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| Andrew Creech as Youth (photo Martin Christoffel) |
Passing Strange
Starring LeRoy Bell, Andrew Creech
Through 6/29/14
You still have this weekend to catch the entertaining and
groovy musical, Passing Strange. Written
as an autobiography and originally starring Stew, the Seattle version of a
black man’s journey to manhood stars local celebrity and amiable rocker, LeRoy Bell.
Though it’s a story about rock and roll, most of the musical
composition don’t get that loud (no earplugs needed). Bell tells the story
through narration about his youth (Youth is played by Andrew Creech) in a boring lower middle class Los Angeles neighborhood
straining to be someone unique. Through minimal staging, dance, and
storytelling techniques, a quartet of talented actors (DeSean Halley, Yesenia Iglesias, J Reese, Shontina Vernon) morph
from teenage church friends to European footloose, drug-inspired young adults,
as Youth tries to find himself and “the real.”