The Strangers of 'Passing Strange' Part 2

The new musical Passing Strange is truly bringing something "strange" to today's world of musical theatre… originality."  Shaped out of personal life experiences, Passing Strange utters a refreshing sound for the streets of Broadway.

Passing Strange, which garnered critical-acclaim during its New York City debut at The Public Theatre last season, is described as "the moving and hilarious tale of a young black bohemian on a journey of escape and exploration: leaving the confines of his middle-class, church-reared youth in south central L.A., the further he travels the more he discovers the journey within is the one that counts."  Previews began Friday, February 8 with an Opening Night Thursday, February 28 at the Belasco Theatre

Having first seen Passing Strange in its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in late-2005, BroadwayWorld's News Desk Editor, Eugene Lovendusky, reunited with some of the cast to discover more about their eclectic mix of characters and the roots of this adventurous new musical which seeks "the real"…

READ "THE STRANGERS OF PASSING STRANGE" PART 1 HERE!

Eugene Lovendusky: Something unique about this Broadway season is the variety of music represented on-the-boards… and a variety of ethnicity on-stage.  How is Passing Strange your traditional musical theatre piece? And how is Passing Strange a black theatre piece?

Rebecca Naomi Jones: The thing everybody can relate to, no matter who they are, Passing Strange is a coming of age story. There's this kid who is traveling the world in search of himself and in search of what's real, and what's love.

Stew: That's very traditional.

Rebecca: While the message ultimately is love, we all have different ways of arriving at that. But what makes this a black musical is that… we're black.  Well, no, actually I'm only half-black… [laughs] This musical is really about me and my issues and who I really am!

Chad Goodridge: My therapist loves this play.

Rebecca: The exploration of a black person coming of age in America is a version of the story we don't always get to hear. That's what our show is. It's not a black musical where we are singing our faces off or trying to bring the house down every five minutes.

Eisa Davis: That's the stereotype and expectation.

Rebecca: But with most TV and film and media that we see, the black people are either angry or mean or wise or really fat with an attitude… or really funny! But still fat. [laughs] We've got the places we're allowed to fit in too. This show lets us tell our version of an old story.

Chad: That's really one of the things that excites me about this play. A lot of the things that are considered as "traditional black theatre" don't really resonate with me. Those stories are not necessarily things I'm interested in seeing. But this musical in particular… I get this. I know this. I can connect to this story in a different context as an African-American. It's not just one thing that defines these people. People can come see this show and see themselves. But that goes for everyone! It crosses over.

Stew: That might be a challenge to a "traditional Broadway audience" that maybe expects to see six black folk "singing their faces off." It's very clear that the subject matter is serious and to be dealt with, but each actor on-stage is part of it. The songs are catchy, but there are deeper ideas.

Rebecca: We are not constantly being black people. We are being people. Whether or not we're playing the black characters or the white characters – we're being human beings with real energies and thoughts spinning between us.  In terms of it being a black musical, I think it's a gift for minority audiences.

Eisa: No matter where you go, you're going to be assaulted with an image on a magazine cover that says "This is how you're supposed to look." But there are so many kinds of beautiful that don't appear on a TV screen. That's what I feel like we're doing. In some ways, I'm hoping the challenge Stew mentioned will be an excited challenge. Like that moment when you go from Jimmy Stewart to Marlon Brando! What we also have on the stage (which we haven't talked about) is that we're circled by white musicians. That's really important. Toni Morrison said: "There's no black without white. There's no white without black." These categories we've created don't function without each other.

Stew: It's weird that we're even having this conversation in 2008.  Wow! Black and white, who'd have thought? After all this time and after all this art for so many years, we still play this game.

Eisa: It's at this moment where we're in the middle of a presidential race where identity-politics is playing a role. We're so behind in not having had a female head-of-state or a non-white head-of-state. The fact that those issues are priorities when they should be second-rate. These issues are coming up again and again.

Eugene: If you can, use one or two words what you want your audience to feel when they leave the Belasco.

Eisa: "Split-Open."

Stew: Well, that's it right there!

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Passing Strange stars de'Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones and Stew.  Directed by Annie Dorsen.

Passing Strange features a book by Stew; lyrics by Stew; music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald; written in collaboration with Annie Dorsen.  Choreographed by Karole Armitage. The creative team includes David Korins (sets), Elizabeth Hope Clancy (costumes), Kevin Adams (lighting) and Tom Morse (sound).

Passing Strange performs Tuesdays at 7PM; Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8PM; Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2PM; and Sundays at 3PM at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th St). For tickets ($26.50 - $111.50) visit www.Telecharge.com or for more information visit the show's new interactive website at www.PassingStrangeOnBroadway.com

Daniel Breaker and de'Adre Aziza (photo by Steve Halin); Daniel Breaker (photo by Carol Rosegg)