The Stranger

Even though it played on Broadway, Passing Strange isn’t any kind of musical you’d recognize—it’s a concert with an autobiographical script and it’s transcendently awesome. Writer and musician Stew sings about his younger self, a middle-class black kid who fled L.A. for Europe. In America, an older mentor tells him, “We’re passing, like your high-yellow grandma back in the day—but we’re passing for black folks.” In Amsterdam and Berlin, he begins shedding his American baggage (the pressure to get a job, go to church, not act white, not act too black) and discovers sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. (As well as political riots, extremist lifestyles, and German performance art.) Spike Lee saw Passing Strange and decided to film the final performance so future generations could see this sweet, sad, and tragically funny story. And the performers—Stew, his backup band, his backup actors—are fucking fantastic. Thank you, Spike Lee. Thank you, Stew. By Brendan Kiley