Passing Strange to Transfer from Public to Broadway in 2008

Passing Strange, the off-Broadway musical hit written by and starring singer/songwriter Stew, will move to Broadway in 2008. Beginning previews at the Belasco Theatre on February 8, the funky show will transfer with its entire cast of unknowns intact.

Written with Heidi Rodewald and directed and created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen, Passing Strange follows Stew's personal journey from L.A. bohemian on a journey of escape and exploration that takes him from middle-class, church-reared youth in South Central L.A. to the drug-laced world of sex in Amsterdam to the art and anarchism of Berlin--with a bevy of eye-opening experiences and life lessons along the way.

In a Broadway.com First Person from June, Stew wrote: "In order to best enjoy Passing Strange, I, your humble Narrator, suggest you leave your fourth wall at home. In the rock club world where Heidi Rodewald, my musical collaborator, and I come from, there is no such wall. A rock crowd acknowledges its role in the proceedings. It also drinks lots of alcohol. Please feel free to follow suit. Therefore, folks should drunkenly enter the [theater] ready to rock and sing along… oh yeah, and to laugh at jokes about snooty church people, Amsterdam hash bars and German anarchists. In that order."

Passing Strange was developed at Joe's Pub and the Sundance Theater Lab prior to a summer 2007 run at the Public Theater's Anspacher Theater from May 1 through July 1.

The cast is composed of de'Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones and Stew. A band of musicians joins the cast on stage, including co-creator Rodewald, along with Jon Spurney, Christian Cassan and others.

Passing Strange is set to open on February 28, 2008.