hip hop for homos

last night i had the absolute pleasure (courtesy of my dear pal mykel) to witness the brilliant piece of modern theatre that is 'bash'd : a gay rap opera'. it is showing at the zipper room in hell's kitchen until the end of august and i highly recommend you catch it while you can. i had never been to the zipper room and that was an experience in itself. you walk in to what seems like an apartment building and then walk into an amazing little bar/playground that served mighty strong drinks that you were allowed to bring into the actual theatre!!! that's unheard of in nyc! and one of the highlights was that all the seats in the main seating area were actual backseats from cars...so comfortable and strangely intimate. after seeing the show it kind of annoyed me that a lot of the seats were empty throughout because the show was ridiculously potent and important.
the stage was pretty bare except for two large ornate trunks on either side and a very futuristic techy lighting board that played a key role throughout the entire show. quickly the two actor/rappers ran onto the stage and began their 50ish minutes of rapid beat poetry, character swapping, crazy choreography...all part of a show that left me and mykel exhausted mentally and emotionally. there was a lot of fourth wall breaks and pseudo audience participation. there were moments of camp splattered generously throughout the entire production but all that came to an end during a powerful crescendo that actually almost made me shed a tear. it was flawlessly executed and it was hip, modern and poignant with the current state of the gay community around the world and how every step forward we go there will always be a herd of homophobic buffalo to attempt to stampede us with fear and violence to keep us down. the show overall was very inspiring and i left the theatre energized and about to look around for someone who might dare call me a 'faggot' because we would have kicked their ass!!!

check out their website and GO SEE THE SHOW!