The hip-hop show Holler if Ya Hear Me, book by Todd Kreidler, lyrics by Tupak Shakur, directed by Kenny Leon, choreographed by Wayne Cilento, is basically kvetching about the problems of being black and the desperation of being trapped in the conflicts of the neighborhood, all performed in rhymed slang verse. Saul Williams plays the ultimately self-destructive protagonist, and he is a vivid performer. In fact, they’re all vivid: the lovely-voiced Saycon Sengbloh, Christopher Jackson, Ben Thompson (as the white man), Dyllon Burnside, the wonderful Tonya Pinkins, and the entire crew of this innovative hoppin’, boppin’, singin’. dancin’ energetic bunch. To an 85-year-old ofey, it’s a fascinating anthropological study of the music, rhythms and culture of 2014 that kept me jiggling and foot-tapping in my seat.
