‘Passing Strange’ amplifies, asserts black rock music

 
When a young man’s coming-of-age journey becomes an award-winning rock ‘n’ roll Broadway musical, the result is “Passing Strange: The Movie.”

Written by singer-songwriter Stew and later adapted for the big screen by esteemed director Spike Lee, the film will play at 8 p.m. today in the Whittenberger Auditorium in celebration of the “Reclaiming the Right to Rock: Black Experiences in Rock Music” conference.

Portia Maultsby, director of IU’s Archives of African American music and culture, said the film exemplifies instances of triumph and turmoil black artists face on quests for creativity and excellence.

“The idea is to look at music through the eyes of black musicians and situate the music with black American tradition,” she said.

Maultsby said Stew drew some inspiration from his life as an artist when composing the play’s script. “Passing Strange,” titled after a line in William Shakespeare’s “Othello,” depicts an imaginative rendition of Stew’s search for “the real” from Los Angeles to Amsterdam to Berlin.

Trish Hausman, house manager for the Department of Theatre and Drama, said the rock musical relies on fresh innovation rather than traditional theater techniques.

“Stew really knew nothing about theater,” she said. “He’s a rock musician. When he decided to write a musical, he didn’t know what the theater wanted. It was a different way of working.”

Hausman, who worked with Stew as a stage manager, said helping during the production stages was an incredible and educational experience.

“It was probably the most fun I’ve had working on a show,” she said. “He’d come in with half a new script sometimes. You’d never know what to expect.”

As for the finished product, Hausman said “Passing Strange” is a masterpiece on stage and in the cinema.

“Stew is absolutely brilliant, and Spike Lee took his unique vision of the show,” she said. “You can see what’s on the Broadway stage through his eyes.”

After debuting in New York at the end of August, the film version of “Passing Strange” attracted nationwide attention. And a New York Times film critic, A.O. Scott, believed Spike Lee’s adaptation of the piece enhanced viewer experience.

“When I saw Spike Lee’s film adaptation, ‘Passing Strange,’ in effect a video recording of a performance identical to the one I’d witnessed at the Belasco Theater in 2008, I was blown away,” Scott wrote in an Aug. 21 New York Times column.

Hausman said she recommends both the stage and film versions, whether one is into rock, theater or Broadway musicals.

“It’s rock music done in Stew’s very poetic style,” she said. “And it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”