Spike Lee has signed on to film the Broadway production of Passing Strange, according to Variety. Although no details have been announced, Lee will reportedly shoot three performances of the musical, which is currently running at the Belasco Theatre, two with an audience present and one with no audience. The edited film, paid for by the show's producers, will air on cable TV.
In spite of rave reviews and seven Tony Award nominations and one Tony win for star Stew's book, Passing Strange has struggled at the box office, filling the Belasco to 51.44% of capacity for the week ending June 29, with a gross of $244,817 of a potential $695,308. The Shubert Organization, which owns the theater, is one of the show's lead producers.
Passing Strange is Stew's semi-autobiographical story of a young black artist from L.A. who flees his middle-class upbringing and heads to Amsterdam and Berlin in an attempt to find himself. The cast also includes Daniel Breaker, de'Adre Aziza, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge and Rebecca Naomi Jones, backed by a four-piece onstage band that includes co-composer Heidi Rodewald. The stage production is directed by Annie Dorsen.
