Passing Strange Review

By Frank Furnari, New Rep Reviewer

Passing Strange takes us on the journey of a young African-American youth in the 70s as he tries to discover his path in life. The narrator, an older, wiser version of the Youth introduces scenes and adds commentary as well as servers as part of the band. We meet the Youth in South Central LA in 1976 where is mother tries to get him to go to church. He ends up joining the church choir led by the reverend’s flamboyant son. While in the choir he gets to experiment with drugs and gets the idea to go to Europe. The Youth makes the decision to leave home and head first to Amsterdam then to Berlin where he indulges in sex, drugs, and his music. While in Europe his mother longs for his return, but he keeps putting it off, in part because he doesn't want to go back to his home town. At one point near the end of the play, the Youth asks "Why be with people who don't understand you?" the response he gets from one of his fellow artists is "Because they love me." In the end he learns that even when you find your art, you still need your family.

The performance opening night got off to a rocky start with some sound issues and the narrator (Cliff Odie) wasn’t able to grab me in. Odie's acting was solid, but his singing was not up to task. Fortunately, after a little bit of time with the amazingly talented ensemble’s entrance it all changed and I was hooked. Each of the ensemble members had a great voice and were adept at portraying a range of characters. Cheo Bourne masterfully portray's the Youth's journey to find himself and his art. Cheryl D. Singleton portrays Mother with both lovingness and humor – from her occasional lapses into her 'African-American dialect' to her touching phone calls to her son far away. De'Lon Grant, Eve Kagan, Maurice E. Parent, and Kami Rushell Smith all shine in the performances, it is a joy to watch them.

I had tried to watch Passing Strange on PBS when the aired a taping of the Broadway production starring the show's creator Stew. I didn't really care for it and sadly didn't make it through to the end. I'm glad that I got to see New Rep's production of this show as it convinced me that this is a good show once it gets going and a really enjoyable night of theatre.