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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2010 > August > 30 > Entry
Review: ‘B-Boy Bluez’
There’s an undeniable energy to hip-hop music, a kinetic force, a driving beat that just won’t stop.
Writer and performer Zell Miller III channels this energy into “B-Boy Bluez,” a lively theatrical love letter to hip-hop culture running through Sept. 4 at the Vortex theater, in co-production with UpRise! Productions.
One of the few performers in Austin whose work fits into the genre of hip-hop theatere, Miller skillfully combines hip-hop elements (graffiti art, rap/spoken word, dj-ing beats) with autobiographical stories and character-driven monologues. The fourth element of hip-hop, breakdancing (or b-boying) is brought to life by dancers from local dance crew Outta Kontrol (with choreography by Ananda Mayi Moss and Tony Phillips), who glide through space effortlessly and are a sheer joy to watch.
Miller is a fast-paced and spirited performer who excels at connecting with the audience through telling personal stories that are funny, touching, and full of pop culture references (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Hawaii Five-0”) that will make old-enough audience members flash back to their own pasts nostalgically. In other memorable scenes, Miller plays a “professor” of hip-hop, who schools the audience in hip-hop history.
Like all true hip-hop artists, Miller threads his rhymes with incisive social commentary. In “B-Boy Bluez” he tackles the gentrification of East Austin and the way hip-hop has been commercialized and turned into a commodity for the masses. He also calls out current hip-hop artists for continuing to spread misogyny and homophobia through their music.
Mostly, though, the show centers on the positive effect hip-hop culture had on Miller’s life as a young boy growing up in Austin. As Miller talks about the artists who have influenced him— KRS-One, Public Enemy, Digable Planets — his passion and respect shine through. The show is definitely about race, class, and history, but it’s also about the power of language, art, and music to inspire lives and reshape worlds.
The program note rather mysteriously states that Miller is planning to “walk away” from being a featured performer to focus more time on producing and writing in the future. If this is true, one should definitely see “B-Boy Bluez” before he does.
‘B-Boy Bluez’ continues 8 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays through Sept. 4 at The Vortex, 2307 Manor Road. Tickets $10-$30. Sundays 2-for-1 admission with donation of two non-perishable food items for SafePlace. www.vortexrep.org
Claire Canavan is an American-Statesman freelance critic.
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