They're young, they're vibrant, they're full of words and ideas, and, for the most part, they're a treat to watch as they share their thoughts about food, sex, womanhood, machismo and race. Considering that Def Poetry Jam is a Broadway show, the level of anger expressed at the American government's policies is also heartening, if occasionally misplaced or put in far too black-vs.-white terms. Audience favorites include Poetri [sic], who uses his corpulence and likeability to be the group's class clown; Beau Sia, who both explodes and revels in Asian stereotypes faster than a chopsocky karate kick, and foxy Staceyann Chin, her piquant Jamaican accent lending voice to diatribes and divinities.
The verbiage gets repetitious in act two, where poetic rage also starts to sound too much like haranguing. Still, where were these kinds of faces and voices when the Republicans were sweeping Congress back in November? Now we're locked in a deaf-to-poetry jam for the next two years and then some.
