Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

Hip Hop Solo Show: "Taking Over" plays this week!

posted by Jamie Gahlon

The time has come! This Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Arena and Georgetown University will present a workshop production of Danny Hoch’s Taking Over. Here’s a brief description of what he has in store for us: Taking Over is a hilarious and heartbreaking look at gentrification in the new millennium. Invading artists, hipsters, developers, real estate agents, co-conspirators and longtime community folk are explored through the eyes, ears and voice of one of the Hip-Hop generation’s leading actors and playwrights. For ticketing and show information check out Georgetown’s Program in Performing Arts website at http://performingarts.georgetown.edu/BOXOFFICE/ or call (202) 687-ARTS. Georgetown Students: $5, Senior Citizens & Patrons under 30: $10.   

Arena is really pumped to have Danny here in D.C., especially because we know there is a growing audience for his work, and the hip hop theater genre in general. The Hip Hop Theater Festival will make its return to D.C. sometime later this year. However, if you aren’t willing to wait for its arrival, the District has no shortage of opportunities to see great spoken word and storytelling outside of the festival circuit. For one, Speakeasy DC hosts a monthly open mic storytelling series in which all sorts of people take a stab at telling an original story from real-life experience on the night's theme. I went a few weeks ago when the theme was “Liar Liar, Pants on Fire!” and I had a great time listening to the comedy, tragedy, and ultimate honesty of those who decided to share their experiences. Check out the Speakeasy website for more information on upcoming shows.

Danny gets into town this afternoon, so he, Vijay the production stage manager, and I will be heading over to Georgetown to check out the costumes and tech elements they have set aside for our use throughout the workshop. Rehearsals officially start tomorrow. On Thursday we will do an afternoon tech before the first show goes up that same night. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but hopefully we can find a way to keep it controlled chaos! I hope to see you there!

Hip Hop Theater & Danny Hoch’s Taking Over Arena

posted by Jamie Gahlon

From Thursday, Nov. 29 to Saturday, Dec. 1, Arena Stage and Georgetown University’s Program in Performing Arts will present a workshop production of Taking Over, a new solo show written and performed by Danny Hoch, and directed by Tony Taccone of Berkeley Repertory Theater. For show and ticketing information, check out the Georgetown Program in Performing Arts website.

I have the incredible opportunity of stepping outside of my normal Arena hats (Human Resources Associate/Executive Director Intern) to line produce for the workshop, and I couldn’t be more excited. I first heard about Danny Hoch and his work last year through research I conducted on Hip Hop Theater for a Political Theater class I was enrolled in at Georgetown. What is Hip Hop Theater, you ask?

For those of you who don’t know, Danny Hoch founded the first Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2000 and is considered one of the fathers and most formidable creators and contributors to the Hip Hop Theater genre. Hip Hop Theater uses theater as a medium for hip hop, combining intrinsically theatrical hip hop elements such as rap, singing, break dancing, spoken word, beat-boxing and spinning records with theater. The Hip Hop Theater movement really got off the ground in the ‘90s, emerging largely through trained theater artists who grew up in and were influenced by hip hop culture.