2/29/08: “Passing Strange” (2008)Our casual return from vacationing wraps up with “Passing Strange”—which is certainly the friendliest Broadway offering that conservatives have gotten in ages. It’s a rock musical that often sounds like classic Bacharach, and goofs on many good liberal types. These include the “Leftist love machine” that captures the heart of our young protagonist as he discovers gospel, pot, punk, Amsterdam, Berlin, and mortality.
Here’s our review. The play officially opened last night, and we’re writing this before the reviews that really matter are in. We’re a little nervous for the singularly-named Stew and his longtime collaborator Heidi Rodewald. We cover the story of the two playwrights—who are also on stage throughout the show—in that review, and the piece closes with examples of the idiotic responses they can expect from NYC theater types.
Still, at this moment, there’s every reason to expect that Stew and Heidi are on the verge of becoming a big deal, and they certainly deserve to strike it rich. Again, it’s all in
our review.
Make it your own: We’re waiting for the Original Cast Recording of “Passing Strange,” but Stew’s a veteran recording artist. He and Heidi started out with the band The Negro Problem. The two then worked together on his solo projects. We’re not trying to make a case for Stew as a conservative, but his songs consistently ridicule all the right people.
The first TNP album, 1997’s
Post Minstrel Syndrome, has “Doubting Uncle Tom” and “The Great Leap Forward.” The
follow-up was
Joys & Concerns, and it’s telling that Stew’s dissection of empty celebrity is titled “Peter Jennings.”
Guest Host was Stew's first solo album (Heidi's on the cover), and “Re-Hab” is a wonderful look at enablement in Los Angeles. He followed that with
The Naked Dutch Painter, where “The Drug Suite” sweetly captures adolescent idiocy. The Negro Problem came back with 2002’s
Welcome Black, and “Bermuda Love Triangle” makes for a creepy Tale From The Cryb. Stew went solo again with
Something Deeper Than These Changes in 2003, which starts with the ode to motherly love that closes “Passing Strange.”
After that, Stew and Heidi started concentrating on
the stage show and a screenplay.
There are some risqué topics addressed within those albums, but we’re talking about a catalogue with plenty of old-fashioned values. We’ve looked to be offended, too. We were once at a solo show where Stew grandly announced, “My music is for all people—except Republicans.” It took us a while to get the joke.
