Review: Wilbury Group Finds What's Real in Fantastic PASSING STRANGE

The struggle to find something real, something true or meaningful, in life is certainly something everyone can relate to. All of us, or most of us, at least, spend some or maybe even all of our lives searching for just that. True love. Meaningful work. Artistic expression that has a real impact. Our true selves. Searching for these things is at the heart of our lives and our life's work. And it's at the heart of the excellent musical Passing Strange, now receiving it's Rhode Island premiere at The Wilbury Group.

This is a relatively young musical, created in 2004 and 2005, appearing on Broadway for the first time in 2008. The books and Lyrics are by Stew (stage name of African-American singer/songwriter Mark Stewart), with music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, a member of Stew's band, The Negro Problem. If you've never heard of Stew, Rodewald or their other collaborations, this musical will likely make you want to seek out and discover their work.

As for the plot of the musical, it is considered semi-autobiographical and certainly has the feel that Stew is telling us his own story. Right away, we meet the Narrator, who begins to tell us the story of an un-named Youth, a young African-American living in Los Angeles with his mother. The story of the youth is a familiar one as he struggles to break out of his ordinary existence and find his true self, which he first attempts through the choir of his church and the punk rock band he forms, along with a few choir members, shortly thereafter. When that endeavor fails him in his search, the young man escapes to Amsterdam and then to Berlin, finding numerous life-changing experiences in music, love and life in both cities, before tragedy forces him to return home.

From the musical's opening moments, the audience is welcomed into and made a part of the show. It's as if Stew has brought us into his basement or his favorite bar or nightclub, where he and his band and some actors are going to tell us a story in song. It's a very effective tool which Stew uses throughout the musical, and in many cases uses perfectly. The one downside is that there is an awful lot of telling instead of showing. There are long stretches and too many moments when the narrator tells us about something that happened, rather than the actors showing us. A number of times, the narrator talks about something that the audience would really like to see, instead of just hearing about.

Still, Stew's dialogue and lyrics are always well written and intelligent, very witty, and occasionally extremely funny. While it's uncertain just how much of the story is true to his own life, he clearly knows what he's talking about and knows how to write about it. He crafts a wonderfully universal story and puts it in terms that every audience member can understand and relate to. At the same time, he creates an endearing and lovable hero who is surrounded by characters who may occasionally be extreme or over the top, but they are always believable and rooted in truth.

In addition to Stew's excellent dialogue, he and Rodewald have peppered the show with lots of great music and fabulous songs. There are a number of wonderful and touching musical moments, such as when a woman sings to the Youth about giving him the keys to her flat in Amsterdam. Other moments, like the song "We Just Had Sex," are hilarious while being all too true at the same time. The songs are often interspersed with dialogue and don't always have a clear title, so it's difficult to list all the great ones here, but there are many great ones. Anyone looking for a new rock musical that truly rocks will not be disappointed.

Speaking of things that are real and true, there's no denying the real talent of the performers brought together by the Wilbury Group and director Brien Lang. As for his direction, Lang seems to have smartly kept a light touch on the staging of this production. Everything feels very organic and true to human nature, with only a few moments where one can detect strictly defined stage blocking (although maybe Lang staged every moment but did so in a way that fooled us all). Even when it's clear that some thought and precision went into his staging, such as having one character on the balcony during the second half, it's almost always done perfectly, adding to the drama and tension in just the right way. The one glaring exception being an extended scene between two actors staged at the far side of the stage, by the bar, and spoken softly, which was almost impossible to hear for audience members sitting on the far side of the audience. That was just one of many problems regarding sound and volume, but more on that in a moment.

First, Lang's cast must be mentioned and applauded for their stellar work in every aspect of this production. As the Narrator, Jason Quinn has a difficult, if not impossible job. He's on stage almost the entire time and spends much of it talking, singing, or both. He accepts the demands of the role and takes them on with a full head of steam. At times, his energy does seem to drop or disappear for a bit, but that can be forgiven, considering how much charisma, stage presence and true emotion he brings to the performance. It is both a pleasure and a bit exhausting, watching him do his thing and do it so well, one can only imagine how he must feel after each performance.

As the Youth, Nigel Richards is also perfect. This is a young actor who clearly has a bright future on the stage, should he choose to pursue that career. His performance here is filled with youthful energy, innocence, enthusiasm and passion. Even though he's done this show a few times now, it feels as if he is experiencing everything that happens to his character for the first time. And the journey he takes, an emotional roller coaster leading to a heartbreaking loss of innocence, is beautifully and believably portrayed.

Also delivering a beautiful and believable performance is Pamela Gill as Mother. Gill has a number of wonderful moments with Richards and they have a perfect mother-son chemistry on stage. That bond between a mother and son is really at the heart of this story and it wouldn't be as effective with a lesser actress in the role. Gill hits all the right notes and finds the perfect emotional resonance in her touching, even heartbraking scenes later in the show.

A number of other performers make up the ensemble, each playing more than one role. Julia Bartoletti brings her A-game as usual. Her choir girl-turned-punk-rocker character in the first half doesn't require her to stretch much and she does most of her acting using only her eyebrows. In the second half, when she takes on the role of the Youth's German love interest, she gets to flex her acting muscle and delivers a truthful and moving performance. At that point, she also gets to belt out a song and give the audience the kind of spectacular singing they have come to expect from Bartoletti. Shannon Hartman also takes on the roles of various women in the life of our hero and she is also fantastic in every one of them. From the young white girl who tries to control the Youth and tells him to "be more Black" to the more-than-a-little-crazy German artist, Hartman delivers at every turn. She is just as hilarious when necessary as she is believable when a more emotional, sensitive moment is called for. She also has a lovely, sultry and sexy singing voice, which she best utilizes during the aforementioned song about giving the Youth the keys to her Amsterdam apartment.

Also hilarious are the two male members of the ensemble, Phoenyx Williams and Rodney Witherspoon. Williams nearly steals every scene that he's in, bringing an astounding amount of energy and personality to each of his roles. An amazingly charismatic performer, he also makes each of his characters just different enough to be unique and just real enough to feel believably human, even if they are doing things that may seem a little strange. Witherspoon may not have Williams' enormous energy and charisma, but he brings a smoldering, brooding level of emotion to each role he plays. He is always in character, although his characters don't always get a lot to do, and proves during the scenes in Germany that he has acting talent to spare. Rounding out the ensemble is Christine Treglia, who appears on stage with the others infrequently, spending most of her time singing with the band, who are on a raised platform upstage. Her singing voice is gorgeous, though, and hopefully will be showcased on stage more in the future.

As for that band, they are a wonderfully talented group of musicians, Tom Grace, Paulo 'Zeus' Sousa, Alec Thibodeau and Matt Requintina. It is not their fault that the only real problem with this production is just how much their playing drowns out everything happening on satge. My friend and I both struggled to hear dialogue and lyrics throughout the show. It was always difficult and occasionally led to completely missing out on what was being said. Unfortunately, most of the cast just can't compete in terms of volume, with Bartoletti the only one with a voice big enough to overcome the too-loud band's music. Easier said than done, I realize, but it would be great if Wilbury could somehow deaden or dampen the sound from the band, especially the drums. Or find a way to keep the sound under control or contained, difficult in such a cavernous space with so many places for sound to disappear into. It's just a shame to lose so much of words and lyrics are that so great.

Having said that, it is a great production of an excellent and exciting musical. And Wilbury Group has put together a top-notch cast who are clearly having a blast while providing the audience with an enormous amount of entertainment. Already a go-to place for less-familiar, new and exciting plays, the Wilbury Group may also be the place for exciting, unique and new musicals that you may not have seen or heard of before. With last year's Next to Normal and now Passing Strange, they are definitely headed in that direction.

Passing Strange runs through Saturday, December 5th, with shows on Sunday the 29th at 2pm and Thursday, Friday and Satuday (the 3rd trought the 5th) at 7:30pm. Performances are at 393 Broad Street in Providence. Tickets may be purchased through their website at www.thewilburygroup.org.

Pictured: Nigel Richards and Shannon Hartman. Photo by Maggie Hall.

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