Have you ever thought about what would happen if black actors got fed up with rappers taking all their screen roles? Ever think about what would happen if, feeling helpless and more importantly, out of work, those actors decided to take matters into their own hands?
SoulBounce was in the house last weekend for a special preview of a play that not only poses those questions, but plays them out in real time. Actor/writer/director J. Kyle Manzay and an ensemble cast that includes local New York radio personalities Ann Tripp (107.5 WBLS) and Deja Vu (Power 105.1), tackles the edict laid out a few years back by Samuel L. Jackson, who proclaimed he'd never do a movie with a rapper again. (Sure, he's since done exactly that, but do you wanna tell Sam that he's a hypocrite? Yeah, didn't think so.) His reasoning? They were taking jobs from trained actors.
Manzay's character, L.J., has been passed over for a lead role in a
major motion picture in favor of the hottest rapper in the game, Datz
Ridiculous. (You read that correctly.) L.J. and his boys decide it would be in the best interest of the acting community to
kidnap Ridiculous, and well...hilarity and hypocrisy ensues.
We won't give up the entire play here. What we will say is that if you're in the New York City area between
now and March 1st, and if you have $45 (which is steep for an off-off
Broadway production, but I digress), you should probably check it out.
Oh, and the emails announcing the play also promised a starring role by Vanessa Simmons of Run's House
lore, but, alas, Ms. Simmons was sitting a row behind us for this
performance. It was then that we got the scoop straight from Van (we
can call her that since we're cool with her now) that House will run just two more seasons and that this upcoming season, we should expect to see a fashion show featuring her and sister Angela's signature Pastries line.
Joy.
Check the sites for more information.
The Actor's Rap [Official] [MySpace]
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