Passing Strange, the only Broadway musical that we know of that was composed by a single-named person (Stew), will close on July 20.
Is this proof that Broadway can’t support Black theater? Probably not, although in recent years the Great White Way has pretty much lived up to its name. In this case, not only does the show have an all-Black cast, but it’s WEIRD. Haven’t seen it, but all reports are that it’s non-traditional, which audiences very rarely embrace, especially today. The real problem is that it costs so much to run on Broadway that producers can’t afford to keep a show open unless they sell most of the tickets every week. Spike Lee is going to film it, which is nice, but he’ll also probably mess around with it. That’s fine but it would be nice to have a more straightforward record of the performance as well as Spike’s “vision.”
image: Theatermania.com
