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'Passing Strange,' a Musical With a Rock Swagger

Musicians Stew and Heidi Rodewald are founders of the band The Negro Problem. Their new Broadway musical Passing Strange is an autobiographical look at Stew's journey through music.

The musical portrays Stew's journey of self-discovery, traveling from Los Angeles to Europe, and back. He describes the musical as having genuine rock music — a musical for people who hate musicals. He even encourages patrons to come to the show drunk, prepared to sing along and enjoy Stew and director Annie Dorsen's presentation of a story about "snooty church people, Amsterdam hash bars and German anarchists. In that order."

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David Bianculli is a guest host and TV critic on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A contributor to the show since its inception, he has been a TV critic since 1975.