A Basketball Opera To Transform Famous NYC Park

HARLEM, NY — Basketball's hallowed ground, Holcombe Rucker Park in Harlem, is hosting a ground-breaking, genre-defying theater performance this week on its courts with the opening of "Bounce: The Basketball Opera."

Unlike any other opera performance, "Bounce" tells the story of Flight, a promising young basketball player whose life is forever changed by gun violence when a competitor shoots him at a street game, injuring him and killing his 5-year-old fan, Kwame.

To tell the story, the show blends hip-hop, rap, gospel, and opera music, with the rhythm, choreography, and spirit of basketball.

Created by Grethe Barrett Holby and supported by opera organization Ardea Arts, the show will have two free court-side performances on June 21 and June 28, featuring professional actors performing alongside local high school students.

Though choreographed, "Bounce" at points feels like a real basketball game. One of the best-known announcers in the NBA, Olivier 'The Voice' Sedra, will play the announcer in the Harlem show, and HDBeenDope, a Roc Nation rapper, will open the show. They are not the only stars powering the event — some of the soundtrack is created by actor and DJ Ansel Elgort, Holby's son.

Inspired by the Greek myth, "The Flight of Icarus," the opera examines what it takes to survive and overcome tragedy, Jacqueline Cohen, the president of Ardea Arts, told Patch.

"A 'Bounce' story happens every day, unfortunately," Cohen said. "Two very common themes in urban children's lives happen very quickly in the first act. It's not just an opera, but a chance to really talk about this tragedy and work through it."

Cohen said gun violence recently impacted the show's development. When they were casting for the Harlem show, the team was planning to cast three young men who had to drop out after a 17-year-old friend of theirs, Chance Leggett, was shot to death in East Harlem in late May.

"At the end of Bounce — we didn't want to have a Hollywood ending — but because of the strength of these players, you see the resiliency, and it ends in triumph, and it's really beautiful," Cohen said. "It still moves me and I've been watching it for many years."

As part of the show's residency at Rucker Park, Ardea Arts will partner with Harlem mentorship and basketball nonprofit, Each One Teach One, to lead workshops with local students at the famous court during the week between the two shows, Cohen said.

Though it started in New York City, the show has traveled to courts across the country for several years. What makes its premiere at Holcombe Rucker Park so special is the park's role in basketball history, Cohen said.

For the uninitiated, the park is a basketball mecca, named after local basketball coach and mentor Holcombe Rucker, who was famous for hosting his annual tournaments at the park, which helped foster the talents of several famous NBA players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rafer Alston.

These tournaments also helped develop a more boisterous style of the game, which still influences the league to this day.

"Our fantasy all these years was to put on a full-scale production at Rucker Park," Cohen said.

"I want 'Bounce' to remind people that we may experience tough things, but that if we have a support team, we can get through it and really triumph and have an amazing life despite what we've been through or witnessed," Cohen said.

For more information on when and where to see "Bounce: the Basketball Opera," click here.

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