantastic young people who are interested in hip-hop poetry and music and dance and visual arts.” The events surrounding “Kingdom,” he said, are “a great first step in our collaboration with new areas of the community.”
As for the show, Spisto says of Jafferis: “His work elevates the form, I think. It's the best of what hip-hop can be.”
“Kingdom” runs at Lincoln's 750-seat theater Feb. 12-15, and at the Globe Feb. 19-22.
Sweet talkin' woman
Kerry Butler's no longer on Broadway (at least for the moment), but the star of the just-closed New York run of “Xanadu” has a new gig: She headlines La Jolla Playhouse's “Moon Over Morocco” gala Oct. 24, benefiting the theater's new-play development, educational and outreach programs.
An actress who played a beneficent Greek muse might not seem the first choice to host a Morocco-themed affair, but there's a La Jolla connection: “Xanadu” sees new life beginning next month at the Playhouse. (Its director is Christopher Ashley, the theater's artistic director.)
Information: (858) 550-1020, ext. 154 or lajollaplayhouse.cmarket.com.
– JAMES HEBERT
