What’s Next for Rhymes Over Beats?
This week I want to start talking about the projects we have in the pipeline. Not all of them, just the ones we have in active development.
This may take a while!
But First, a Little Background…
Shows get done in NYC – especially on Broadway – following a limited number of different models.
- The first model is the star actor model. The producers get an “A” list star or two and put them in a show. A recent example would be All The Way, a play about LBJ starring Brian Cranston.
- The next model is a revival of a previously successful show. An example would be the current production of My Fair Lady.
- The third model is a play or a musical written by a famous playwright or a famous person. Examples of these are Picasso at the Lapin Agile written by Steve Martin, or anything by Neil Simon.
- Finally there is the slow growth model. A show is developed in a regional theater or off-Broadway. If it does well, and if a lot of buzz surrounds the show, it is brought to NYC (either off-Broadway or on Broadway, depending on the size of the buzz and where it originated). This model is the one the Public Theater uses.
We are using a different model for each of the shows we are developing.
What’s in the ROB Pipeline?
We are currently in active development for three plays.
The first is a revival of a play I produced fifteen years ago called The Exonerated. It is constructed from the actual stories of six people who were convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death for something they didn’t do. It is really a hip hop play and should be revived with and by hip hop artists, and produced by a hip hop theater collective. This is what gave me the idea of starting Rhymes Over Beats Hip Hop Theater Collective, to produce more work like this.
We are developing a musical written by hip hop artist Masta Ace. This will be an original story with original music by a legend in the hip hop community.
The third play we are developing is Sonny’s Song, a play with music, written by Germono Toussaint. Our model for this production is the star model.
- Because it is a play about the music business and the toll it takes on artists, and it has only three characters, we thought this would work the best. The characters are an older married couple and their young nephew. We want to use name hip hop artists who also act. (Let us know if you have any suggestions!)
In the next few weeks we will talk about each show in detail. Stay tuned for the next series of blog posts!