"Passing Strange": Growing up in Pursuit of "The Real"

By Jana Pollack, New Rep Reviewer

New Rep's final production of the 2010-2011 season is "Passing Strange," a rock musical that tells the story of a young artist's life. It is a very cool piece of theater - a shape-shifting journey from LA to Amsterdam to Berlin and back again that employs a variety of storytelling methods and explores what it means to grow up in the pursuit of "the real."

Backed by a rock band, the Narrator (Cliff Odle) starts the show, and we soon meet the central character, simply called "Youth." Cheo Bourne infuses this role with just the right mix of naivete and unbridled youthful passion, and he's a joy to watch. As his mother, Cheryl D. Singleton also hits all of the right notes, and their opening scenes are quite funny. The story moves from the Youth's bedroom in their LA home into the church, where the Youth discovers music. It follows him as he starts a band with his choir friends, but is the only one who wants to stick with it, and as he then leaves home to find what's real: to devote himself to art and see what the world has in store for him.

Bourne and Singleton are joined by a supporting cast of characters who play many roles - first members of the LA church, then members of the artist colonies in Amsterdam and Berlin. Kami Rushell Smith stands out here, bringing passion and presence to all of her pieces. Unfortunately, Eve Kagan consistently overdoes it, which distracts from the rest of the group.

As the Narrator, Odle brings maturity and wisdom to his songs. His voice is not quite up to the task, however, and on songs that he shares with the other members of the musically gifted cast, he sometimes takes away more than he contributes.

Despite these missteps, this is a great show. It is very different, and better for it. Towards the end of the journey, the narrator says: "What do you do when you find yourself living a life that was planned by a teenager?". This elicited a chuckle from the audience, but it gets at one of the central questions of the piece: as we enter adulthood, is there a way to maintain a youthful, artistic sense of possibilities, while still living up to the responsibilities that come with growing up? I certainly hope so; the success of "Passing Strange" may be evidence that we can.