Princeton Theological Seminary student to present hip-hop musical
By Anthony Stoeckert, Packet Media Group
If you like hip-hop and musical theater, then you’re bound to like “The Mogul.”
”The Mogul” is a hip-hop musical written by Carla Debbie Alleyne, a master of divinity candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary. Ms. Alleyne also will direct the show when it’s performed at the university’s Frist Performance Theatre, May 1-3.
Ms. Alleyne says her show is about a music mogul’s rise and fall in the hip-hop business, and that it delves into such themes as faith, family and redemption. The show’s main character, Maximilian Macabees has money, power and fame but achieved those dreams through evil ways, and those evil ways could now ruin him. He loses everything, and then has to save his son from gang life.
Ms. Alleyne grew up in Brooklyn, loving hip-hop and listening to the DJ Red Alert on the radio station 98.7, Kiss FM. In high school she wrote a hip-hop movie, titled “Hey, Little Walter,” based on a play she write.
She studied film and television at New York University, eventually gaining a BFA and MFA. While at NYU, she worked on the musical “Bring in the Morning,” which was produced at the Apollo Theater, and starred Lauryn Hill.
She also produced a public access TV show titled “Keep It Real,” on which, she says, she conducted the first-ever interview with Notorious B.I.G.”
Ms. Alleyen is a screenwriter and playwright by trade, and also directs videos and projects for industrial companies. One of her screenplays has been optioned by Miramax. She’s also working on filming another screenplay she recenty finished, and is hoping to work with Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo on that project.
She says she started writing plays when she was 13, and had her work produced by the Young Playwrights Festival which was started by Stephen Sondheim.
”I was surrounded and mentored by the likes of Alfred Uhry, Wendy Wasserstein, David Henry Hwang, Stephen Sondheim, and George C. Wolfe,” she says. “My first off-Broadway production was at 16 years old, The play was entitled, “Hey, Little Walter,” and it was produced by Playwrights Horizon.”
She says “The Mogul,” grew out of her work in film and music. “The theme on fatherhood also came out of my own personal experience of growing up without a father in the home,” he says.
The show’s main performers are Jon Cortez and Solomon Starr, who also wrote the music for “The Mogul.”
”Solomon has acting experience and Jon is a political science major at Princeton University,” Ms. Alleyne says. “I have voice majors from Westminster Choir College in the play as well. And the antagonist Eli Wilson III has a record deal as an R&B singer with a major label. The cast comes from varied backgrounds in acting and music. I wanted to create a platform where they all could share their talent.”
Ms. Alleyen says her studies at the Theological Seminary are another influence on the work.
”I am studying divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary and I am very interested in faith based theatre, film, television and media,” she says. “There are a lot of systemic issues in our society and in the African-American/Latino community from mass incarceration, poverty, unemployment, child abuse and so on… I want to put forth positive messages through my writing in hopes to bring about a change.”
Performances begin at 7 p.m. May 1-3. Special programs will be presented after each performance. Opening night on May will feature a reception at the Frist Performance Center. The May 2 performance will be followed by a talk on fatherhood by documentary filmmaker Kobie Brown. May 3 will be followed by an open mic night by DJ Flame, where singers and rappers can share their talents.
Admission is free. Tickets are required and are available at the Frist Ticket Office, noon to 6 p.m. For information on the Frist Center, including directions, go to www.princeton.edu/frist/