Tony-winning musical Passing Strange has lots of good ideas which don’t quite gel – review
If you’re not familiar with the musical Passing Strange… well, we don’t blame you. The original Broadway run was way back in 2008 – it was nominated for several Tony Awards, picking up Best Book of a Musical, and since then it’s not really been performed, aside from a few regional productions in the USA.
Until now, that is, as the show makes its European debut at The Young Vic theatre in London. Written by the musician Stew – with additional music and orchestrations by Heidi Rodewald – Passing Strange has a narrator (Giles Terera) who tells the story of Youth (Keenan Munn-Francis), a young middle-class African American growing up in a churchgoing family in Los Angeles.
We are soon introduced to his mother (Rachel Adedeji) who encourages him to attend church more often, questioning his life choices.
It is, essentially, a coming-of-age story: we see Youth rebel against his relatively comfortable life and set off in pursuit of something more meaningful.
