Verses at Work: A Hip Hop Theater Production
A Hip Hop Theater Production at Theater for the New City!
New York, NY, January 6, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Theater for the New City Presents Verses at Work. Renowned hip-hop artist and performer Malik Work opens his show with the lines:
"Chip, chip...
I got the chisel in my hand for your heart
You don’t know me yet, but you like me
At least that’s a start."
A sneak peak into the adventurous early 2000s world of live music born in the heart of the bars and clubs of NYC's East Village and Lower East Side.
Malik Work
And he’s right. You can’t help but like this man who evolves from a confused kid seduced by the glamour of the club life, and the women and parties that follow, to the “grown ass man” at the end of his story. It is a story. A true story. But it’s also a hip-hop theater experience told through his eyes, voice, words, and rhymes.
Malik Work and his band created a musical movement 15 years ago at The Izzy Bar. The dream was to make a reality TV series, but the demand was for live performance. They quickly became the hot spot, with crowds flocking every Tuesday night to hear their groundbreaking sound at THE REAL LIVE SHOW.
Work desperately struggles to get out of the club world, where he’s trapped as a bouncer, despite his success at building a fan base as his alter ego Dionysos. The lines between his roles at The Izzy Bar blur as do the lines between hip-hop and theater in this one-man show that truly defies genre. When he ends with the lines:
"I did what I did, so I’m a do what I do
Now it’s time to rock the hook, already done that too
I been there"
The audience feels like they have “been there,” too. They’ve felt the heartbreak and the hope and they’re right there with him wiping off the sweat from the club.
An adaptation of this show was made into a film of the same name (directed by Lucas Mendes), and received the International Spotlight Award at The Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival.
Directed by Toya Lillard (of viBe Theater), with sound and music by Quincy Valentine, along with a host of NYC’s finest Jazz, Dance, Groove, and Hip Hop producers, Verses at Work gives a sneak peak into the adventurous early 2000s world of live music born in the heart of the bars and clubs of NYC’s East Village and Lower East Side.
DATES: January 19 – February 5
TIMES: Thursdays – Saturdays 8PM, Sundays 3PM
LOCATION: Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (bet 9th & 10th Streets)
Source: Theater for the New City
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