Eight years strong, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival returns to its hometown NYC with a line-up featuring the leaders in the field mashing up Hip-Hop and Theater. From Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s global multi-media jam theater experience - the break/s, to Danny Hoch’s latest tour-de-force Taking Over, an ode to New York City, and its changing landscape due to gentrification. In between, the Festival will showcase the up-and-coming works of emerging artists such as Lemon, muMs, Baba Israel, Rudi Goblen and Nicole Klaymoon. As always, The NYC Hip-Hop Theater Festival will bring the stories of a generation whose fierce eye focuses towards the clarion that Hip-Hop is a thriving cultural force. 

Ticket Info & Venues 

September 23, 25, 26 & 27

NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts presents 
the break/s 
by Marc Bamuthi Joseph for the Living Word Project 
Directed by Michael John Garces 
Executive Producer: MAPP International Productions 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU :: 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South :: NY 
 
Is Hip-Hop your passport? The Festival opens with the NYC premiere of renowned poet and spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph's much-anticipated the break/s. Inspired by Jeff Chang’s 2005 award winning Can't Stop Won't Stop, the break/s is a breakthrough Hip-Hop theater performance exploring Joseph’s travels from Port-au-Prince to Paris, Tokyo to Minneapolis, Senegal to Bosnia, while dazzling with a synthesis between performer, score, and moving image to create a live mix tape on stage. 

This tour of the Living Word Project / Marc Bamuthi Joseph is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program.   

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, NY
www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu 
212.352.3101. 

Tickets:  
$25 with HHTF Insider code, HHTF08 
$12 NYU Students 
Click Here
212.352.3101 
 

September 23 - October 5 

Style Master Preview Exhibit 

Style Masters is a visual arts exhibit celebrating some of the pioneering artists that helped shape the worldwide public art phenomenon known as graffiti. Curated by Alan Ket and Joshua Ivory, Style Masters focuses on the works of artists from the early to mid 1970s who influenced and changed the world of graffiti and popular culture. These works are replicas of original pieces that ran on the NYC Subway when trains provided the only canvasses to which artists had access.  

NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South NY 
September 23 Opening by Invitation Only

Public Viewing Hours:
Sunday, September 28 :: 3 PM – 5 PM w/ Carlos “REC” McBride and Alan Ket
Thursday, October 2 :: 4 PM – 6 PM w/ some featured artists. 

October 1 - October 11 

Hip-Hop Theater Festival & the Public Theater

In association with
Hostos Center for Arts & Culture, LaGuardia Performance Arts Center and El Puente of Williamsburg
Present 

Taking Over: the All-City Tour 
Written & performed by Danny Hoch 
Directed by Tony Taccone 

Hip-Hop Theater Festival founder, award winning actor, and New York native, DANNY HOCH takes on gentrification and affordable housing in his latest play, Taking Over. Blazing through a fierce spectrum of New Yorkers, Hoch spurs the debate about the future of our city and its obsession with economic expansion. HHTF and the Public Theater have teamed up with cultural institutions across the city to bring you this ALL-CITY TOUR to neighborhoods FREE OF CHARGE, prior to the show's run at the Public this November. See it first, in YOUR neighborhood! 

TICKETS ARE FREE. RESERVATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED. 
Click Here

Hostos Performing Arts Center
450 Grand Concourse @ 149^th Street, Bronx, NY
Box Office: (718) 518-4455 

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center
31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, NY
LPAC Box Office: 718-482-5151

Grand Street Campus Auditorium
850 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY
El Puente: 718-387-0404

October 1 

Voices Remix: Voices of a People's History of the United States 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU :: 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South 

The Voices Remix is a unique collaboration set to ignite and honor the activist, dissenters and progressives from America’s vibrant history, as read by some of today’s hottest talent. Fashioned as a night of theater, it will fuse multi-generational artists and performers to celebrate the courageous agents of change who gave birth to the most powerful generation of Americans yet, the post-civil rights babies from Chuck D to Eminem.  

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, NY
www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu 
212.352.3101.

Tickets 
$25 
$12 NYU Students  
click here
212.352.3101 

Presented in partnership with NYU’s Center for Multicultural Education and Programs
 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 
6 PM  
Preview Exhibit of Style Masters 
NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts 
Opening Preview by Invitation Only 

 
8 PM  
Opening Night 
the break/s 
by Marc Bamuthi Joseph for the Living Word Project 
Directed by Michael John Garces 
Executive Producer: MAPP International Productions 
NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts
 
Tickets 
$40
$30 for NYU S Faculty, Staff & Alumni 
$12 NYU Students 
click here
212.352.3101 
 
 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 
8 PM 
the break/s 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU 
Open Caption performance
  
Tickets 
$40
$30 for NYU S Faculty, Staff & Alumni 
$12 NYU Students 
click here
212.352.3101

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 
7 PM  
Urban Word NYC, HHTF & NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development present 

Preemptive Education: Language, Identity & Power 
Opening Panel & Youth Performance  
This performance and panel series will start at with the word. Three poems and three panels will interact and converge in a conversation that uses spoken word poetry to reclaim identities and challenge inequities around language, privilege and power. With poets Jamilla Lyiscott, Janine Simon, Zora Howard & Marne Bruckner. 

FREE

NYU’s Silver Center :: 100 Washington Square East, Room 703 :: NYU

 
8 PM 
the break/s 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts 
ASL interpreted performance

Tickets 
$40
$30 for NYU S Faculty, Staff & Alumni 
$12 NYU Students 
click here
212.352.3101 


 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

10 AM - 6 PM 
Preemptive Education: Language, Identity & Power 
Urban Word NYC's Annual Mentor, Teacher, Educator & Community Activist Training  

Preemptive Education aims to examine the issues that affect today's youth, while providing creative and practical resources to address them. Using the power of spoken word poetry and Hip-Hop as the lens to explore language and privilege, participants will learn best practices in student-centered pedagogy from professionals in the fields of education, youth development, spoken word and Hip-Hop. Combining performance, panel discussion, and professional development workshops, Preemptive Education will provide a comprehensive opportunity for educators of all levels.

Fee: $100 
Registration required: parker@urbanwordnyc.org 


8 PM
the break/s 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU

Tickets 
$40
$30 for NYU S Faculty, Staff & Alumni 
$12 NYU Students 
click here
212.352.3101
 
 
Sunday, September 28 
10 AM - 6 PM 
Preemptive Education: Language, Identity & Power 
Urban Word NYC's Annual Mentor, Teacher, Educator & Community Activist Training – Day #2 
NYU’s Silver Center :: 100 Washington Square East, Room 703 :: NYU



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 
7 PM 
County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle 
Written and performed by Lemon Anderson  
Developed and directed by Elise Thoron

County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle is Lemon Anderson's personal memoir turned story for the stage. Anderson is a critically acclaimed renaissance man, with the most aired episodes on HBO's Def Poetry, as well as being an original cast member and Tony Award winner for writing and starring in Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle is a production of The American Place Theatre's Literature to Life Arts Education Program, led by Artistic Director Wynn Handman and Executive Director David Kener.

Tickets: $10 
4^th Street Theater :: New York Theatre Workshop :: 83 East 4th Street :: NY 
Click Here


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 
7:30 PM 
Cause They Said So!  
Excerpts from Urban Word NYC, viBe Theater Experience, Impact Theater and Lyrical Circle 
 
In Can't Stop Won't Stop, Jeff Chang writes, " . . . when does the Hip-Hop Generation begin? After DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. Whom does it include? Anyone who is down. When does it end? When the next generation tells us it's over." Cause They Said So! is an evening dedicated to the next generation of poets and playwrights taking the stage to tell us how it really is. "There are many more versions to be heard," writes Chang. "May they all be."Click Here

Tickets $10
NYU’s Kimmel Center :: Eisner & Lubin Auditorium :: 4th Floor :: 60 Washington Square South :: NY 
 


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1
8 PM  
Voices of a People's History of the United States
The Voices Remix is a unique collaboration set to ignite and honor the activist, dissenters and progressives from America’s vibrant history, as read by some of today’s hottest talent. Fashioned as a night of theater, it will fuse multi-generational artists and performers to celebrate the courageous agents of change who gave birth to the most powerful generation of Americans yet, the post-civil rights babies from Chuck D to Eminem.  

Tickets:  
$25 
$12 w/ NYU ID & Seniors 
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU :: 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South
click here
212.352.3101


8 PM – NO LATE SEATING
Taking Over: The All-City Tour (BRONX) 
Written & performed by Danny Hoch 
Directed by Tony Taccone 

FREE TICKETED EVENT

Hostos Center for Arts & Culture:: 450 Grand Concourse :: Bronx 
Reservations recommended: Click Here
Box Office: (718) 518-4455 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2 
8 PM - NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: The All-City Tour (BRONX) 
Written & performed by Danny Hoch 
Directed by Tony Taccone 

FREE TICKETED EVENT

Hostos Center for Arts & Culture:: 450 Grand Concourse :: Bronx 
Reservations recommended: Click Here
Box Office: (718) 518-4455
 


FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 
7 PM 
Insanity Isn't 
Written & performed by Rudi Goblen 
Directed by Teo Castellanos 
&
The Sixth Vowel 
Written & performed by Nicole Klaymoon 
Directed by Kamilah Forbes 
 
What happens when you are different? In Insanity Isn't and The Sixth Vowel both artists, Rudi Goblen and Nicole Klaymoon, explore conformity, difference and mental illness through text, B-boy/girl movements, rhyme, beat boxing and music. Rudi hails from Miami, Nicole from the Bay. They’ve shared the same stage, but never before in New York City.  

Tickets: $10 
4^th Street Theater :: New York Theatre Workshop :: 83 East 4th Street :: NY 
Click Here


8 PM - NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: The All-City Tour (BRONX) 
Written & performed by Danny Hoch 
Directed by Tony Taccone

*Panel Discussion/Talk back w/ the Artist & Special Guests* 

FREE TICKETED EVENT
Hostos Center for Arts & Culture:: 450 Grand Concourse :: Bronx 
Reservations recommended: Click Here
Box Office: (718) 518-4455

 
9:30 PM  
Boom Bap Meditations 
Written by Baba Israel 
Directed by Morganics with music by Yako

Boom Bap Meditations follows the journey of Baba as he discovers Hip-Hop and earns his stripes as a street performer and arts educator. Baba morphs into a lesbian emcee, a stoned college Hip-Hop fan, a senior citizen & many others, as he opens his diary of travels as journeyman and prophet of culture. Backed by Yako 440 on keys, bass and beats, he confronts the white appropriation of black culture while celebrating the tangible moments of enlightenment. 

Tickets: $10 
4^th Street Theater :: New York Theatre Workshop :: 83 East 4th Street :: NY 
Click Here



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4 
7 PM 
Workshop reading of  Paradox of the Urban Cliché 
Written and performed by Craig "muMs" Grant 
Directed by Sarah Sidman 

Augustus Jefferson Caesar, his block proper name Ceez, almost unseen, learns the hard way, the disciplines of love and responsibility amongst the broken glass and white tees of his known universe: the block. 

Tickets: $10
4^th Street Theater :: New York Theatre Workshop :: 83 East 4th Street :: NY 
Click Here
 
 
8 PM - NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: The All-City Tour (BRONX) 
Written & performed by Danny Hoch 
Directed by Tony Taccone 

FREE TICKETED EVENT
Reservations recommended: Click Here

Hostos Center for Arts & Culture:: 450 Grand Concourse :: Bronx
Box Office: (718) 518-4455


9:30 PM 
Insanity Isn't & The Sixth Vowel 
4^th Street Theater :: New York Theatre Workshop :: 83 East 4th Street :: NY 
Click Here
 


MONDAY, OCTOBER 6 
8:30 PM – NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: the All-City Tour (QUEENS) 

FREE TICKETED EVENT 
Reservations recommended: Click Here

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center :: 31-10 Thomson Avenue :: Long Island City
LPAC Box Office: 718-482-5151 
 


TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7 
2:30 PM – NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: the All-City Tour (QUEENS) 

FREE TICKETED EVENT 
Reservations recommended: Click Here

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center :: 31-10 Thomson Avenue :: Long Island City
LPAC Box Office: 718-482-5151

*Special Student Matinee* 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9 
8:30 PM – NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: the All-City Tour (QUEENS) 

FREE TICKETED EVENT
Reservations recommended: Click Here

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center :: 31-10 Thomson Avenue :: Long Island City
LPAC Box Office: 718-482-5151

*Panel Discussion/Talk back w/ the Artist & Special Guests*



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10 
8:30 PM – NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: the All-City Tour (QUEENS) 

FREE TICKETED EVENT
Reservations recommended: Click Here

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center :: 31-10 Thomson Avenue :: Long Island City
LPAC Box Office: 718-482-5151

 
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 
10 AM - 5 PM 
Black on Both Sides: Hip-Hop's Afro-Latin@s Represent! 
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture :: 515 Malcolm X Blvd. :: NY 
FREE 
Reservations recommended: Click Here
Puerto Rican and Latino contributions have been a central but often overlooked component in the historical development of Hip- Hop. The presence of AfroLatinas/os and others of African descent complicates the meaning of blackness as we navigate racial dynamics within and outside of different national contexts. Black on Both Sides aims to encourage dialogue around issues of black identity in Hip-Hop, and its potential to stimulate social, political, and civic engagement throughout African diaspora communities in New York City and beyond. Black on Both Sides brings together a cross-generational line-up that includes Hip-Hop pioneers and emerging artists for critical conversation and performance. This event is organized by the Afrolatin@ forum in collaboration with New York University's Center for Multicultural Education and Programs, and the Hip Hop Association. 
 

8 PM – NO LATE SEATING 
Taking Over: the All-City Tour (BROOKLYN) 

The Festival closes out and comes home with the final performance of Taking Over: the All City Tour in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Do not miss this performance presented in the actual neighborhood that inspired the play.  

FREE TICKETED EVENT

Grand Street Campus Auditorium :: 850 Grand Street :: Brooklyn 
Reservations recommended: Click Here
El Puente: 718-387-0404
HHTF: 718-497-4282