On Mother’s Day, my husband, two kids and I went to see Passing Strange at the Belasco Theatre in New York City. We were lucky enough to get twofers from TKTS.
The words, Passing Strange, was taken from Orthello, when Orthello says to Desdemona “She gave me for my pains a world of sighs; she swore, in faith ’twas strange, ’twas passing strange.” The author and star of the show, Stew, explains in the playbill that the word passing can also mean to pass for someone who you aren’t, to be someone who you are not. The show was an autobiographical account of Stew’s life.
Passing Strange was far from being strange! It is a new musical on Broadway that takes place in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Berlin. It’s the story of an African American male, who tries to find himself. He loves music, plays guitar and travels around to Amsterdam and Berlin to try to find himself. It’s a real coming of age story and was very moving, especially at the end when his mother dies before he has time to say he’s sorry for leaving.
Although the show is definitely not for kids, it had the usual sex, drugs and rock and roll, it was certainly worth seeing! A real A+ in my book. As a matter of fact, I loved the music so much, I’m buying the albums on Itunes!
