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| Rafael Casal teaching the first #BARS Workshop #2 |
On Monday, July 18, 2016 eighteen poets, rappers, actors, beatboxers, and playwrights gathered at The Public Theater in New York City for the
#BARS Workshop #2.
The instructor Rafael Casal said that when he was selecting the eighteen out of hundreds of applicants that he felt like Professor X with Cerebro peering out into the universe and assembling the hip hop theater X-Men. Rafael is an experienced theater instructor with a strong background in hip hop and spoken word.
I interviewed him for my book
Oakland in Popular Memory. If you haven't seen his work, check out his
videos on YouTube.
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| #BARS Workshop 2nd cohort at the Public Theater |
The goal of the class is to produce a new theater piece that we'll perform and film at The Public Theater on Monday, September 5. We'll be joined by Daveed Diggs and other leading performers in the hip hop theater space for our final performance.
The first class included an introduction to approaching verse and a rap battle exercise. Exiting the class, we ran into Daniel Radcliffe and Amy Poehler in the lobby. They were celebrating the opening night of
Privacy at The Public Theater. After the class, we went for drinks at a local spot, and I learned more about the eclectic backgrounds of class participants--from beatboxing to acting in
In The Heights, and spoke with some veteran actors who flew out from California specifically for this workshop.
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| Matt Werner with #BARS instructor Rafael Casal |
Looking forward to the next 7 weeks!
