One of the best things about Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway is how hard it is to describe. Part theater, part performance art, part poetry and revival meeting, the only way to sum up the show is to say that it must be experienced -- not just because it's unique, but because it's also moving, hilarious, powerful, and thought provoking. This is not your parents' theater, and it's certainly not their poetry. But if you or they want a memorable encounter with the combustible cultural mixture that is America today, there is nowhere else to go on Broadway.

A show featuring nine poets and a live DJ, Def Poetry Jam was brought to the Longacre Theater by Simmons -- a rap impresar[...]