The Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s main stage will be jumping with “The Hip Hop Project,” opening Saturday, July 30, and also running Aug. 3-6.
The show was directed and conceived by Steve Broadnax, a professor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and originated in 2003 as a one-act play written by Broadnax’s students in his creative writing class. It was expanded to two acts and opened at UAPB in September 2004 before being taken to Seattle and Bellingham, Wash.
It combines theatre, graffiti art, deejaying, spoken word, poetry and dance with insights into social issues that affect the hip-hop generation. The cast of young adults are mostly Arkansas natives and UAPB students.
The show recently earned the Association of Theatre in Higher Education Playwriting Award and was performed at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, a first for any Arkansas college in the event’s 37-year history. It also won awards for directing, choreography, scene design, sound and poetry on the station and Region VI levels in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival competition.
Broadnax, a member of the Actor’s Equity Association, appeared in “Dreamgirls” at the Rep in 2004. Christian Carter, a Chicago native, is assistant choreographer and has performed at the Rep in “Children of Eden” and “Dreamgirls.”
Tickets for “The Hip Hop Project” are $25 for orchestra seating and $15 for the mezzanine. Call 378-0405 or 1-866-684-3737, or visit www.therep.org.