Craig Grant confides in the audience during his one-man show A Sucker Emcee, now at the Bank Street Theater (produced by the Labyrinth Theater Company). As DJ Rich Medina mans the 1s and 2s, Grant portrays the story of his life in rhymed couplets, all directed by Jenny Koons.
An actor an playwright, Grant (a.k.a. muMs), is perhaps better known for his involvement in HBO’s Oz, which he eventually tells all about, as well.
Grant begins with his unpleasant Bronx childhood. Then he takes the audience through his obligatory college years moves through his trials and tribulations as a hip hop artist and his times as an actor. To close, he turns the story back to the boggy down Bronx.
During the performance he transitions form his mother to his father, a friend or a teacher. But the main character of the story is himself.
“Before hip-hop, I couldn’t speak,” said Grant on his journey to becoming a hip-hop artist. Nowadays, music helps him “turn all that hate into a dance and a chant.”
Medina enlivens the story, paying tribute to come of Grant’s influences including KRS-One, Rakim and the Sugarhill Gang.
A Sucker Emcee runs through October 5 at the Bank Street Theater in the West Village.
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