Faison Firehouse Theater presents a new Christmas tradition, "Bah Humbug", a hip hop musical conceived by Tony-winner George Faison with Ebon Charles, Jasmine Thomas, The Respect Project, and one of rap's most prominent emcees, Rah Digga. This was my first time at the Faison Firehouse Theater and it won't be my last. I'm excited to see the progress of this theater as they stretch to develop new, original productions with a focus on preparing Harlem's youth to compete and succeed both on and behind the stage. Although "Bah Humbug" wasn't a perfect production, the elements that worked superseded all of its shortcomings.
It was refreshing to see a new take on the holiday staple "A Christmas Carol"; here, the classic character Scrooge is portrayed as a big shot hip hop oroducer. He enters rapping and scrutinizing a group of underpaid artists/producers who create and distribute for him. (Some even bootleg albums for this hip hop mogul.) When it came to visiting the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come things became a bit fuzzy; the play's narrative here could be told more clearly. Soon, though, we ventured off into watching The Notorious E.B. Scrooge follow a forgotten girlfriend and a child he never knew he had.
Faison choreographs an astounding ballet to open the hip hop musical and his ensemble of dancers do his direction justice. They were exceptional at utilizing the enclosed space to their advantage; surely they could do even more with a larger space. There is poetry mixed in this hip hop musical and the spoken word artist performing the text knocks it out of the park on every occasion. She keeps you on the edge of your seat with every syllable released from her mouth giving voice to conscious intellect. It was extremely pleasurable to see Rah Digga shine in her element, rapping her emotions and thoughts when simple words were no longer enough.
I commend the Faison Firehouse Theater in its efforts to engage the younger generation, though I think come next year around another rap scheme could be utilized: although Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac will forever be set in history as great lyricists, they are no longer as relevant to today's youth as other artists. A dramaturg could also be a help for future productions, guiding the vision away from "winter concert" and towards a fully realized journey. In any case, keep an eye out for Faison Firehouse: it's a company with promise.
