Saul Williams on the Closing of Holler

He basically blames the world for not appreciating the show, neglecting the fact the show just... wasn't very good.

He manages to cite the Iggy Azalea cultural appropriation controversy (neglecting the fact the show's bookwriter is a white male), the fact that audiences prefer stories like Rocky (not mentioning it is also a flop), and suggests people were gunning for the show before it even opened (when, in fact, many people were optimistic, though unsure of how well it could do).



'It Was Going to Be an Uphill Battle'

---

Updated On: 7/23/14 at 09:55 AM

I like how they blame TKTS for telling people it's a bit of a downer and got bad reviews, aren't both of those things true?

Don't people typically look at the list in advance and figure out what to buy on their own? No wonder that line is so slow if they are jawing about shows once they get up there...

Updated On: 7/23/14 at 10:28 AM

Poor thing. But a totally American attitude that the failure of the project rests completely on other people, not those who created the inferior/unwanted product.

It's always someone else's fault, isn't it?

He's an Actor whose show is closing. He believed in the show so he has to look for someone to blame. But if you are gonna speak out about it in a national publication, first do some homework (the ROCKY thing). People will respect your opinion more if you know what you are talking about.

Standing ovations are EVERYTHING. Sondheim gave HEATHERS a standing ovation and now that show is moving to broadway!

Rocky is stealing everybody's business. That's why Crumbs closed.

---

Thanks to DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince.

---

A show someone somewhere enjoyed closed, so I'm never seeing theater again.

you see the logic OK? agree to disagree different strokes

---

^ Yup.
Isherwood's piece actually explains the problem rather well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/theater/closing-of-holler-if-ya-hear-me-raises-questions.html
"In truth, the problem with “Holler” wasn’t really the music at all, but the ham-handed, sentimentalized story line concocted to underpin it. I tended to perk up during the musical numbers, which capitalized on the forceful rhythms of Shakur’s raps, layered over music that often had a strong melodic core. Then I’d sink back into my seat when the clichéd narrative ground back into gear, telling us what we already knew about the travails of young black men in the ghetto, trying to resist the toxic environment to forge viable futures for themselves. The characters — the ex-con trying to go straight, the drug lord beginning to question the path he’d chosen — were underwritten and familiar, and while the cast members were strong, there was little they could do to imprint any true originality on the material."


But look, the Holler team is looking for someone to blame. And they won't blame themselves. So they can blame white America.

Holler tried so hard to be preachy when it had no message to...well...Holler. Tupac deserved better.

So to you Saul Williams, I say shut up.

Oh my. Many actors should simply never speak unless they've had their lines written for them.

Well, Leon is a competent-at-best director.

---

"America's been on the wrong side of history lots of times. We were allies with Germany until Charlie Chaplin came out with The Great Dictator and then we were like, 'Holy F*CK' and we switched sides."

Sounds like he could do Drunk History sober.