Cleetus Friedman: White Like Me @ Strawdog Theatre

It's Pikesville, MD, 1979 - a middle to upper-class Jewish suburb of Baltimore where boys grow up and become doctors or lawyers, buy a house close to their parents, and produce a family to repeat the cycle. But 10- year old Cleetus Friedman is different. His parents are divorced. He listens to different music. All his friends are black. He watches black TV. His sister doesn't get him. His mother is in denial. Then he hears Rapper's Delight' by Sugar Hill Gang, and all bets are off: he's gone to rap.

White Like Me is a hip-hop autobiography told by Cleetus Friedman with musical accompaniment by DJ Sapien that loosely mirrors the iconoclastic "Lech Lecha" story of Abraham the patriarch. As Friedman leaves his father's house to a land and culture unknown, he smashes preconceived notions in order to "go to himself. " In this unique performance, Friedman weaves together character sketches, monologues and narrative raps like a Jewish John Leguiziamo to tell his own sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking story. It's a modern coming of age story about Jewish man finding himself, finding the beat, and following his dreams. Here a little sample: JewPac.

@ Strawdog Theatre in Lakeview, 3829 N. Broadway in Chicago (Directions/Parking)

Tickets: $15 on safe, secure ticketweb.com

Presented as part of KFAR's concert series