Passing Strange - the movie

Sometimes simply filming a musical onstage doesn't really grab me. But in the case of Passing Strange, I think Spike Lee has done a great job capturing what I enjoyed about this show when I saw it on Broadway in 2008 and made me see it in a fresh way.

Passing Strange tells the story of a young black man whose journey of self-discovery takes him from his middle class Los Angeles home to the drugs and sex and radical politics of Amsterdam and Berlin. It's more or less the life of rock musician Stew, who fronts the onstage band and narrates.

I loved the performance by Daniel Breaker as Youth, an aspiring musician and Stew's younger version of himself. (Just to drive the point home, they both wear red T-shirts and sneakers!)

Breaker, who received a Tony nomination, is exciting to watch. He's a wonderfully expressive actor and being able to see him up close - the look on his face and in his eyes - just demonstrates that even more.

Also, Passing Strange is really funny. I'd forgotten how much I laughed.

Stew won a Tony for his book and also wrote the lyrics. (The music was composed with his longtime collaborator Heidi Rodewald.) He has some very witty and perceptive things to say about race and politics, as well as about family and being true to yourself as an artist.

This is a musical with quite a few intimate scenes between Youth and the people in his life - including his strict but loving churchgoing mother, played by Eisa Davis. Maybe it was watching them on a small screen but those moments seemed even more poignant this time.

Four actors: Chad Goodridge, Colman Domingo, Rebecca Naomi Jones and De'Adre Aziza, move seamlessly from the teenage Youth's friends in L.A. to Dutch artists to German anarchists. I especially loved Domingo as Franklin, the minister's son and choir director who sets Youth out on a path about which he himself can only dream.

I know Stew has mentioned The Wizard of Oz as an inspiration and I can see that. Youth's adventures reminded me so much of the mix of apprehension and exhilaration that comes from being in a foreign country for the first time.

The only thing that bothered me about the filming of Passing Strange, and I don't know whether this had something to do with the camerawork or my PBS station, but a few times actors on the left side of the stage were cut off, so you could only see half of their bodies. I noticed the credits were the same way.

When I wrote my review, I said that while I admired the show's innovation I missed the elaborate sets and big, choreographed dance numbers that you usually find in a Broadway musical. (Also, while I enjoyed the vibrant mix of rock and punk and gospel, among other sounds, I have to admit it was a bit loud for me at times.)

But the second time around, that really didn't matter. There's something I like even better than big sets and dance numbers - a well-told story. And Stew is a masterful storyteller. I'm so glad we have Passing Strange preserved on film.

Shrek

Gratuitous Violins rating: **1/2 out of ****

I can find something to like in almost every show. I don't ask for much - I'm fairly lenient in my ratings. All I want is be entertained. (And I don't mean that solely in a light, fluffy sense.)

Make me laugh, make me cry or make my jaw drop in amazement. Give me performances I remember weeks later, situations that resonate or make me think. Catchy songs, energetic choreography or an eye-catching set will help, too.

But you have to give me something to work with. And the new musical Shrek, while it had its moments, unfortunately didn't give me nearly enough. I didn't feel as excited or absorbed by the plot or the main characters as I should have been. At 2 hours and 40 minutes including an intermission, the show dragged. Frankly, there were times when I was simply bored.

Keep in mind that I saw Shrek, which opens Sunday, very early in its previews at the Broadway Theatre. I want to give it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe director Jason Moore has speeded things up a bit.

And I have to admit that I was never a big fan of the 2001 animated movie Shrek, based on the classic children's book by William Steig. The story revolves around a big green ogre named Shrek who has to find Princess Fiona and bring her back to the scheming Lord Farquaad in order to rid his swamp of a horde of pesky fairytale characters.

For me, the best part of the movie was Eddie Murphy as the voice of the donkey who accompanies Shrek on his journey. Daniel Breaker was cast in the role after the musical's Seattle tryout, replacing Chester Gregory II. I was a big fan of Breaker's from Passing Strange and he was the main reason I wanted to see Shrek.

Breaker is fun to watch as the sassy sidekick, even if he did seem to be channeling Eddie Murphy a bit. He's such a terrific presence - just in the way he moves, flaps the hooves of his donkey costume. Christopher Sieber, who spends a good part of the musical on his knees as the ruthless and vertically challenged Lord Farquaad, made me smile whenever he was on stage. John Tartaglia was sweet and cute as Pinocchio but it's not a huge role.

On the other hand, I wasn't blown away by Brian d'Arcy James and Sutton Foster as Shrek and Princess Fiona. They were okay, but neither one seemed all that interesting and I didn't end up caring all that much about their relationship. Somehow, Shrek didn't seem gruff enough and Fiona didn't seem spunky enough. There's a scene, which I guess is a memorable one from the movie, in which they have a farting and belching contest. Personally, I hated it. But everyone else laughed, so what do I know?

There were some things about Shrek that I liked. Tim Hatley's costumes and scenic design - the forest, Lord Farquaad's castle - looked like they could have leaped from the pages of a classic children's fairytale. There was some great animation and David Lindsay-Abaire's book contains some witty references to other Broadway shows.

I liked some of the songs by Jeanine Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire, including the opening number, "Big Bright Beautiful World," the storybook characters' anthem, "Freak Flag," and "Morning Person," the song-and-dance number Fiona has at the beginning of Act II. (I don't know why she was dancing with those rats but it did make me laugh.)

In the end, though, the whole thing just seemed bland and unengaging. Shrek wasn't magical enough to bring out my inner child and it wasn't clever enough to appeal to my grown-up emotions. Tesori was at the performance I attended, so maybe things have changed. Or maybe, sadly, this just wasn't for me.

Getting excited about Shrek

Sometimes, one performer can make the difference between "eh, not interested" and "I have to see this."

A couple of my fellow bloggers have already weighed in on the casting changes announced earlier this week for the Broadway-bound Shrek, which begins previews Nov. 8. But I want to send out a little blog love of my own to Daniel Breaker, who will be the musical's new Donkey, replacing Chester Gregory II.

While I do feel bad for Gregory, who was cut after the show's Seattle run, I guess that's part of what shows do in out-of-town tryouts. The creative team sees what works and what doesn't and makes changes. As a Broadway performer, I imagine you understand that's the way the system works and there's always a chance you'll be replaced. He's a veteran, talented actor and hopefully he'll be back on stage soon.

Up until this week, I had next to no interest in seeing Shrek. I watched the 2001 movie a few years ago, and it was okay. The best part was Eddie Murphy as the Donkey. (I wonder if this is a little dig at Murphy: In the New York Times story, he's referred to as the "Norbit auteur.")

But Breaker's involvement with Shrek changes everything. He was just so memorable in the musical Passing Strange and I'd jump at the chance to see him in another role. Yes, I was that impressed. In fact, I liked everyone in the cast.

Breaker is a wonderfully expressive, physical actor. He can do so much just with the way he slouches in a chair. And he made the character of Youth, who journeys from Los Angeles to Amsterdam to Berlin in search of "the real" so sweet and appealing. One of my absolute favorite Broadway moments from 2008 was watching Breaker leap across the Belasco Theatre stage in imitation of a big Broadway dance number.

Here's a good Los Angeles Times interview with Breaker from June. He recalls his childhood in Germany as an Army brat, coming to New York to study at Juilliard, his Tony nomination for Passing Strange, and his impending fatherhood. And in The Washington Post in 2005, Breaker talks about his love for performing the classics.

According to his Facebook page, Breaker's son, Rory, was born last month. So even though he'll be long gone from Shrek by the time his son is old enough to start going to the theatre, it's kind of cool that Breaker's next Broadway role is based on a classic children's book.

Passing Strange will pass into history

So, I guess this was inevitable, given its lackluster box office: Passing Strange, the musical about a search for "the real," now playing at Broadway's Belasco Theatre, is closing July 20.

I had mixed feelings about the show. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to love in this musical about a young African-American man's journey of self-discovery that takes him from Los Angeles, to Amsterdam, to Berlin, all set to a rock 'n' roll beat. (Which actually, for me, was a bit loud at times!) While I liked Passing Strange a great deal, and I wouldn't have missed seeing it for anything, I think that way down deep, I respected and admired it more than I truly loved it.

Stew, who received the show's sole Tony award, for the book of Passing Strange, has written some very witty, insightful dialog about race, about family, about finding your place in the world. I love the way the show is structured as a kind of homage to The Wizard of Oz. And Daniel Breaker, who plays Youth, is amazing. Really, I love the entire cast, most of whom play multiple characters Youth meets at various points on his journey.

I also think it's great that this year we have two shows, In the Heights and Passing Strange, in which Latino and African-American artists are telling their own stories, in their own words and music. For me, the thing that's so great about Broadway is that there are so many voices, so many different experiences, represented in a 10-block radius. I'd love to see all of them.

And when I go to New York City for a weekend, I can see five shows easily. For me, Passing Strange definitely has a place in that mix. But I know that I'm not the average New York City tourist. The average tourist sees one, maybe two shows. Obviously a show like Passing Strange, without a recognizable story or cast, is a much more difficult sell.

Look at the box office totals from last week. We live in a world where the Broadway revival of Grease plays to a higher capacity and has a higher average ticket price than the revival of Gypsy, which has three amazing, Tony-winning performances. How can that be?

I wish Passing Strange could have gotten some of the audience for rock 'n' roll musicals that went to see Spring Awakening or Rent. Maybe part of it was the marketing. Perhaps Daniel Breaker as Youth should have been featured more prominently. I mean, Stew's a great guy and all, and he does a great job acting as kind of a narrator for Passing Strange, but he's not the whole story. You want people to realize that this is a love story, a story about a young man's journey, a story about race and about family. I'm not sure any of those things came through unless you actually bought a ticket and went to see it.

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to Spike Lee's film of Passing Strange. And as I said in my review of Passing Strange, while I like musicals with big choreographed dance numbers, showstopping songs and lavish sets, it would be pretty boring if every musical were like that. I'm glad that there was something so unique on Broadway, and I loved seeing a show that challenged my expectations.

Passing Strange

Gratuitous Violins rating: ***1/2 out of ****

Usually, I have to wait until a show starts to get a chuckle out of it, but Passing Strange made me smile before I even entered Broadway's Belasco Theatre. Outside, there's a picture of the cast with this quote from Stew, whose semi-autobiographical story I was about to see played out on stage: "Life is a movie starring you. Your whole family is the cast and crew."

That line is funny, playful and brimming with insight - and that's what I loved about Passing Strange. The dialogue is smart, witty and memorable. In fact, I think the last show I saw with so much memorable dialogue was probably the newly minted Pulitzer winner for best drama, Tracy Letts' August: Osage County.

Passing Strange is a minimalist musical - it doesn't have much in the way of lavish sets or big production numbers and the cast doubles up on roles. But it's got terrific performances, an incredibly appealing main character and very big ideas about race and identity and family and what it takes to create meaningful art.

Stew, who wrote the music with his partner Heidi Rodewald, narrates the story accompanied by his rock 'n' roll band. I love David Korins' scenic design that has Stew's band partially submerged into the stage. And the way Stew uses music to tell stories reminded me a little of another singer-songwriter I love - Bob Dylan. (I downloaded some of the songs from the Passing Strange Web site, but until I saw them in the show, I didn't really know what they were about).

Stew, born Mark Stewart, is an easygoing kind of guy. Reviewers usually describe him as "roly-poly" and note the thick black glasses perched on his head. He doesn't at all mind engaging with the audience when a theatergoer who's a little too caught up in the moment shouts to him from the balcony.

A character known only as Youth, an amazing Daniel Breaker, and the rest of the equally talented cast act out scenes from his life. First, we see him in 1970s Los Angeles, a middle-class black teenager rebelling against his loving but strict churchgoing mother, played by Eisa Davis. After that, he embarks on sojourns to hedonistic Amsterdam ("a place that makes Berkeley look like the Bible Belt") and radical Berlin, all in search of "the real."

One thing that's really struck me about all the theatre that I've seen during the past year is how many of the stories revolve around the relationship between parents and children. Obviously, there's lots of drama - and comedy and music - to mine in that relationship. Plus, it's pretty universal. We've all had parents - and our parents have all had children.

Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones and De'Adre Aziza are wonderful playing the very different characters Youth meets at different points in his journey. I hope there are many more Broadway roles for all of them. I especially liked Domingo as the church choir director/Berlin performance artist and Goodridge as a drummer in Youth's teenage punk rock band who, after two years, laments that he still hasn't found a sense of rhythm. He's equally adept later, as a left-wing German militant.

It's clear that Youth is a stand-in for Stew: they're dressed alike in red shirts, black pants and black sneakers. And I can't say enough about Breaker. He's energetic and he does so much without even talking as he moves from sheltered teen to wide-eyed world traveler. Just the expressions on his face and the way he slouches in a chair convey so much meaning. At one point, after Stew explains how Passing Strange isn't going to be like a traditional Broadway musical, Breaker leaps across the stage in imitation of a big Broadway dance number. It's so unexpected, hilarious and graceful, and I think it's one of the most delightful moments I've seen on stage - or in the movies or on television for that matter.

In fact, Breaker makes Youth so sweet and likable I couldn't quite square it with the way he treats his mother. In the end his actions, or inactions, make him come across as kind of selfish. But I guess Stew's point is that we all do foolish things when we're young, things that we regret as we grow older, when it's too late to make amends.

I also like the way Passing Strange offers a nod to an earlier generation of African-American expatriate artists, people like James Baldwin and Josephine Baker. It connects Youth's journey to a larger tradition.

I saw Passing Strange and In the Heights on successive nights, and one of the things I appreciated about both of them is that each allows African-American and Latino characters to tell their own stories. Like Mandy Gonzalez' Nina, the young Latina college student whose story is at the heart of In the Heights, Youth is trying to find his place in the world. And Stew reminds us that the world's not always a very accommodating place for a young black man, even one as endearing as Youth.

At one point, the teenage Youth is told that on the one hand, he's "not black enough" but on the other hand, he shouldn't be so black that no one will hire him. He flinches at being stereotyped, but in Berlin he becomes a stereotypical ghetto kid and hip-hop artist. He's delighted and touched to be accepted and trusted by a young woman he meets in Amsterdam. (And it's the subject of "Keys," a beautiful song from Breaker and Aziza.) Yet later he learns, painfully, that there are limits to his acceptance, even by people who appear to be his friends.

In the end, I have some mixed feelings about Passing Strange. My immediate reaction was, well that was different. I liked it and I'm glad I saw it and I'm looking forward to listening to the Broadway cast CD, but I didn't feel compelled to see the show again. For one thing, parts of it are pretty loud. Sometimes I had trouble understanding some of the lyrics. And I thought the second act dragged a bit. (Although Stew's jabs at radical politics in Berlin are priceless. One artist tells Youth: "My pornography is men in business suits making deals.")

Call me shallow, but I guess I did miss the big choreographed dance numbers, showstopping songs and lavish sets. Still, it would be pretty boring if every musical were like that. I'm glad that there's something so unique on Broadway and I love seeing a show that challenges my expectations. And I was pretty captivated by Breaker's performance. Plus, Passing Strange does give you an awful lot to think about afterward. Ok, I'm wavering a little. Maybe I would see it a second time, if only to ponder Stew's words and delight again in Youth's fleet-footed leap across the stage.

Before I saw Passing Strange, I listened to an interview with Stew on the public radio program Studio 360. He talked about some of his inspirations, most notably The Wizard of Oz. That's one reason, he said, why he has African-American actors play the white characters Youth meets in Amsterdam and Berlin.

At first, I wasn't sure whether it worked. I thought maybe the contrast would have been greater if white actors had played those roles. Youth would have seemed even more like a stranger in a strange land. But as I started to think more about the whole Wizard of Oz comparison, I realized that I like what Stew's done. It's actually pretty inspired.

For all of its nontraditional look and storytelling, Youth does go on a pretty traditional journey of self-discovery. It's very Dorothy-like. Kevin Adams' design moves the show from subdued, dim lighting to brilliant color, just like the Wizard of Oz. Youth argues with his mother, just like Dorothy fights with Auntie Em. And he sees some of the same people who were in his life in the first part of the musical playing different roles in his life in the second part, just like The Wizard of Oz.

Youth struggles as a musician because he doesn't yet realize that you have to write about what you know - your life experiences, what excites you, the things you feel passionate about. Then the writing comes easy, because it comes from the heart. That's what's "real." And his epiphany, well, you've seen The Wizard of Oz, so I know you can figure it out. If you need a hint, just close your eyes and click your heels together three times. It'll come to you. I know it will.