Passing Strange

It's difficult to imagine what the few "taste makers" who flogged this lame ego piece to a failed Broadway run saw in the performances they saw Off-Broadway to try and make it the darling of the artistic set or what anyone other than a press agent or Spike Lee sycophant sees in this problematic DVD previously shown on the "festival circuit" and (on the release date of the DVD) on PBS.

Welcoming "rock" musicians back to theatre writing is an admirable, even essential idea, but it's best done when the artist in question has a basic love for the theatre - as in Cyndi Lauper's Tony winning score for the 2013 KINKY BOOTS - or is persuaded to work with those who who know what they are doing. Try it with a self indulgent "talent" like Stew with a contempt for the genre (expressed explicitly at the cast album recording session and in this filmed performance where he makes it clear that he doesn't like being locked into a fixed "book" and the show will never be revived - even if its lack of commercial success had not assured that already) and it's a recipe for disaster - which is what the Broadway run, recorded here at the closing performance, was. As with any fiasco from BUTTRIO SQUARE to CARRIE, there were a vocal few transported by things that seemed fresh to them, but not enough to keep the show or the film alive in any commercial sense. Sadly, sometimes the verdict of commerce is correct.

During the run of what is essentially a narrated rock concert with second or third tier "rock" music (there are three or four interesting "character" songs and the young Stew's sojourn in Amsterdam *almost* catches fire) hung on the barest of frameworks of Stew's reminiscences of parts of his life (for which he won an indefensible Tony Award for "Best Book" - the show's only, but few seriously expected it to win more - some feared the show's noisy exponents might lift it to one for Stew himself for what amounted to a "personal appearance"), we were told by many friends that Stew's cast album (recorded excerpts done in a fairly normal recording session but, for publicity reasons, in the theatre where the show played, before a live audience who paid for the privilege of observing - Stew narrated for the first few numbers until he got bored and told the audience "you don't need this ****" - the four letter euphemism for excrement is a prohibited word on IBDB, but Stew's own referring to his book!) would have a virtual lock on the Grammy Award because "everyone in the music business" knew and loved Stew.

That claim turned out to be a press agent's (or Stew's) fantasy - the album wasn't even nominated! With the death of the "brick and mortar" record and CD store where we could actually SEE who was selling "in the bins", skeptics were left wondering if Stew WAS even a successful rock artist as the show and its hype claimed, or just another "wanna-be" jazz musician with a good press agent.

This messily packaged DVD was made because Stew WAS able to persuade genius film maker Spike Lee that he (Stew) was another self made genius, and throw his name and money behind the project. Before seeing the result, there was considerable concern that the result might be just a documentary on the show without really SHOWING much of it. That fear at least was allayed. All that's here (other than the usual backstage features as "extras") is a filming of the closing performance - although it's an open question how much a new viewer - even one who might have enjoyed the show - will GET it, given the WAY it's filmed.

It's hard to determine from the finished product how much film maker Spike Lee was actually allowed to do. Rather than elevating the project to Lee's level of inventiveness, we're left with a bad concert badly filmed with madly illogical, unilluminating camera angles frequently blocking the story or the person actually singing, and close-ups which make 1950's television look sensitive and rarely adding any style or point of view to the event being filmed.

Any Broadway "completist" will have to have this disc anyway - it was filmed in the beautiful Belasco Theatre with the cast that actually played the show for its 165 somewhat forced performances (Feb 28 - July 20, 2008), and the supporting cast at least is fully professional - even admirable. Daniel Breaker is particularly good as "Youth" (the Young Stew), although the close-ups and camera angles do him no favors.

It just isn't a very good show to begin with, and very poorly filmed. What a pity.

"All this might seem obscure, that would depend on who you are." Stew's line that is easy to miss is a good tagline for Passing Strange. I had been waiting over a year to see Spike Lee's filmed version of the Broadway musical. I was lucky enough to see it during its too brief run at the Belasco Theater and it really changed my life. Its corny to say it, but Passing Strange of art really did affect me like no other work of art ever has. It really spoke to where I was at in my life at the time when I saw it. So Passing Strange was filmed by Spike Lee to preserve the show forever and from the moment a director was announced, I became unbearably eager to see the finished product. It got shown on the film festival circuit to nearly universal rave reviews which intensified my desire to see the film. I finally got to catch the film on Pay-Per-View at my girlfriend's parents' house. The verdict? It was truly amazing and just as touching, but very different. Seeing a show live and seeing something filmed are very different experiences because in seeing live theater, your eyes can wander to whatever actor you so desire. In a film, the camera tells you what to look at. So in that regard, the show was different. Also, since a camera can get very close to the actor's face, the emotional impact of the actors was much stronger. One of the aspects that I really picked up on during this viewing was how connected every aspect of this show is. Everything you see and hear happens for a reason and each interaction furthers the main character's story bit by bit. I was also taken by the poetry that is Stew's script. So many portions of the script just flow because of the lyrical quality of his writing. My girlfriend watched the film with me because I have been raving about PS for as long as I've known her. She owed it to me because she made me sit through Legally Blonde the Musical. She did not get into the show or follow it very easily both because of the way the story was presented (the plot jumps in and out a bit) and because she didn't get into some of the more performance art elements of the movie. So for this reason, I will say that Passing Strange is not for everyone. Passing Strange is not your typical musical. It is experimental. It will make you think. It is full of pop culture references. It expresses truths about life. It is a heavy piece of musical drama, but it is also highly entertaining if you can get into it. Needless to say, I highly recommend this movie and, honestly, I'm so attached to the show at this point that if you've seen it, no matter your opinion of the film actually is, I will respect you.

I just hope that it does well in Pay-Per-View and on DVD eventually because, like the Broadway show, they don't seem to be advertising this film very well...

Passing Strange is a powerful rock musical/opera/Greek tragedy that plays out like few rock musical/opera/Greek tragedies I can think of. Maybe Tommy comes to mind, but in this case the writer of the book and the songs, Stew, is concerned with someone who knows well enough about the life being led, and about finding what is "real" about it. It's a profound story, but not simply for the actual story being told. We've seen this before, sure. It's the combination of the elements, of making the songs and music integral with the character himself and the places he tries to find and live in. It's about love and loss, being lost and unsure of the direction of one's life, the paramount nature (and lack thereof) of family, of the consequences that come with a life without any accountability, and what music and songs do to it (one such scene, for example, is when Daniel Breaker's 'Youth' plays a song about losing a girl, and the song keeps going on as there's nothing else around him to stop him).

It's a brilliant and audacious production, full of true variety in musical tastes and styles. It has a few quasi-typical 'musical' songs, sure, the kind of songs you probably wouldn't listen to outside of the context of watching the show live or watching this concert movie unless you're a die-hard musical fan. But most of them are catchy, and all of them have lyrical integrity and work fully as part of telling a story and revealing character and theme. In fact, I can't really think of a single song or moment of musical inspiration that disappointed me; only the first couple minutes of the 'Berlin' musical number threw me for a loop, but then again it's unlike anything else in the show - until one gets acclimated to its amazement and its warped sense of humor. Another great thing too, I should add, is Stew's sense of exuberance of life, its humor coming out of the ordinary (nagging mother) or the referential ("What about the Clash?" one of the band members asks about the validity of social-conscious punk).

What makes this live-shot concert movie so engaging (not so much documentary, although Spike Lee throws in a few moments with the cast backstage in the intermission it's nothing substantial to make it a real documentary) are two things really. First, of course, is the outstanding nature of the content: all of the first-rate performances, mostly by actors playing multiple characters based on the setting (from LA to Amsterdam to Berlin, with Stew and his band members as a Greek chorus commenting and providing juxtaposition), all of the energy and force of the music that is perfect for a full audience to experience, and how the author's own life experience ultimately informs the material (I loved Stew's little story about a pretzel vendor laying it down for him about reality being a construct for one's self, which leads into the end of the show).

Secondly though is the quality of the film-making. And this is where Passing Strange succeeds wonderfully as 'taped' theater. It's like Lee took all of the practice he's had filming live before (i.e. Original Kings of Comedy, Kobe Doin' Work) and helped elevate live theater for cinematic expression. Some of this, to be sure, should be attributed to Matthew Libatique, a sublime cinematographer (how much he had to do with the actual lighting of the show itself or how the camera got it I don't know) who incorporates some 16mm footage at times in the show, but at only the right moments based on the scene or song like the acid trip or Breaker's intentionally pretentious monologue while in Berlin. But as well it's the editing; Lee has so much coverage here that he can create scenes out of just actors on a stage, and incorporates the band members who are often supposed to be out of view, and as well Stew's facial reactions that the audience in the theater might not see all the time. You can lose yourself in just watching it as a 'movie' instead of being reminded it's live theater, and as kinetic as it can get (it is Spike Lee after all) it compliments the material.

Go see it, either on a big screen (which if you're in the NYC area is highly advisable) or, if not, with a bunch of friends or family around a good-sized TV. It's beautiful work all around, for Stew on his closing night of the show and for the director filming it who has one of his best works in years by just keeping right up with everybody else. Sensational is the word for it.

I found Spike Lee's filming of this musical to be extraordinary because I felt like I was in the audience and on stage at the same time. The music is good and the plot stays interesting.

The great thing this play expresses is how an individual tries to escape the confines placed on his existence by virtue of his race. Many people can relate to taking the journey to self discovery. As an African-American, it was interesting to see how the "Youth" wanted to escape from his confines by heading to Europe where there didn't seem to be any confines. There tension of this escape is illustrated between the scenes between the Youth and his Mother, and at one point she asks him why can't you be comfortable with your own? This musical is funny, religious, and international at the same time. All of the actors were great. The music was fantastic. All hail Stew!

Two of my favorite scenes in movie history in the same movie:

Arlington Hill, where the Rev. Franklin's son talks about experiencing Europe through the eyes of films (Bergman's Persona, Fellini's La Dolce Vita, Godard's Band of Outsiders), and then his rather frank discussion of slaves, cowards, and black people passing for black. Slaves have options - escape, revolt, death. Cowards have... consequences.

Keys, when Marianna sings about giving him the keys to her Amsterdam apartment and opening up her world to him. We're your new family, man.

I think I could watch these scenes everyday of my life and not get tired of them.