Part rock concert, part memoir, part Broadway musical, Spike Lee’s new documentary Passing Strange breaks conventions to tell its story of a young L.A. songwriter’s international journey to self-discovery. A profound autobiographical treatise on black identity, told in both past and present time, it places itself more in line with the works of James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison than with traditional film.
An amazing cinematic translation of “Passing Strange,” the Tony-award winning musical by singer-songwriter Stew (leader of L.A. band The Negro Problem), the film tells the story of the adult Stew and his younger self, the teenaged “Youth.” An aspiring musician, Youth strains against the complacency and bourgeois aspirations of his mother’s middle-class life, eventually leaving Los Angeles for Europe in his quest for something he calls “the real.” Alternately melancholy and amazed, Stew watches and narrates as Youth fumbles his way to maturity on a European voyage that takes him to the liberations of Amsterdam and the post-punk cabarets of Berlin.
One-upping the Broadway show, Lee doesn’t just break down the “fourth wall,” he uses 14 cameras to place you into the onstage performance and immerse you in the backstage creative energy of the live show. Passing Strange is an amazing testimonial to two iconoclastic artists working at the top of their game.
Tickets to the special Gala Party following the screening are SOLD OUT. Additional Gala Party tickets may become available on the day of the show. If you'd like to attend, please check in with us at our box office at the theater!
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