Passing Strange 2007 Demo Recording

Music and Lyrics: Stew and Heidi Rodewald
Released: Unreleased

A young black musician travels on a picaresque journey to rebel against his mother and his upbringing in a church-going, middle-class, South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. He finds new experiences in promiscuous Amsterdam, with its easy access to drugs and sex, and in artistic, chaotic, political Berlin, where he struggles with ethics and integrity when he misrepresents his background as poor to get ahead. Along with his "passing" from place to place and from lover to lover, the young musician moves through a number of musical styles from a background of gospel to punk, and then blues, jazz, and rock. He finally returns home.

Passing Strange is a semi-autobiographical musical with lyrics and book by Stew and music and orchestrations by Stew and Heidi Rodewald.

The musical premiered on October 19, 2006, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California. It was then produced off-Broadway at The Public Theatre in New York City, running from May 14, 2007, through June 3, 2007. The musical began previews at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway on February 8, 2008, and officially opened on February 28, 2008.

Passing Strange has received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical, seven 2008 Drama Desk Award nominations and nominations for a number of other awards. Reviews on Broadway have been positive. It has also been nominated for seven Tony Awards.

You can watch a Passing Strange Video Clip at Musical Theatre Clips.

More Info: Passing Strange NY Times Review
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Wicked. 2003 Original Broadway Cast Recording

Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Released: December 16, 2003
Label: Universal Records

Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a libretto by Winnie Holzman. The story is based on the best-selling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, a re-imagining of L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz.

Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Their friendship struggles through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot is set mostly prior to Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and also includes several references to well-known scenes and dialogue in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

The musical debuted on Broadway on October 30, 2003. It is produced by Universal Pictures and directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Its original stars were Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. Although the production received mixed reviews and was panned by The New York Times, it has proved to be a favorite among patrons. The Broadway production's success spawned productions in Chicago, Los Angeles, London's West End, Tokyo, and Stuttgart, along with a North American tour that has visited over 30 cities in Canada and the United States.


More Info: Wicked (Wikipedia)
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We are finally back. And specially for those of you that have asked our return, we have a lot of surprises. Stay tuned.

Company (Broadway 2006 Revival)

Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Released: February 20, 2007
Label: Nonesuch

Originally entitled Threes, its plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical comprised of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Bobby's 35th birthday.

Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult problems through its music. As Sondheim put it, "they are middle-class people with middle class-problems." It is also one of the first musicals where the songs commented on the characters in the play instead of furthering the plot, a device which became a Sondheim standard.

A new revival had try-outs at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's Robert S. Marx Theatre in the spring of 2006. After 34 previews, the Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by John Doyle (who helmed the revival of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in 2005), opened on November 29, 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with a cast that included Raúl Esparza as Bobby. The musical closed on July 1, 2007, and also was taped for possible presentation on Public television. As in Doyle's 2006 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, the actors themselves provided the orchestral accompaniment. The production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

More Info: Company (Wikipedia)
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Avenue Q The Musical (2003 Original Broadway Cast)

Music and Lyrics: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Released: October 7, 2003
Label: RCA Victor Broadway

Avenue Q is a Tony award-winning musical that was conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The show is largely inspired by (and is in the style of) Sesame Street: most of the characters in the show are puppets (operated by actors onstage), the set depicts several tenements on a rundown street in an "outer borough" of New York City, both the live characters and puppet characters sing, and short animated video clips are played as part of the story.
Also, several characters are recognizably parodies of classic Muppet characters: for example, the roommates Rod and Nicky are versions of Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie, and Trekkie Monster is based on Cookie Monster. However, the characters are in their twenties and thirties and face adult problems instead of those faced by pre-schoolers. The characters use profanity, and the songs concern adult themes. A recurring theme is the central character's search for a "purpose".
After an Off-Broadway opening, The show moved to Broadway in 2003 and won several Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical. It is still running, as of June 2007.

More Info: AvenueQ (Wikipedia)
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A Man of No Importance (2002 Off-Broadway Cast)

Music: Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens
Released: April 15, 2003
Label: Jay Records

A Man of No Importance is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the 1994 Albert Finney film A Man of No Importance directed by Suri Krishnamma and screenplay by Barry Devlin, it tells the story of an amateur theatre group in Dublin, the St. Imelda's Players, and their leader, Alfie Byrne, a Dublin bus conductor. A passionate fan of Oscar Wilde, Alfie is determined to stage a version of Salome at his church, despite the objections of church authorities. In the process of fighting for the play, Alfie is finally forced to confront his own sexuality and take a stand in the world.
The musical ran from September 12 to December 29, 2002 in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center Theater, New York and was part of the Lincoln Center Theater 2002-03 season. It was awarded the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical.

More Info: Ahrens and Flaherty website
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Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

Music: Duncan Sheik. Lyrics: Steven Sater
Released: November 21, 2006
Label: Decca Broadway

Spring Awakening is a Tony Award-winning musical which premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company on May 19, 2006 and closed August 17, 2006. The rock musical transferred to Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it opened on December 10, 2006 to mostly rave reviews. On May 15, 2007, Spring Awakening was recognized with eleven nominations for the 2007 Tony Awards -- more than any other production that year -- including a nomination for Best Musical. The show won eight Tonys for direction, book, score, orchestrations, choreography, lighting design, best featured actor, and best musical. The show won four Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical.

More Info: Wikipedia
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