New Rep Announces Passing Strange
April 4, 2011
(WATERTOWN, MA, April 4, 2011) New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, will conclude its 27th Season with the Tony Award-winning musical Passing Strange. Directed by Kate Warner, with music direction by Todd C. Gordon, and choreography by Kelli Edwards, Passing Strange begins performances on May 1 and runs through May 22, 2011. The Press Opening will be held on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 7:30pm.
Featuring a talented cast, a band of musicians, and a set designed to look like a rock concert, Passing Strange is the biggest production of New Rep’s critically acclaimed 2010-2011 Season. Along with New Rep veterans such as Cheo Bourne (Youth), De’Lon Grant (Terry/Christophe/Hugo), Maurice E. Parent (Franklin/Joop/Mr. Venus), Cheryl Singleton (Mother), and Kami Rusell Smith (Edwina/Renata/Desi), Passing Strange introduces to New Rep’s stage Eve Kagan (Sherry/Marianna/Sudabey) and Cliff Odle (Narrator).
“Passing Strange is the perfect musical to end our 27th Season, which is centered on the theme of transformation,” explains Kate Warner, Artistic Director. “Through this passionate musical, we follow one young man’s personal journey to find his true identity and his evolution as an artist and being.”
Kate adds, “Realizing the importance of being able to use an artistic medium like live theatre to express one’s individual stories and to grow, New Rep has teamed with Brighton High School to work with selected students on the Tell Your Story program. This program is designed to assist students with expressing themselves through the creation of a production based on their own stories and will culminate with three public performances of their production on the Passing Strange stage.”
New Rep production of Passing Strange is a New England Premiere. Book and lyrics by Stew. Music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. In collaboration with Annie Dorsen.
This Tony Award-winning modern Broadway musical, whose title was born from the illustrious Moor’s lines in Shakespeare’s Othello, takes audiences on a pilgrimage led by a Narrator who shares his life through song. This soulful journey follows a young man from a comfortable, suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles, to the coffeehouses of an Amsterdam paradise, and finally to the riotous art houses of West Berlin, as he searches for his artistic and personal voice—what he calls “the real.” Experience one man’s personal story through this uniquely passionate musical.
Tell Your Story Program: On February 7, 2011, New Repertory Theatre launched its three month Tell Your Story program with Brighton High School students. Eve Kagan, who is featured in New Rep’s production of Passing Strange, is our lead teacher on this project. Every Monday Ms. Kagan meets with a group of 15 to 20 students at Brighton High School and works with them to create a production based on their own experiences and observations. The production is intended for the students to “tell us” their personal stories, like the character the Youth does in Passing Strange. Additional members of the Passing Strange cast will also assist the students with the production. The Tell Your Story program will conclude with three public performances of the students’ production, which will be held in the Charles Mosesian Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. The performances will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 11:00am, Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 7:00pm, and Monday, May 9, 2011 at 7:00pm. The 11:00am performance on Saturday, May 7, 2011 is part of the Arsenal Center for the Arts Open House and will be free of charge. All other performances are a suggested $10 donation.
Additionally, New Rep will provide Brighton High School students with fifty tickets to see a performance of New Rep’s production of Passing Strange on through support from Citizens Bank.
New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England Theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, directions, and production. Programming for New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
For Press Inquiries: Contact Gia Podobinski at 617-923-7060, extension 205
or e-mail gia@newrep.org