Fans of late rapper Tupac Shakur, have something new to celebrate. The late hip-hop icon’s music will be featured in a new Broadway musical titled, “Holler If Ya Hear Me.”
According to Playbill, the Kenny Leon directed musical will begin casting in New York City on March 10 and are seeking African American male and female rappers between the ages of 18 – 35.
While Leon previously revealed in interviews that he has held small workshops with Shakur’s mother, Afeni, he also mentioned that he has always wanted to direct a production inspired by the rapper’s discography.
“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,” he said. “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. So we are going to probably do a big workshop in New York this summer and I’m going to try to bring it to Broadway in the next Broadway season.”
“So a year from now hopefully you’ll be seeing this world-changing musical on the Broadway stage. I couldn’t be more excited,” he continued. “Todd Krickler is writing the book, and with the lyrics by Tupac, it’s going to be very exciting, pretty much would sort of change the face of musical theater as we know it on Broadway, so I am looking forward to that.”
A premiere date is yet to be determined.
