Passing Strange on DVD

In the very last session of my musical-theater history course, we do three things: my students hand in their take-home finals, we talk about what makes bad musicals bad, and then we launch into what I've come to call our "showtune games." In one of these games, I put my 30G iPod on shuffle, play ten random songs (out of about 8,000, all theater music, natch), and challenge my students to name the song and show. 

This past semester, one of the songs that came up on the old iPod was "What's Inside Is Just a Lie" from Passing Strange. Now, I realize that the show didn't run very long, but not a single one of my students was able to name the show. Some guessed the song title, as it's repeated so frequently, but even when we went over the answers, and I told them the name of the show, a lot of my students had never even heard of Passing Strange.

I'm not trying to dump on my students here. When the show was running, most of them were juniors in high school, many nowhere near New York City. I see this more as a testament to the fleeting nature of the theatrical consciousness. Passing Strange, while stunning and innovative, is yesterday's news. The show ran a mere 165 performances and 20 previews at the venerable Belasco Theater. And it is highly unlikely that the show will catch on in regional or community theater, mostly because the story is so specific to Stew, the show's writer and central performer. 

Fortunately, before the show closed, filmmaker Spike Lee brought in more than a dozen cameras and taped three of the show's final performances. The resulting film played the Sundance Film Festival, and has now been released on DVD. And it's a real stunner.

When I saw Passing Strange on Broadway, I was so impressed with the freshness and raw energy of the show (read my original review) that I decided to take in the show again (read my re-review). Well, I'm not really sure how or why, but in some respects the movie is even more compelling than the stage play was. This is probably a testament to Lee's dynamic, almost invasive, camera angles. As in the best documentaries and concert films, Lee has taken us where the theater cannot: backstage, up close, behind, beside, below the performers. Lee has even placed cameras in the four hydraulic pits that house the on-stage band, making the players an even more integral part of the action.

Such an approach would likely not work with most theatrical presentations, but with the already anarchic Passing Strange, it significantly enhances and complements the themes, techniques, and movement employed by stage director Annie Dorsen and choreographer Karole Armitage. The cinematographic intimacy also puts into stunning relief the terrific work by the show's talented cast, including the dynamic Rebecca Naomi Jones, the sensational Daniel Breaker, and the electrifying Colman Domingo.

We're unlikely to see the likes of Passing Strange back on Broadway anytime soon. Oh sure, we'll see more rock shows, and we may even see more staged concerts, but none with the singularity of vision and execution that Passing Strange reflects. And we're fortunate to have this permanent record of a show that can genuinely be called unique.

A final note to my students: Yeah, you're not in my course anymore, but I'm giving you one final piece of homework. See this film.

Comments

[Esther]

Wow, that's interesting. I would have thought your students would be the kind of kids who live and breathe musical theater and would be really up on "everything" on Broadway, obsessively reading Playbill.com when they were in high school. But maybe they were just too young.

I haven't seen the film yet but I think Passing Strange would work well on a small screen. There aren't any big dance numbers. I imagine there are lots of close-ups of Stew and Youth interacting with the various people he meets. It's kind of an intimate show.

[winer]

Thanks for this review. I loved the show when I saw it and have been waiting to see this movie. Now I am even more eager.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1088730746]

So I've been lurking forever and had to comment on this. I'm a college student in Boston and I, along with a number of my friends, love this show. However, all of us are minorities, mainly black. This may seem a bit gauche, but what is the main race of your students? Cause I find that the teen musical geeks that got really obsessed over this show tend to be black, cause it calls to their experience.

p.s. I am seriously trying to find a way to cross reg or audit your class, because you seem to be an amazing teacher

[ccaggiano]

You make an interesting point. I've been pleased to see that there are more and more African Americans in the student body at the BoCo, but not so many that it might raise the collective consciousness about a show like Passing Strange.

Not sure where you go to school, but BoCo has cross-registration at Berklee, Emerson, and I believe NEC. As for other schools, I really couldn't say. But there's always room for one more student in my class.

[cbrathwa]

I actually go to MIT (yes, I'm not a theater major, but hey not everyone can be) so scheduling makes it impossible, but I will continue to read your blog religiously. As for Passing Strange, I think this dvd version is a far better way for it to live on when compared to a regional version. You really need to have the feeling of Stew as live as possible.

[ccaggiano]

Oh, yeah, totally agree. I really can't imagine a community or even a college production of Passing Strange. It would sort of be like doing Chita: A Dancer's Life or Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. I supposed it *could* work with the right people, but otherwise it's great we have a permanent record of the show. And such a strong one, too.