Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, is pleased to announce casting for its Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, featuring text by Stew and music and lyrics by Stew and Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange) and directed by Jeff Award-winning director Lili-Anne Brown.
Composer Heidi Rodewald, known for her collaborations with Stew on Passing Strange and The Total Bent, strikes out on her own in The Good Swimmer, a "pop requiem" that addresses issues of war, heroism, sacrifice, loss, and idealism. The moody, multi-layered song-cycle for guitar, bass, piano, trumpet, woodwinds, strings, drums, and vocals is performed by a nine-piece band led by singer David Driver. Set in the early days of the Vietnam War among a group of lifeguards, Donna Di Novelli's lyrics are a radical recontextualization of found texts, including a defunct lifesaving manual. A cast of young singers in their teens and early 20s at the start of their professional careers-Jeremy Weiss, Sophia Byrd, Naseer Sleets, Joey LaPlante, Luke Bob Robinson, Papa Holt, and Kennedy Kanagawa-vividly conveys the sense of young people being thrust into a historical moment they have no control of. Their shattering experience brings the audience to a galvanizing realization: we truly honor our fallen soldiers only when we defy the political drumbeat of a senseless war.
Performance Space New York kicks off its second themed season of performances and events-the Posthuman Series-with the world premiere of Annie Dorsen's The Slow Room (September 27-29). Dorsen has taken the idea of technological theater further than most artists.
Performance Space New York kicks off its second themed season of performances and events-the Posthuman Series-with the world premiere of Annie Dorsen's The Slow Room (September 27-29). Dorsen has taken the idea of technological theater further than most artists.
STEW & THE NEGRO PROBLEM - the powerhouse indie rock band fronted by longtime collaborators Stew and Heidi Rodewald - will perform a one-night-only concert at THE TOTAL BENT/NATIVE SONG DOUBLE RECORD RELEASE PARTY, featuring selections from the duo's two most recent recordings, on Monday, June 18 at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St.) in Manhattan. Doors open at 7 pm for the concert beginning at 8 pm.
Mark Stewart, better known as 'Stew,' is noted for being a member of the band, The Negro Problem. He is also the author of the book and lyrics for 'Passing Strange,' a semi-autobiographical musical, co-written with Heidi Rodewald in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. The script is presently rocking Karamu.
Karamu House, the oldest multicultural performing arts center in the country, closes it's 102nd consecutive season with the Tony Award-winning musical Passing Strange. Karamu House President and CEO, Tony F. Sias notes, 'this is a piece that is important and relevant, and speaks to and engages our millennial and 'genZ' generations.' With book and lyrics written by Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter Stew, and music composed by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the production opened on May 10 and will run through June 3, 2018 in Karamu's Arena Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.
Musicals generally give me all kinds of feels, but Passing Strange hit me deep. Give me an existential journey and I'm totally on board, but present it the way this musical does, and it could change the way you look at your own life.
Haven Theatre is pleased to announce its 2018-19 Season, kicking off this fall with its fourth consecutive DIRECTOR'S HAVEN, three short plays showcasing the talents of early career directors. Helming this year's productions are Charlotte Drover, Anna Sung-En Medill and Dani Wieder.
On this day in 2008, the psychedelic rock musical, Passing Strange, opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theater.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today a one-week extension for the world premiere of KINGS, written by Sarah Burgess and directed by Thomas Kail. Part of The Public's Astor Anniversary Season at their landmark downtown home on Lafayette Street, celebrating 50 years of new work at 425 Lafayette Street and the 50th Anniversary of HAIR, KINGS officially opens on Tuesday, February 20 and will now run an additional week through Sunday, April 1.
On Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 2:30pm, composer Robert Sirota's Birds of Paradise – performed by flutist Linda Chesis, clarinetist David Valbuena, and pianist Alexandre Moutouzkine – will be presented on flutist Linda Chesis' Manhattan School of Music Faculty Recital, For the Birds, in the School's Greenfield Hall (120 Claremont Avenue). Birds of Paradise was commissioned and premiered by the Webster Trio in 2008 at the National Flute Association annual convention in Kansas City, MO. This performance will include commissioned videography by Jim Berman. Sirota explains, “In 2014, Linda Chesis programmed Birds of Paradise on the Cooperstown Music Festival. Having discovered the absolutely fantastic video footage of actual birds of paradise taken in New Guinea by the Cornell Birds of Paradise lab, she commissioned a video from Jim Berman to be performed with my piece.”
The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin previews on Tuesday, January 30 for the World premiere of KINGS, written by Sarah Burgess and directed by Thomas Kail, part of The Public's Astor Anniversary Season at their landmark downtown home on Lafayette Street, celebrating 50 years of new work at 425 Lafayette Street and the 50th Anniversary of HAIR. KINGS will run through Sunday, March 25 with an official press opening on Tuesday, February 20. Continuing The Public's mission to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's First Performance Free for All continues this fall; free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, January 30 will be available beginning January 23, via TodayTix mobile lottery.
The Wilma Theater, in association with Evamere Entertainment, presents Stew and Heidi Rodewald's Tony Award-winning musical in this major Philadelphia revival.
The Wilma Theater, in association with Evamere Entertainment, presents Stew and Heidi Rodewald's Tony Award-winning musical in this major Philadelphia revival.
The Public Theater has announced complete casting today for the world premiere of KINGS, written by Sarah Burgess.
The Wilma Theater, in association with Evamere Entertainment, presents Stew and Heidi Rodewald's Tony Award-winning musical in this major Philadelphia revival.
Haven Theatre has announced two of the three productions featured in its upcoming 2017-18 Season, including one world premiere - plus an exciting Midwest premiere already set for the company's 2018-19 Season.
BWW Review: PASSING STRANGE at Theatre Three
A fresh and exciting 2008 Tony Award winner from singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew, Passing Strange embarks on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. The musical tells the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for 'the real' through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Infectious, exhilarating, deeply spiritual and emotional, audiences will never forget Passing Strange!
Producer Jeffrey Seller has announced Tony Award nominee Daniel Breaker will join the Chicago company of Hamilton as Aaron Burr. He will begin performances on Tuesday, April 11 at The PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago.
A fresh and exciting 2008 Tony Award winner from singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew, Passing Strange embarks on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. The musical tells the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for 'the real' through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Infectious, exhilarating, deeply spiritual and emotional, audiences will never forget Passing Strange!
A fresh and exciting 2008 Tony Award winner from singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew, Passing Strange embarks on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. The musical tells the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for 'the real' through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Infectious, exhilarating, deeply spiritual and emotional, audiences will never forget Passing Strange!
A fresh and exciting 2008 Tony Award winner from singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew, Passing Strange embarks on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. The musical tells the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for 'the real' through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Infectious, exhilarating, deeply spiritual and emotional, audiences will never forget Passing Strange!
The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans (CAC) presents Notes of a Native Song, a musical collaboration by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, will be presented today and tomorrow, December 9-10, 2016 in the CAC's Freeport-McMoRan Theater at 7:30pm.
2007 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2008 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
West End |
West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | The Lortels | Outstanding Musical | The Public Theater |
2008 | Theatre World Awards | Performance | de'Adre Aziza |
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