Passing Strange; A New Musical
The perfect example of less is more, Passing Strange vibrates with the energy of a cast the size of A Chorus Line, except there are only ten people on stage. Everything about this new musical will dispel all the things people hate about going to Broadway shows. I felt like the sun finally rose on the theater district.
I was starting to think that Broadway, like older ladies’ coiffures, was beginning to go stiff and turn into only shades of blue and purple. For the first time in a long time, a show spoke in the same language as its audience and actually had something relevant to say about us and our times.
A project which began in 2004 with singer-songwriter and founder of the group The Negro Problem, Stew, along with fellow band member Heidi Rodewald and downtown theater director Annie Dorsen, became an off-Broadway hit last year at Joe’s Pub. It’s unpretentious, sincere, and Rock-n-Roll edge made it a favorite below 14th street. But it’s also the story it dares to tell: that of a black man from upper-middle class L.A. trying to be black, or at least the overdone stereotype of black. And with so many of those stereotypes around he stumbles vaguely through each one trying to find a place for himself, and his art, within a very demanding and very avant-garde scene during post cold war Berlin. It is a look at how what we are viewed as being is often what we subconsciously, and even more disturbing, consciously desire to be, especially when we lack a sense of ourselves.
Supported by the band on stage—another fresh take that hasn’t been done enough and gives new meaning to the importance of musicians and live music—and narrated by Stew, the six actors act out the story of Stew’s 20 year-old self’s search for himself. Simply called “Youth,” the role is played by the extremely talented, endearing, and almost elastic Julliard trained Daniel Breaker. But his fellow cast members are no less on top of their game.
Passing Strange / The Belasco Theater / 111 W.44th Street / (212)239-6200
Maria Galeano
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