On Demand Alert: Passing Strange The Movie

In spring 2008, Ann and I caught the Broadway production of "Passing Strange," an "autobiographical fiction" musical starring Stew (that's all, just "Stew") and co-authored by Heidi Rosenwald. Stew's story -- of a young African-American searching for meaning in Europe during the Seventies, and living off of checks from his middle-class mother from the Compton neighborhood in Los Angeles -- was interesting to someone who was a somewhat less privileged contemporary of his (me)... but the telling -- with Stew fronting a terrific rock band that held center-stage through the entire performance -- was something special. The original Broadway production only lasted for 165 performances, but fortunately filmmaker Spike Lee was so taken with it that he captured the work on film. "Passing Strange The Movie" debuted at the IFC Center theater in New York on August 21st, and on Wednesday August 26 it will be available on-demand on cable systems across America. Someone described "Passing Strange" as "The Rock Musical for Rock Musical Haters" -- if you're one of those, tune in. It's great music, it's organic to the play, and the production is captivating. Based on the clips on the movie's website, Spike Lee has very effectively captured what we so thoroughly enjoyed in the theater.

Broadway Weekend: South Pacific, Gypsy, In the Heights

At least once a year, Ann and I find a weekend to get to New York to take in several musicals. This was one of those weekends, and we drew three aces.

As we sat down to watch South Pacific in the Vivian Beaumont Theater at (the under-massive-renovation) Lincoln Center, Ann said, "This show is the Mozart of musical theater." Pretty accurate -- but this show has a better book than most of Mozart. Not sure what accolades I can add on top of what's already been said about Kelly O'Hara (whom we saw in the same theatre just three years ago in Adam Goettel's The Light in the Piazza), but there are two other great reasons to see this historic and important revival. First, Paulo Szot, a Brazilian opera singer playing the French planter de Becque is magnificent in delivering the classic "Some Enchanted Evening" and the should-be classic "This Nearly Was Mine." Second, Danny Burstein, who played the Latin lover Adolfo broadly, brilliantly and memorably in the original Broadway cast of The Drowsy Chaperone, renders Lt. Burris as a bittersweet character with deft comic timing. Add to this an all-around solid cast, clever sets, and a 30-piece orchestra that reminds you what a band used to sound like on Broadway.

The orchestra in the latest revival of Gypsy at the St. James Theater also numbers about two dozen, and they deliver the kind of fabulous brassy, percussive numbers that are central to this show. Patty Lupone brings real drama and pathos (and a diminishing but still unmistakable voice) to the role of Mama Rose, and she's the primary reason to buy your ticket... as close as possible to the stage to see a master at work.

I'll bet you can't sit still at Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights, a tale of life in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods at the northern tip of Manhattan in the shadow of the GW Bridge. Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and raps that give this show a unique character. The show is incredibly kinetic -- lots and lots of singing and some riveting post-Fosse, post-Bill T. Jones choreography. This is a show to catch now - like one of my other Broadway favorites of the past year, Passing Strange, I'm just not sure what kind of legs this show will have without its creator/star.