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A Tupac-inspired musical gets a 2nd chance on the big stage

Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon is bringing back his 2014 production of Holler if ya Hear Me, which was only on Broadway for 2 months, to audiences in Atlanta.
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Director Kenny Leon is bringing back his 2014 Tupac-inspired musical, Holler If Ya Hear Me, to audiences in Atlanta. (Kenny Leon's True Colors/YouTube, courtesy of True Colors Theatre)

Back in 2014, Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon directed a Broadway show called Holler if ya Hear Me, which adapted the music and lyrics of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur. But, the show only ran for two months. 

Three years later, Leon is trying again. Holler if ya Hear Me is getting a second chance now in Atlanta, Ga. While the Broadway run didn't go as well as planned, Leon isn't dwelling on the past. In fact, he says 2017 may just be the right time for a play like this.

"It's more timely given the poltical climate in our country now," he explains. "Now it seems more meaningful; we really are screaming for world peace and to hear it through Tupac's words sometimes you're like, what? Tupac wrote that? Wow." 

Leon joins guest host Ali Hassan to discuss his musical, getting a second chance to show it to audiences and what Tupac's music means to him. 

Holler if ya Hear Me is running until Oct. 8 in Atlanta. 

— Produced by Ben Jamieson

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