Dan's Papers - March 21, 2008 - review: passing strange

Weaving a hypnotic spell, the exciting new musical Passing Strange has moved to Broadway after a well-received engagement downtown at the Public last summer. Breaking with tradition, the musical is an amalgam of styles, fusing a variety of distinctive forms from cabaret to gospel into a consistently inventive blend that feels more like a high concept hybrid performance art/rock concert than a Broadway musical. Whatever you call it, there is no doubt this is beguiling theater, a new form that refuses to be pigeonholed.

The semiautobiographical story is an artist's coming of age tale filled with sex, drugs and rock n' roll. The central character, simply called Youth (Daniel Breaker), is an African American Zen Buddhist living with his churchgoing mother (Eisa Davis) in South Central LA circa 1976. In search of self-knowledge and self expression through his music, Youth revolts against his middle class surroundings to discover "the real." He embarks on a Bohemian journey through Europe to the free loving drug culture of Amsterdam and the dangers of Berlin to learn many of life's lessons before coming full circle and returning home.

All the while our narrator Stew, Youth's alter ego, makes rueful detached comments on the unfolding action. The smart juxtaposition of the impressionable Youth with the wise sage gives the show a smart satiric edge, and allows us to identify with Youth instead of judging him.

The setup is the perfect springboard for the relentless bombardment of bold, pulsating songs by Stew, the one named singer/songwriter (who composed the music with Heidi Rodewald). The music gives the show a freshness that runs an easy gamut from rock to jazz, blues, punk, pop, funk, gospel and show tunes. The angry rebelliousness of some of the songs reminded me of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," a downtown rock musical that covered somewhat similar territory.

Director Annie Dorsen helped create Passing Strange, and her work is integral to its appeal. Working with choreographer Karole Armitage, she creates many moody sensual moments that meld beautifully with the pulsating heart and soul of the music.

Daniel Breaker as Youth is a magnificent standout with energetic wide-eyed enthusiasm. Eisa Davis as his caring mother delivers a fully developed characterization that is both funny and moving, without ever being sentimental. Colman Domingo is fabulous in two roles. He is outrageously jaded and right on as a foppish pot smoking choir instructor, grounding his performance in the truth. And he is chilling in a spoof of a crazed performance artist, Mr. Venus. Chad Goodridge is buoyantly winning as well, turning in spirited interpretations. Both Rebecca Naomi Jones and De'Adre Aziza are memorable as Youth's romantic interests.

Designer David Korins has created an ingenious device of having each of the four onstage musicians half-submerged in individual mini-pits that rise and descend. The effect separates them while allowing them to interact with the ensemble. And Kevin Adam's elaborately sculpted colored lighting backdrop is spectacular, continually changing as the scene shifts from LA to Amsterdam and Berlin.

There are no clear-cut answers here, leaving us to draw our own conclusions. The title, which comes from Othello, seems to suggest that to experience different aspects of yourself while making art is Passing Strange, and that there is a danger of losing one's self along the way. The show's philosophy seems to be that, what passes for love and art is often meaningless without true self-acceptance. This universal theme is explored in numerous ways during the evening, culminating with a resounding wisdom that is effectively original, but more often simply mesmerizing.

Passing Strange opened on February 28, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue. For tickets call 212-239-6200.

Theater critics Barry Gordin and Patrick Christiano are members of the Drama Desk. Barry is an internationally renowned photographer and Patrick is artistic director of SilvaRoad Productions. They can be reached at bg6@verizon.net or www.theaterlife.com