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March 03, 2006
One woman, many voices
The show [Bridge and Tunnel], set in a Queens coffeehouse, and its multitalented writer and performer have ridden that groundswell to theatrical stardom. Three years ago, the 32-year-old Jones was largely known as a hip-hop poet and performance artist, most famous for having successfully faced down the FCC over an indecency ruling for her recording "Your Revolution," a suggestively witty rant against rap misogyny.
That changed when Meryl Streep, impressed with Jones' performance at an Equality Now benefit, lent her celebrity as producer of a 2004 off-Broadway version of "Bridge & Tunnel" at the Culture Project. The show garnered rave reviews and a seven-month sold-out run. After a hiatus, it reopened last month on Broadway to more acclaim, including Charles Isherwood's New York Times review that praised the writing as "lively, compassionate and smart" and Jones as "an astonishing mimic" for 14 characters as diverse as a hyperkinetic black rapper, a disabled Mexican immigrant worker and a Chinese American mother trying to make sense of her daughter's lesbian marriage. The show has since been extended at the Helen Hayes Theatre through July 9.
Posted by Michelle at March 3, 2006 05:34 PM