Stew And Rodewald Talk Los Angeles' Snub Of PASSING STRANGE To LA Times

PASSING STRANGE creators Stew and Heidi Rodewald are featured in a new Los Angeles Times article. The creative duo, who spent years in LA before PASSING STRANGE hit New York, talk about their mixed feelings with the City of Angels.

The musician has talked repeatedly about the 'snub' he and Rodewald have received from the city. Even after winning a Tony Award, it seems to Stew that the city wants nothing to do with him - a feeling leaving the singer doubtful if he'd ever want to bring PASSING STRANGE to Los Angeles.

Stew shares, "The thing about L.A. for me now -- it's kind of like when you have a friend who you wanna-kinda-sorta get some distance from," Stew, born Mark Stewart, says in the loose, anecdotal style that he uses as "The Narrator" in his musical. "And then after a year you go 'maybe we should hook up,' but then you kind of both sort of mis-schedule things, and then it becomes two years, and after three years you're like: 'Do I even know that person anymore? . . . I just don't know, man."

Not that he's interested in performing in the show. "Oh, without question. The only mistake -- well, not mistake -- but the only thing I'll never do again is be in a play." He adds, "We want to write for the stage, but I don't want the rigor, the grinding schedule, the sometimes soul-challenging -- I won't say soul-crushing -- but sometimes the soul-challenging gig of doing theater is pretty tough. It's an extreme sport. Musical theater is an extreme sport. I'd rather watch other people suffer."

To read the entire LA Times article, click here.

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE, directed by Spike Lee, is available nationwide on video on demand beginning August 26, following the New York City August 21 theatrical release.

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE is a tour-de-force of creative collaboration and inspiration. In this breathtaking film, Spike Lee captures the highly-acclaimed Broadway musical show written by singer/songwriter Stew (with music cowritten by his creative partner, Heidi Rodewald). The original show, winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, was universally applauded for its originality, its deep emotional resonance, and its powerful, often high-octane, music. The resulting work unites revelatory theater with superb filmmaking, raising the whole to a dizzying plateau of emotional engagement.

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young black man who leaves behind his middle-class, church-ruled upbringing in mid-1970s LA to travel to Europe in search of his artistic and personal identity, or what he calls "the real." Picaresque misadventures with sex, drugs, politics, and art await him in far-out Amsterdam and hyper-militant Berlin. His eyes are opened ever wider, even revealing what he left behind. An absolutely superb cast, ably supported by sparing (but pitch-perfect) costumes, design, and stagecraft, bring to life the emotionally charged story with its astounding original music, narrated and overseen by Stew himself. Lee's multicamera coverage of the event (including backstage scenes) involves the audience in not only the text but the electricity of the ensemble's onstage adventure.

How to watch PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE nationwide on demand on cable:

BRIGHT HOUSE: Movies on Demand > IFC In Theaters or Sundance Selects

CABLEVISION: Movies On Demand > Independent Films > Sundance Selects

COMCAST: Channel 1>Movies & Events > Same Day as Theaters > Sundance Selects

COX: Channel 1 > Movies On Demand > Sundance Selects

TIME WARNER: Movies On Demand> IFC In Theaters or Sundance Selects

Running Time: 135 Minutes / Rating: Not Yet Rated. Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival 2009 / Tribeca Film Festival 2009.

Stew rocked Broadway the way it never had before when his musical, Passing Strange, opened in 2008. It won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and made a star out of its writer, Stew, and his writing partner, Heidi Rodewald. Stew and Rodewald return to American Songbook (they performed in the series in 2003) with music from their early career and the band they founded in 1995, The Negro Problem. The group was ironically named to highlight the music industry's problems with an all white band fronted by a black man whose influences were not only Stevie Wonder but also Stephen Sondheim. Stew's discography includes four recordings with The Negro Problem, and another four as Stew, two of which were named Album of the Year by Entertainment Weekly: Guest Host and The Naked Dutch Painter and Other Songs.