Review: Stew's 'Strange' Passing for Unique

A jungle-gym of chairs, microphone cords, and electrical instruments clutter before a cacophony of multi-colored fluorescents as six animated performers rollick in a thundering bass riff.  The usual makings of a concert blend into an ear-pounding world premiere show, Passing Strange.  Despite the semi-stale story, the psychedelic rhythms of this original rock-and-roll musical (trying not to be a "rock-and-roll musical") offer an interesting evening.

Passing Strange, a semi-auto-biographical musical penned by Stew (with additional compositions by Heidi Rodewald), is the Berkeley Rep's invigorating co-production with the Public Theatre.  Most of the time, the show keeps a foot-tapping and blood-pumping rhythm, but the book's occasional loss of momentum and recycled themes need polishing before its NY-transfer.

We follow a simple tale of a Youth who, in the middle of an energizing Baptist sermon, gets spiritually moved by a need to create music! After a stint with the church choir and trying to make a band of his own, he decides to leave his caring Mother behind in LA and follow his muse to the free-spirited Amsterdam and art-power-movement of Berlin.  Youth, in his hunt for "the real," yearns to set himself and his music apart but gets jostled in an expressionistic wilderness of sound, drugs, and sexuality.

Most of the action is engaging but dotted with tired scenes.  The African-American search for art and identity is old-hat, but the incredible cast and Stew's score – a blend of Hair, Saul Williams, and Rocky Horror – keep it fresh.

Stew's music is strewn with clever lyrics like  "Ebony magazine smile" and "like a stained glass drum" but can sometimes be fodder for laughs when the metaphors get too shtick: "They had to out-grow the tree house to go out on a limb."  Because the entire show is underscored, catchy songs like "Amsterdam," the blunt comedy of "We Just Had Sex," and the light-minstrel of "The Black One" are mingled between other more-dull tunes.

Youth (Daniel Breaker) and his band-mates take us on a light LSD trip, with a shocking epiphany: "We're all gonna wake up someday and be 30 years old!" – a fun wake up call to the generation gap in the theatre.  The back row claps along with the roaring guitar while the front covers their ears.

The real pulse is indeed exhibited by Breaker and the fine cast.  The full-ensemble scenes were most enjoyable, especially during a family chat where the grandparents ask "What are you doing with your life?" Each plays a melee of characters, but most notable is Colman Domingo who plays the preacher's-son, Franklin, and gives Youth a "religious experience" – smoking reefer in a VW bug.  Domingo is hilarious as a stoned Franklin channels Maria Callas or gallivants around stage in the second-act as German performance-artist Venus.

The motor of the show is Stew, who moves around stage with a microphone and guitar, narrating.  However Stew unnecessarily puts himself in the middle of the action – like a movie-extra put center-stage.  When Breaker and the team would finish a well-acted scene, Stew superfluously adds a two-minute interlude, verging on "explainy" when the actors can speak for themselves.  Keep the narrator on the side, please.  It seems self-indulgent when he is already singing and playing two acts of original compositions.

Still, Stew and Heidi nurture a unique rhythm, rumbling the rib cage.  But like any heart beat, it can be both refreshing and repetitive.

Photos by Kevin Berne

Passing Strange: Book, lyrics, and music by Stew with additional music by Heidi Rodewald, world premiere directed by Annie Dorsen. Through Dec. 3 at the Berkley Rep Theatre Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison Street.  2hrs 40min with one 15min intermission.  Tickets ($45-$61) via 510-647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

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