Passing Strange: the Hottest New Show on Broadway
I’ve been coming across mentions of this play for the past couple of weeks here and there, always with the same gist to the comments: This is something new, something different; this ain’t your Momma’s Broadway musical. Then today I read in the Gothamist: “…an irresistible, cross-genre score, warm hearted humor, inspired staging and a brilliant ensemble.”
And that did it – I needed to find out more, not that I’ll get to actually see it any time soon. But surely I can catch glimpses of it via the web?
Stalking Passing Strange
Starting at the website of the show, I’m glad to see that they are making excellent use of Web 2.0 style marketing: they don’t make you pay for the songs, they give it away. Within seconds I had
- Arlington Hill – Slow, electronic mellowness reminiscent of Strawberry Fields
- Amsterdam – a folk rock ensemble piece as clear and bright as an espresso
- Come Down Now - Reminded me of Indigo Girls (minus guitars) with a R&B feel.
- Keys – This one seemed the most like a typical Broadway musical song – more oratorical in feel.
I went from there to look at the “behind the scenes” video, and then the photos, and then the story of Stew…the backstage blog was a bit of a disappointment, as it consisted of little one line messages from the cast and low-quality candid pics.
What’s it all about?
The show itself is “…A rock ’n’ roll autobiography of an artist in search of himself,” according to this rave review from the New York Times That artist would be Stew, the moving force behind this musical that’s not really a musical, a show that seems to have breathed fresh life into the genre by keeping to its roots – not, as you might think, traditional African-American culture, but rather to a young man raised on Zen Buddhism and world travel. Stew is the leader of the L.A. based music group The Negro Problem, and he seems to have taken his musical skills successfully across the country to land unconventionally in the middle of a tired musical theatre scene, where even the rebel musicals like RENT! still cleaved to the standard two-act song-filled formula.
But you can see for yourself: enjoy the songs from the site and see how it develops. Parts of the site are still coming, but there’s a lot to enjoy. And I suspect we’ll see a lot of them at the Tony’s, as well.
Comments Off