Category — Clay

Already excited I was seeing a performance with a description I actually loved, I couldn’t wait to get to The Duke.  Recently we’ve seen plays, musicals, lectures and even operas, all things that don’t exactly keep my eyes open, but a one man hip-hop performance? Now that sounded like something I would want to see!  Waiting outside of the studio, I saw signs that said “Please be aware: a fog machine will be used in this performance.”  I thought to myself, “Wow! This must be a heck of a performance!”  It turns out I was right.  When my fellow classmates and I were seated, music was playing and I was shocked to realize that I recognized it.  As I sat there moving my head to the beat, I couldn’t wait for the show to start.  This only added to my already high expectations of “Clay,” and when I walked out of that theater after the performance I wasn’t disappointed in the least. [Read more →]

Matt Sax’s one-man hip-hop musical made its way to Time Square’s own Duke theatre, bringing with it all the torments of a suburban childhood. “Clay” recounts a teenager’s struggle to cope with his parent’s tumultuous divorce and his mother’s eventual suicide. The Westchester youth eventually finds solace in – where else? – the mean backstreets of Brooklyn. He delineates his life story in quaintly rhymed verse, and the production is set up in a way that the audience witnesses Clay’s great debut just as the curtains are about to close. Although Matt Sax is undeniably talented, “Clay” falls short of living up to its new Broadway home. [Read more →]

After several unsatisfying and downright disappointing performances all semester Clay let me love theatre again.  I had almost become one of those anti-stage cynics, the opposite of what I had grown up as, because I was so disheartened by the boring performances I have been subject to as of late.  So this hip-hop musical, shining lights in my face and shoving sounds in my ears, brought me back behind the curtains and excited about the presence of one great performer. [Read more →]

Upon hearing the words, “hip-hop musical”, I instantly thought it was an alternative term for a rap concert. It never occurred to me that it could be a superb one-man performance that is driven by a well-constructed story. Clay was just that, a one-man hip-hop musical that chronicles the life of a young man who goes from awkward teen named Clifford to a rapper extraordinaire named Clay. [Read more →]

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Walking through Times Square at eight p.m. on a fall evening is an electrifying experience. My class was there to see Clay, a show that is the polar opposite of Dr. Atomic, the opera we saw at the Met the week before. Dr. Atomic had many performers who sang to slow, soft opera music, while Clay had one singer, Matt Sax, who performed hip-hop. [Read more →]

When one thinks of the word “musical” they probably don’t think of rap music. Actually, it’s probably the farthest thing from the typical musical. When I heard that it was a one-man show I was interested and skeptical that it would actually work. As it turns out, it was more than successful.

If there had been many other performers with him on stage I think he would have overs [Read more →]

Source:www.chicagocritic.com

There aren’t many who can bear the burden of being responsible for virtually every aspect of production.  It can prove suicidal because the result, be it success or failure, is all pinned on that one person responsible.  In the case of Clay, Matt Sax wrote, scored and performed this New Works Program production and, by assuming this gargantuan responsibility, Sax gave himself unlimited liability if the production were to fail.  However, such a disaster didn’t occur and Clay, despite having a predictable plot, succeeds in being an original, enjoyable production. [Read more →]

Hi class,  I enjoyed getting to go see Clay with all of you tonight. I found a myspace page for the show that I wanted to pass on. It has some of the songs from the show and some photos from other productions. I look forward to reading your reactions and thoughts!