BROADWAY UNDERCOVER

What a “strange” title for a Broadway show.

The phrase has many meanings but captures the essence of the new rock and roll musical with book and lyrics by Stew and the musical collaboration of Stew and Heidi Rodewald.  According to the Belasco playbill….’it applies in the context of people ’passing’ for what they are not - culturally, psychologically and so on” which is a perfect fit for this innovative and energetic new show which was first presented off-Broadway at the Public. 

It boasts a terrific score with high-power performances from a relatively unknown cast tracing the journey of “Youth” played with gusto by Daniel Breaker as he learns valuable life lessons along the way.   As founder, leader, singer and songwriter of The Negro Problem, a pop rock combo out of L.A., Stew split his time between two careers to create Passing Strange.  When asked about the creative process he said, “We started working on it in 2004, but you have to understand we didn’t work everyday.  We have lives…we’d go on tour…..so it wasn’t all the time but every once in a while till we started to get serious…We all discussed it together…always collaborating and getting other people’s opinions.” 

When the Tony Awards were mentioned Stew made it quite clear that he has a second career and said, “I don’t care about the Tony awards.”  He seemed, however, to truly enjoy the audience reaction both in the theatre and at the stage door.     

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.