this particular poster on ATC says it very well, better than I ever could..
Cuz we say it's alright", Stew. -- saying goodbye to PASSING STRANGE.
Posted by: jesse21 10:31 am EDT 07/21/08
Late in the first act of Passing Strange, toward the end of the song "Keys (It's Alright)", narrator Stew breaks the fourth wall and turns his open mike to the audience so they can join in with their own "Yeah. It's alright"(s).
At yesterday's closing performance, Stew was playing to a SRO crowd of fans and I think "newbie" people who probably kept putting off seeing the show until the last minute. In any case, the assembled were a receptive audience who looked like a cross-section of what contemporary America actually does look like in 2008.
Stew's audience-participation gesture was always an intrinsic part of the material, but this time it resulted in a cathartic demonstration that might have pleased Euripides. Yes indeed, it turned into a mid-show standing ovation, but a special type where actors, musicians and audience joined as one to rock the bejesus out of the song's ending. The audience was so electric, they made Kevin Adams's back wall of fluorescent tubes seem like a single 100-watt incandescent in comparison. Chalk up another entry in my book of Broadway's unforgettable moments.
So let me say it for the last time. Passing Strange is the best new musical presented on or off Broadway during the last season in New York City, and quite possibly in the entire world. (Even though I haven't seen them, I have a feeling I'm correct in assuming Londoners won't counter with Lord of the Rings, Gone With the Wind, or Desperately Seeking Susan.)
Passing Strange pushed the envelope in yet one more new direction to make the musical relevant to the 21st century. That kind of ambitious creativity makes for a tough sell under any circumstances, and, sadly, the show didn't fill enough seats to keep itself open for a longer run. However, if you were at the Belasco Theatre yesterday, you may have looked around and felt a sensation similar to mine. This time maybe the battle at the box office was lost, but not the future path of what the ticket-buying public will be interested in seeing.
Meanwhile, we are fortunate to have the cast album of Passing Strange: The Stew Musical, which is brilliantly produced by Ghostlight Records. And maybe even luckier for the movie version Spike Lee continued to shoot at yesterday's closing performance. These audio and visual recordings will be around to inspire new generations of artists about the exciting avenues of approach that are possible for musical theater.
Stew opened yesterday's show by saying "We're gonna play some songs, then we're goin' to Montauk." Talk about a send-off to the beach. At the curtain call, Stew reprised "Keys", cast and musicians danced on stage, as did some of the audience at their seats and in the aisles. The rest just stood, applauded, and cheered as the celebration went on for a solid five minutes.
re: "Stew's audience-participation gesture"
Posted by: falcon15 11:40 am EDT 07/21/08
In reply to: "Stew's audience-participation gesture" - chekky 11:07 am EDT 07/21/08
I disagree. The song really builds to that moment. It's the "Someone in a Tree" of rock music, in a way - it starts with Marianna giving the Youth her keys, and we slowly realize what this event means to him. Then he tells us it's a life-defining moment for him - "And after so long, feeling so alone, I feel like picking up the phone and calling up that place called home to say I found a brand-new family, where I can be that thing called me..."
Then Stew puts into words what Youth can't, cause he's too close to the moment. Stew puts it into perspective, first in specifics ("In Beverly Hills, they gave him chills, and South Central put his soul in the deep freeze"), and then growing broader and more meaningful - "I guess no one ever made him feel as real as when she mended him by lending him her keys."
If Youth's realization of the Real in church is what sets him off on his quest, this is the milepoint. There's no turning back now that he's found a part of the Real and knows it's there and that he can be a part of it. It's the moment in Invisible Man when the protagonist has his first taste of invisibility with Dr. Bledsoe. It's the moment in The Tin Drum when Oskar decides not to grow up. It's the moment in Demian when Sinclair finds the note about Abraxas. It is a moment of great joy and pain and communion. It's ritualistic theatre in the best sense.
At yesterday's closing performance, Stew was playing to a SRO crowd of fans and I think "newbie" people who probably kept putting off seeing the show until the last minute. In any case, the assembled were a receptive audience who looked like a cross-section of what contemporary America actually does look like in 2008.
Stew's audience-participation gesture was always an intrinsic part of the material, but this time it resulted in a cathartic demonstration that might have pleased Euripides. Yes indeed, it turned into a mid-show standing ovation, but a special type where actors, musicians and audience joined as one to rock the bejesus out of the song's ending. The audience was so electric, they made Kevin Adams's back wall of fluorescent tubes seem like a single 100-watt incandescent in comparison. Chalk up another entry in my book of Broadway's unforgettable moments.
So let me say it for the last time. Passing Strange is the best new musical presented on or off Broadway during the last season in New York City, and quite possibly in the entire world. (Even though I haven't seen them, I have a feeling I'm correct in assuming Londoners won't counter with Lord of the Rings, Gone With the Wind, or Desperately Seeking Susan.)
Passing Strange pushed the envelope in yet one more new direction to make the musical relevant to the 21st century. That kind of ambitious creativity makes for a tough sell under any circumstances, and, sadly, the show didn't fill enough seats to keep itself open for a longer run. However, if you were at the Belasco Theatre yesterday, you may have looked around and felt a sensation similar to mine. This time maybe the battle at the box office was lost, but not the future path of what the ticket-buying public will be interested in seeing.
Meanwhile, we are fortunate to have the cast album of Passing Strange: The Stew Musical, which is brilliantly produced by Ghostlight Records. And maybe even luckier for the movie version Spike Lee continued to shoot at yesterday's closing performance. These audio and visual recordings will be around to inspire new generations of artists about the exciting avenues of approach that are possible for musical theater.
Stew opened yesterday's show by saying "We're gonna play some songs, then we're goin' to Montauk." Talk about a send-off to the beach. At the curtain call, Stew reprised "Keys", cast and musicians danced on stage, as did some of the audience at their seats and in the aisles. The rest just stood, applauded, and cheered as the celebration went on for a solid five minutes.
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Updated On: 7/21/08 at 01:33 PM
