Eisa Davis News

Though I hadn't seen Passing Strange during its earlier stint Off-Broadway, I took my seat well aware that writers and critics and audience members alike have been grasping for the words that best describe the type of theatrical entertainment that has now settled into the Belasco Theatre. Two and a half hours later I believe I was able to succinctly categorize Passing Strange in its truest form. Now, please pay attention because I put a lot of thought into this.

The Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE will end its run at the Belasco Theatre (111 W. 44 St.) following the matinee performance on Sunday, July 20. The show will have played 20 previews and 165 performances.

Spike Lee -- the director of such memorable films as 'Inside Man,' the upcoming 'Miracle at St. Anna,' (release 9/26/08), 'Do The Right Thing,' 'Malcolm X,' and 'She's Gotta Have It,' -- will direct a film of the award-winning Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE, it has been announced by Steve Klein, who is a co-producer of PASSING STRANGE on Broadway and will produce the film with Mr. Lee.

Academy Award nominee Spike Lee will be filming three performances of the Broadway musical Passing Strange this August.

Stew has won the 2008 Tony Award Best Original Book of A Musical for his work on 'Passing Strange'!

The critically acclaimed Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE is currently nominated for 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. With book and lyrics by the popular singer/songwriter Stew, and with music by Stew and his longtime musical partner Heidi Rodewald, PASSING STRANGE is directed by and created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. PASSING STRANGE is the tale of a young black musician 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 voyage within is the one that counts. BroadwayWorld.com checked in with three of it's celebrated company members, all of whom are Tony nominated for the creative work they bring to this vibrant and thrilling musical, they spoke candidly about everything from being nominated for a 2008 Tony Award to how inspired and different every single performance continues to be!

Rebecca Naomi Jones - who is currently making her Broadway debut in the Tony nominated musical PASSING STRANGE - will sing the national anthem at Shea Stadium, this Thursday June 12.

New Georges, the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, will hold its 2008 Gala Benefit June 9th.

'Passing Strange' will celebrate its 100th performance at the Belasco Theatre on Sunday, May 25th with its 3:00pm performance.

'Passing Strange' will celebrate its 100th performance at the Belasco Theatre on Sunday, May 25th with its 3:00pm performance.

To celebrate the release of their cast recording, the 'Passing Strange' cast, crew and creative team will throw a listening party, which will be free and open to the public, at Saju Bistro on Tuesday, May 27 at 9:30pm.

'Passing Strange' adds a performance on Sunday, May 25th at 8pm.

The 53rd annual Village Voice Obie Awards were presented last night at a ceremony at Webster Hall, an East Village landmark in Manhattan.

Mario Lopez hosted a line-up of performances from all of the musicals from the 2007-2008 Broadway musicals.

Urban Stages to host 'Life is a Cabaret' benefit on May 12th honoring Jim Naughton, Edwina Sandys, and Julie Wilson.

Ghostlight Records is proud to announce that it will record the Original Cast Album of the critically acclaimed new Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE in front of a LIVE audience in a recording session on stage at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) on Monday, April 14 from 2pm to 5pm. Release date for the recording is expected for June 2008.

Soho Rep launches the 10th season of its highly popular WRITER/DIRECTOR LAB READING SERIES, readings of the very newest work by writers and directors at Soho Rep on Monday, April 7 at 7pm with, playwright Mike Daisey's THE MOON IS A DEAD WORLD, directed by Maria Goyanes -- the first of six new plays commissioned for the lab.

Heavy ticket demand has prompted Urban Stages to extend its hilarious drawing room musical, 27 Rue de Fleurus, for two weeks through Sunday, April 13th. Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein are delighting audiences with wit and one-up(wo)manship in repartee and song as they confront each other about love, marriage, jealousy, genius and other delicious topics... Add into the salon Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach and the smashing Jean Harlow, and you have a highly memorable and amusing night of theatre. Unlike most of the stage works about Gertrude and Alice, 27 RUE DE FLEURUS is told from Alice's point of view as 'her muse.' When Gertrude becomes embarrassed by Alice's revealing tell-all, she attempts to hijack the play as only the author of such lines as 'sugar is not a vegetable' can. But Alice has secrets to share with the audience that silence the famously verbose Gertrude. Quelle surprise! Critical reviews have praised Frances Hill's 'smart direction,' the 'strong performances' of the cast (New York Times), as well as 'luscious' costumes by Carrie Robbins (Variety). Curtain Up says, ' Add this small charmer to this season's cornucopia of off-beat new musicals,' and Theatermania declared, 'Director Frances Hill's production has a zest that matches the unbridled creativity of the creators, unfolding on a handsome scenic design from Roman Tatarowicz, who's created a surreal white salon with skewed walls that's backed by a series of overlapping frames into which Alex Koch's collage-like video is projected. It's the perfect canvas for this haphazard look into Toklas and Stein's world.' The critically acclaimed cast includes Cheryl Stern as Alice, Barbara Rosenblat as Gertrude, and Sarah Chalfy, Susan Haefner and Emily Zacharias in various celebrity parts. John Bell is Musical Director. ARTSHOW. During the run of the show, photographs and other artworks from the Gertrude and Alice collection of San Francisco collector Hans Gallas are on display in the theater lobby. Gallas coordinated events around the world last year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the meeting of Gertrude and Alice on Alice's first day in Paris. Works exhibited include original Carl Van Vechten photographs, wood-block prints, caricatures, and mixed media pieces created by artists from around the world. Gertrude and Alice have been the subjects of visual artists from the beginning of the 20th century and continue to inspire artists in all media. Urban Stages produces new plays with themes that reflect our diverse society. Their most recent productions were the critically acclaimed Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion by Stephen Massicotte, Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor, the Pulitzer Prize finalist Bulrusher by Eisa Davis and Apostasy by Gino DiIorio. Since 1983, director Frances Hill has overseen more than 600 staged readings and workshops, plus over 75 productions of new work for the stage. Recent directing credits include Jim Lehrer's Chili Queen (Urban Stages and The Kennedy Center), John C. Picardi's Seven Rabbits on a Pole and The Sweepers (Urban Stages and Capital Rep), Comfort Women by Chungmi Kim and last season's Apostasy by Gino DiIorio. As Artistic Director of Urban Stages, she has moved two plays to commercial off-Broadway runs: Minor Demons and Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown, which won an Outer Critics Circle Award. SCHEDULE for 27 RUE DE FLEURUS: Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3PM. Tickets are $40.00; all Wednesday performances are specially priced at $25. Tickets may be purchased by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444, or online at www.urbanstages.org. There will be talkbacks every Wednesday and Saturday night, check www.urbanstages.org for schedule of speakers. 27 RUE DE FLEURUS A New Musical; Book and lyrics by Ted Sod, music and lyrics by Lisa Koch; Directed by Frances Hill At Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th avenues) Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3PM. TICKETS: $40; College and High School Students, $15; Half-Price Wednesdays: All seats $25.00 EXTENDED! NOW THROUGH APRIL 13th Call 212-868-4444, or order online at www.urbanstages.org

The new Broadway musical Passing Strange officially opened at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) on Thursday February 28, 2008.

On Monday, March 10 at 9:30PM, Joe's Pub presents the return of Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis, currently starring in Broadway's Passing; with her unique brand of stripped down, soulful, piano-lush reveries.