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Artist News
Tupac musical not closing, assures producer
By Aly Barchi | Published on Friday 27 June 2014
The producer of ‘Holler If Ya Hear Me’, the Broadway musical based on Tupac Shakur’s lyrics, has denied reports that it’ll soon be a ‘rap’ on the newly-premiered show, claiming that it won’t, in fact, be closing this weekend.
Whilst its credentials (especially the involvement of director Kenny Lyon, who captained the acclaimed recent ‘Raisin In The Sun’ revival) are great on paper; ‘Holler’, which stars musician Saul Williams, has had a rocky ride since its opening night last Thursday. It received mixed reviews and reportedly only took in $170,000 in its first week (making it the lowest-grossing attraction on Broadway at this moment in time), with critics arguing that there was no demographic to fit the show’s appeal.
Nevertheless co-lead producer Jessica Green maintains the show will go on, informing Billboard: “If we were going to close this Sunday, we would have had to post a closing notice last Monday, because there’s all these union rules between the cast, and the company, and the theatre, and all of that”.
An optimistic Green goes on: “We are increasing every week, we are getting in new audiences that have never gone to Broadway before. There’s a little bit longer of an acclimation period, let’s say, between education and actually coming out”.