TONYS 2008 Q&A: PASSING STRANGE

PASSING STRANGE was also the recipient of two additional Drama Desk Awards (Outstanding Music for Stew and Heidi Rodewald &Outstanding Lyrics for Stew); one additional Village Voice Obie Award (for the PASSING STRANGE acting ensemble - De'Adre Aziza,Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo,Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Stew); and two Theatre World Awards (for De'Adre Aziza and Daniel Breaker).

With book and lyrics by the popular singer/songwriter Stew, and with music by Stew and his longtime musical partner Heidi Rodewald, PASSING STRANGE is directed by and created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. PASSING STRANGE is the first musical by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, best-known for their rock-and-roll music since 2000 when they formed the band The Negro Problem, also known as STEW, promptly winning two Album of the Year Awards from Entertainment Weekly for their acclaimed works "Guest Host" and "The Naked Dutch Painter."

PASSING STRANGE is the tale of a young black musician on a journey of escape and exploration: leaving the confines of his middle-class, church-reared youth in south central L.A., the further he travels the more he discovers the voyage within is the one that counts. 

BroadwayWorld.com checked in with three of it's celebrated company members, all of whom are Tony nominated for the creative work they bring to this vibrant and thrilling musical, they spoke candidly about everything from being nominated for a 2008 Tony Award to how inspired and different every single performance continues to be!

Daniel Breaker (2008 Tony Nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical):

As an actor I joined this thing in 2005 at a Sundance workshop, and this wasn't my primary show, I was going for a different show and they were like, "Eh, We need a black guy"! And I didn't know anything about Stew, I was like "Stew"? Who is this Stew, what is this one name thing, like Madonna or Cher?! But, you know I fell in love with this show, it's both excitingly and painfully close to my story. I lived in Germany for some time, so I could relate, and what I watched this kid go through I knew. You know it's a fun character to live in, to be a little snot is a lot of fun, to be a 14 year old, I was an awkward little kid myself you know! It's refreshing to be a little kid and to run around. It's also fun and a big challenge to grow from 14 to 25, that is sort of an odd group, you know, it's a fun group to play in.

Also what's wonderful about playing this is that it's always very different, you know Stew is not a writer, this is his first thing that he's ever written, he doesn't hold his words up to this high level, its, you know, they are just "notes". And he will write up beautiful stuff and we'll do it, and then we'll be like, well that doesn't help this arc here and then we'll just ditch it! It so sad because there is so much writing that has been lost through the years, it's gonna be like, you know, they'll be, someone will resurface it in the late 2000's, like they did finding Bach (Laughs). So it's always different, which is always refreshing for an actor, each night is different, given Stew's mood, given the audiences response to the show, it's just gonna feel different. Unlike other show's we really break that fourth wall, I mean he comes out and he breaks it immediately and what that does is, it creates an immediate intimacy with the audience, and some people don't know how to respond to it. As a theatergoer, even myself, I'm designed to sit and watch, I don't even know that I'm allow to respond, what's fun is watching these traditional Broadway theatergoers realize , Oh I can have a good time, I can loosen up, I can enjoy. But really they don't have a choice!

This has been a wild ride, honestly, when I met Stew in 2005 up in the mountains of Utah, I never thought I would be doing a show so unique, I never thought it would survive and make it to Broadway. It really has given me a bit of hope, you know what we have this season is a beautiful balance, it's so great to see these very new, young musicals like In The Heights and us, you know paired with Gypsy and Sunday in the Park with George, which I think is, you know people say, "Get rid of all those shows", but I think that's the balance we are looking for there. As a result you have, both racially and in terms of economic background you have audience members start to get more and more diverse, and I think that's the only way to actually, you know, to keep theatre alive. It's an honor to be a part of it.

Heidi Rodewald (2008 Tony Nominee for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations):

It all came about in the beginning with Stew and Annie Dorsen the director, but you know I've played in a band with Stew for ten years, so that's what's so unusual about this, we've played music for a long time, so this was just another thing we were doing at the time, and I think between Annie and Stew and I getting together and putting this together, I feel like the reason it works is because we all just wanted to create something we all really liked, what we all wanted to see, and we weren't thinking Broadway. I think the reason we are here is because we weren't thinking of Broadway at all! This is a big surprise, and I think the way we put it together with the whole band, the actors are really part of the band with us, and the band is amazing. We've all been through this, all together in the way it was put together on the stage was very much like a band, new ideas, and coming up with different things on the spot. And I think it wouldn't be what it is at all if we thought it would get this far.

It is different, you know just having the band on the stage and saying we're not actors and we're not gonna be actors, I have to keep remembering, I'm doing what I'm doing and I'm not gonna act. And a couple of the little words that we say, we're not actors, and it's goofy to try to do that! I think that makes everything different for one thing and I think people really like that. I know for just playing music for so many years, and playing with somebody like Stew who is such an amazing performer, that I always appreciated that about him, one of the reasons I joined his band ten years ago was that every show was completely different, he would read the audience and whatever they were giving him, or how he felt that day, it was that. And it really does feel like that still, I feel like every show is a little different.

It's based on Stew's story, but as we went along we said, you know, what if it was more interesting here, and then you add something you know, but there's a lot of it that is true. It's interesting, as we've been doing it, that people really do take it as truth, they really want to believe it, and I guess that's flattering, as they watch it, and they see him as a real person, and they want to believe it, which is a great thing I think.

De'Adre Aziza (2008 Tony Nominee for Best Featured Actress in a Musical):

When I first did the workshop I was trying to find really specific traits, we were kind of creating what the show would be like in the workshop and I knew it was important that each character was very different so people would be able to follow it since we weren't doing these big costume changes or set changes. So I just made sure that I had different characteristics, like this one has this voice and this one has this posture, things like that.

I'm still in shock about the nomination, you know when I'm doing the show every night it's like a party, it's all fun and loose, and now I'm kind of like what's happening?! I'm like it's real? It's not just a party, so it's cool though it's also crazy.

I didn't do it at Sundance, they were still forming it then, I got involved once they had a script, somewhat of a script, we've gone through so many script changes, Stew is so prolific, it's crazy! We have a whole other two hour show we want to do someday, we call it the "B Side"! So once they somewhat had a script and firm characters I got involved in that part and I've been with it ever since. The really cool thing is every show is different, every single show. As an actor you stay on your toes and you stay alive, you have to stay alert, just when you think it's going to be a normal show, something happenings and you go "Whoa, Okay!", but that is what is so cool about it. And our audiences are so diverse; they bring different things to it, which is what is so great about it too.

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

PASSING STRANGE opened on Broadway on February 28, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) to such rave reviews as: "Bursting at the seams with melodic songs," (New York Times), PASSING STRANGE "is truly unlike anything you've seen on Broadway" (USA Today)."Call it a rock concert with a story to tell.Call it whatever you want, really.I'll just call it wonderful" (New York Times).PASSING STRANGE "taps into the energy of rock with high-voltage enthusiasm," (Associated Press), and is a "brilliant work" (The New Yorker). "From 'Hair' to 'Rent' to 'Spring Awakening,' composers have sought to reinvigorate musical theater by harnessing the energy and raw expressiveness of rock.But PASSING STRANGE, the defiantly unclassifiable musical by Los Angeles singer-songwriter Stew is a magical mystery tour." (Variety)

PASSING STRANGE performs Tuesdays at 7pm; Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8pm; Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2pm; and Sundays at 3pm at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) on Broadway. Tickets are priced $111.50 - $66.50 - $36.50 - $26.50, and are available through Tele-charge at www.TeleCharge.com, or by calling 212-239-6200.

For additional information on PASSING STRANGE, visit www.PassingStrangeOnBroadway.com.