6 days ago
Hip hop collides with Silicon Valley in new SF musical "Co-Founders"
A new hip hop musical tells a uniquely Bay Area story: A young Oakland coder hacks her way into San Francisco's most competitive startup accelerator, intent on saving her home from gentrification.
Driving the news: " Co-Founders" draws from the region's hip hop roots while incorporating traditions from soul, gospel, funk, jazz, R&B and more to pay homage to the people who make Silicon Valley what it is.
Zoom in: The musical explores the tension underlying a Black woman trying to enter circles she's long been excluded from while investigating the perils of tech when it comes to grief.
The brainchild of Ryan Nicole Austin, Beau Lewis and Adesha Adefela, "Co-Founders" is now playing at American Conservatory Theater's Strand Theater (1127 Market St.) through July 6.
What they're saying: The fingerprint of historical figures like the Black Panthers is reflected in the music and parallels the grit needed to pave your way in the tech world, according to Austin.
"That's where the synergy is with the spirit of the entrepreneur," she told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's like, 'Hey, I gotta make something out of nothing, and even though everything around me says no, I know that I have it within me to say yes.'"
My thought bubble: This musical tackles head-on the intersections of tech, race and class, reminding us that seemingly siloed corners of the Bay are never as disparate as they seem.
Fun fact: The production includes interactions between on-stage actors and a holographic avatar controlled by an actor backstage via live-motion capture.
