JOB: The Hip-Hop Musical

Hip-hop musical wows audience with energy, cleverness

Yo, whassup with a hip-hop musical?

Jerome Saibil and Eli Batalion are, that's what. These Canadians are performing their latest work, "Job," to packed houses at Theatre 99 as part of Piccolo Spoleto's theater offerings.

A parental advisory in the program warns: Biblical Content. The hysterical, zany, non-stop show does indeed follow the familiar story of the much-tested Job -- except God is this Job's boss, Jonathan Hoover, president of a major recording company.

Although several characters are listed in the playbill, these two comedians/dancers/singers/actors play all the parts. And they wrote it, too.

"Awesome" is the word I heard repeatedly being bandied about after the hour-long performance, and the term applies in several ways.

First, these two, in running suits and do-rags, awe the audience by the simple fact of their endless energy. Never have two people worked so hard and so continuously in any show. Ever.

There is not one instant when one or the other of them is not onstage, and most often, both of them are rapping and dancing, running and jumping, singing and circling, emoting and enunciating.

Then, there are yards and yards of lines that not only rhyme, but are endlessly clever, funny and manage to move the story line along. Neither performer misses a beat ñ or an opportunity to play off each other. They trade both parts and gender, often mid-scene. Their pace and timing are impeccable.

The prologue is printed for your pre-show enjoyment, and there is the occasional "normal" dialogue ("We could speak English, ya know"), but all the rest you must pick up in numbers like "Academic Tenure" and "Are You Ashamed Now?" The point is virtually every syllable can be understood, even by Woodstock-era flower children, who have never heard of Lil' Kim.

One of the most entertaining bits is when MC Abel and MC Cain complain about each other's "cheesy" rhymes. Suddenly, we have a contest, and a veritable waterfall of 75-cent words rushes at us. And they rhyme ñ in iambic pentameter (well, close).

In much of the rest of the show as well, there is refreshing departure from rap, one-syllable rhyming words that end each line. Just you try rhyming "nomenclature" while making a plot point.

The music, from Prokofiev to Busta Rhymes, the dancing, from pseudo breakdancing to mock ballet, the story, from Job to Cain and Abel, all make for a singularly enjoyable experience.

"Job" runs through June 6.

— Carol Furtwangler