‘Passing Strange’ Comes to Pasadena Playhouse: Creators Stew and Heidi Rodewald on the Rock Musical Reaching L.A. Almost Two Decades After Tony-Winning Broadway Run

“Passing Strange”, the rock musical by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, is making its Southern California debut at Pasadena Playhouse, nearly two decades after its acclaimed Broadway run. Its arrival matters to local audiences who have waited years to see the show, which helped bring live rock music and social and racial themes into musical theatre.

Director Zhailon Levingston, who won a Tony for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”, proposed the production to Pasadena Playhouse. Vintage Trouble singer Ty Taylor plays the Narrator, with Brittany Campbell, Britton Smith and Saycon Sengbloh; Stew and Rodewald are watching the new staging from afar. The musical draws on Stew’s coming-of-age and has been performed in many major cities and overseas, but not previously in Los Angeles.