A.R.T. will produce Passing Strange to conclude its 2024/25 Season. The rock musical will begin performances at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge on Tuesday, May 20; will open officially on Thursday, May 29; and will run through Sunday, June 29, 2025.
Passing Strange features music by Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, with book and lyrics by Stew, a Tony Award- and two-time Obie Award-winning playwright, performer, and Professor of the Practice in Musical Theater Writing at Harvard University, in collaboration with Annie Dorsen.
Tony Award-nominated director Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed), also director of the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, will direct the A.R.T. production, having previously staged the acclaimed European-premiere production of Passing Strange at London’s Young Vic Theatre in May 2024.
Fresh off its critically acclaimed smash engagement in the UK, Liesl Tommy’s revival comes to A.R.T., with Oliver Award-winner Giles Terera (Hamilton) leading the cast in his North American debut.
The creative team includes Ben Stones (Set and Costume Designer), Richard Howell (Lighting Designer), Tom Gibbons (Sound Designer), Will Duke (Video Designer), Brandon Michael Nase (Music Supervisor and Additional Arrangements and Orchestrations), Dickson Mbi (Choreographer), Suzanne Scotcher (Wigs, Hair, and Make Up Designer), and
Hazel Holder (Voice and Dialect Coach).
Passing Strange is the story of a young musician who sets out on an electrifying musical odyssey to find himself and his place in the world, swapping his middle-class L.A. upbringing for punk rock and protest in 1980s Amsterdam and Berlin.
Photo credit: Marc Brenner
