Tupac Shakur to Be Turned into Musical, “I always thought Tupac was a prophet…”

February 29, 2012 by Kellie Williams in Latest News with 0 Comments

The musical entitled, “Holler If Ya Hear Me,” which is directed by the critically acclaimed, three time Tony Award winner, Kenny Leon, is described as an

“American musical inspired by and featuring the music of Tupac Shakur.”

Official casting will begin on March 4th, with casting at Pearl studios at 500 8th Ave. The posting read,

“seeking African American male and female rappers ages 18-35. Additionally seeking one Caucasian actor ages 20-25 with a strong facility for rap and terrific guitar skills. Strong legit singing voices a plus for all, but not required.”

The workshops for the actors then selected will run from April 23 till May 11. An official date for the debut of the play has not yet been announced. Director Kenny Leon discussed, in a PBS interview, the story behind the play saying,

“A long time ago, maybe eight or nine years ago, I’ve been talking about that with Tupac’s mother, Afeni, and so we’ve become fans of each other and she sort of entrusted me with her son’s music… The idea was always to make a musical inspired by his music and not to do an autobiographical approach to his life or anything like that. And because I always thought that Tupac was a prophet and I thought if everybody could hear his words and hear his stories, they would see what I see.”

Sounds interesting, but do we think that Tupac’s legacy is broad enough for a New York stage play?

[All Hip Hop]

– @Ayo_Leslo

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