(CelebrityAccess News Service) — Hip-hop music artists Christopher Martin (Play of Kid `N Play) and Cheryl James (Salt of Salt `N Pepa) have teamed up with N.Y. Knicks basketball player, Allan Houston and his H20 Productions to launch Rise, theater's first rap, hip-hop musical for a major 20-city tour. Rise, a production conceived and written by Martin and James, is the story of a gifted hip-hop songwriter/musician known as Rapp. Rapp is faced with the spiritual decision of how he should utilize his music in an industry where sex, money, power, temptation and betrayal are often the standard practices. The 22-member cast of this inspirational theatrical production presented its first showcases August 22 at Pinnacle Studios in Yanceyville, NC (the largest studio facility on the East Coast with four soundstages covering over 400 acres of land), and at Earthlink Live, December 14, before embarking on tour beginning in January. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
