Passing Strange Review - 4/12/08 2pm

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 2:55am

Hey everyone - I saw the matinee of Passing Strange today. I initially had no interest in seeing this show, as I had listened to the clips on the website and didn't really care for them. But after reading all the rave reviews, including one from a close friend whose opinion I trust and usually agree with, I decided to give it a shot. I wasn't exactly disappointed, as my initial reaction to the music carried over to the rest of the show.

I did not like the show. Sure, there were moments that I thoroughly enjoyed. And I'll admit that when it was good, it was GREAT. But I feel like this show only really worked when it was a rock concert. The story was unoriginal (a coming of age tale on Broadway - who knew?) and although its method of storytelling was fresh, I also found it a bit pretentious. At the show's start, I was thrilled that I was enjoying myself. The scenes in Los Angeles were my favorite in the show, but once Youth left for Europe my interest went too. It's hard for me to say exactly what it was that turned me off, but by the end of the first act I was on the fence about whether or not I liked it. By the time the first song of the second act began ("May Day"), I hopped the fence onto the negative side. The second act really cemented the fact that I just didn't like the show. I hated the second act. I wanted to leave after "Surface." It was messy, too long, and isolating.

Before people start attacking me and saying "You just didn't get it," I don't think there's really much to get. It's pretty clear what the message of the show is when Stew recites lines like "Life is a mistake that only art can fix" or something very similar and "The real is a construct." The problem is that (and here's where I think it becomes pretentious) I felt the show tried too hard to drive this point home by intentionally being unconventional and different, in my opinion to a point alienating itself as a strange jumble of ideas rather than a cohesive piece. But that's just my opinion.

I will say that Stew was captivating, Daniel Breaker was phenomenal, and the music was much better than I expected. Unfortunately, I cannot recall any of the melodies (except "Just as it was starting to feel real") but I did like the score as a whole nonetheless. I thought Colman Domingo's performance was heinous and each character was overacted. Chad Goodridge and Rebecca Naomi Jones were both very good. I wish De'Adre Aziza's "Keys" was better. And the volume of the band was appropriate, even from where I sat in the second row.

Edited for grammar. Updated On: 4/13/08 at 02:55 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 3:05am

I don't think anyone will attack you or try to convince you that you didn't get it - you just didn't like it. And your review was good, thank you.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 3:28am

Thanks, blaxx. I was just preparing myself for the comments from people on the board who are passionate about the show's "brilliance."

[the.hard.part]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 10:39am

Everyone has their own opinion no need for attacks, very well said, glad you enjoyed at least some of it

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 1:23pm

Personal opinion's a birth right. Don't feel bad about voicing yours. I feel that your review was very well-crafted, in expressing what you got out of and enjoyed about the piece. Our views differ. A lot. I'm not going to berate you for it, though... I'm from a nice bunch. Thank you for sharing.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 1:34pm

I feel the same way about SPRING AWAKENING - I was pretty dissapointed when I saw it. The whole transition from the book to a musical just felt... off.

It would have been much better as a rock concert in my opinion. Everything was great except for the book. It didn't do anything for me.

Can't wait to get the PASSING STRANGE cast recording!

[scaryclowns223]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 3:52pm

I don't think any of us Passing Strange lovers will be upset and attack you. We're just glad you gave the show a shot and that you formed your own opinion about it. Thanks for posting such a great review and for giving your opinions logical foundation and motivation. It was a nice review, even though I personally disagree.

(I will acknowledge that I thought Coleman Domingo's first character was a bit overacted at first, though I warmed up to it and loved his character in the second act.)

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 4:18pm

I gotta admit, once the cast recording comes out, I'm probably skip "May Day," and the other first couple of tracks of Act II.. I can see how that rendered your decision to disliking the show. For me though, the stuff after that tied everything together, so the entire show as a whole was amazing to me.

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 4:27pm

I told you. Scaryotypes are pretty laid back

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 4:59pm

Good... I was bracing myself for the worst, like when I posted a negative review of Wicked. Thanks for all your comments.

Sidebar: I apologize for assuming the Scaryotypes would be as rabid as the Wicked fans.

[Steve2]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 5:45pm

I appreciate your well thought out comments like this perfectliar. You didn't particularly enjoy it and you gave the reasons why and I respect that! I hate when people just say "It sucked". What a civil thread this is!

[steven22]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 7:02pm

i saw the show today at 3...let me say..i went in not really wanting to be there..about 20 minutes into the first act i started to enjoy it....it was good..not amazing..not something I would see a second time but it was better than I expected

[BenKaye]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 7:08pm

Being a Scaryotype, I personally disagree, but it's always good to see a review that is constructively critical. Glad to hear that you liked some of the show.

[aliciag]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 7:11pm

Agreed with everyone else here. I would at least hope, for you, that you didn't think it was a waste of money. If you walked out at least enjoying some of it I think that's good.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 8:10pm

Same as BLAXX...who do you think we are...nitwits at ATC who are now posting "The Catered Affair Deathwatch"!?!?

We actually LIKE stuff.

[jake6970]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 8:13pm

I mostly agree. I saw passing strange a few weeks ago and while I really enjoyed parts of it, I found that I was forcing myself to enjoy it because of all the hype I had heard.

[barcelona20]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 8:48pm

I don't understand the comment that this show "intentionally" tried to be unconventional and different. This show was based upon the real life events of Stew, and told in the only way he knows how, which is via a rock concert.

I don't think they initially said, well let's create a show that is completely different than anything else out there on Broadway.

Also, about the second act. Yes, some of it may run too long, but they perfectly capture the atmosphere of Berlin. If you've never been to Berlin, then I can somewhat understand why you think that it wasn't as good as the first act. However, Berlin is a place that is bleak and gray, and they captured the spirit of this place 100%.

The comment about this not being a cohesive piece is a little bizarre, how each location teaches Stew about what is important in life, but in a different way.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 9:04pm

barcelona20 - Of course they set out to be unconventional. Stew SAYS that in the show. "I don't know how to write a showtune, so listen to this instead." That's unconventional.

No, I've never been to Berlin. But in making the second act so bleak, it's isolating. Which is what I'm saying. I don't like to be isolated from the emotions of the characters; I like to connect to them. And I didn't really feel that until Youth left Berlin.

Maybe you found cohesion where I did not. To me, it played out as disjointed. Maybe that's bizzare to you, sorry.

[steven22]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 9:06pm

about 8 people walked out the show today

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 9:13pm

Feel the real.

[barcelona20]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 9:29pm

Stew didn't write "showtunes", he wrote rock music, which is what he knows. And who's to say that this type of music isn't the new standard of musical theatre? Would you have considered Oklahoma or Showboat to have been "unconventional"?

Yes, this is not similar to the music in South Pacific, but to say that they deliberately tried to create an unconventional show is false. They are just taking advantage of Stew's strength as a musician.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 10:15pm

barcelona - Allow me to spell out my thought process for you.

Stew does not write showtunes.

Stew writes rock music.

Yet Stew wrote a musical.

Stew knew what he was doing when he did this.

(I think he does anyway... he seems to get high a lot.)

In writing a show with a book that points out its own unconventional tendencies, Passing Strange purposefully becomes unconventional.

... Now to address your other comment, YES. Oklahoma! was very unconventional. More than 50 years later, it does not seem that way, but it was. Perhaps 50 years from now, Passing Strange will not seem unconventional. At this present time, it is. Updated On: 4/13/08 at 10:15 PM

[barcelona20]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 10:31pm

I guess I take offense that you are using the word unconventional in a negative light. Especially when looking at the history of musical theatre, unconventional has inspired new ways of thinking and storytelling.

And your logic below states that because Stew writes rock music and not "show tunes", that he shouldn't be allowed to write a musical? Should Duncan Sheik and Jonathan Larson not have been allowed to write shows for musical theatre?

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 10:42pm

"And your logic below states that because Stew writes rock music and not "show tunes", that he shouldn't be allowed to write a musical?"

I'm sorry, where did I "state" that Stew should not be allowed to write musicals?

And where did I use unconventional negatively? I thought it was one of the shows flaws, but that's my opinion. I never said "I don't like this show because it is unconventional." I did say that it was written to be unconventional, which is where the argument in my last post comes in. That's all.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 4/13/08 at 11:32pm

I think, Barc., and PerfectL, might be arguing about semantics? Tell me if I'm wrong, super fans, but don't we basically LOVE the very sweetly humorous PARODIES of all things "ARTY", that Stew and Heidi SKEW so well?