Breaking news
Berkeley Rep tours are crossing the continent
Spike Lee films final performances of Passing Strange
berkeley rep tours are crossing the continent
As Berkeley Rep kicks off its new season here at home, two shows launched during the company’s recent 40th Birthday Season continue to party at theatres across America.
Danny Hoch’s Taking Over begins its tour at the “Just for Laughs” festival in Montreal, with stops planned for New York’s Public Theater, and Los Angeles’ Kirk Douglas Theatre.
Meanwhile, Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking departs from Santa Fe on a wild mood swing from coast to coast that includes Arena Stage at Lincoln Theatre, Hartford Stage in Connecticut and San Jose Repertory Theatre.
The buzz on Danny Hoch
“HILARIOUS…The sheer energy of his performance is astounding. The best thing about Hoch is that he’s so unpredictable. Just when you think you know where he’s heading, he segues into something else…It’s a slick international, multi-lingual show, complete with backdrop images of Brooklyn (new and old), hip urban music and super-titles…On opening night, the cheers were deafening.”—Montreal Gazette
“BRILLIANT…Danny Hoch is superb at moving from the skin of one character to another. Hoch’s transformation takes place with simple clothing props and a chameleon like skill for changing his physical attitude on stage…hilarious as much as it is thought provoking.”—Serious Comedy
“POIGNANT, provocative and flat-out funny, Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is groundbreaking comedy from an exceptionally talented performer.”—CHOM-FM
“TERRIFIC! Hoch’s ability to portray unique characters straight out of America’s trendiest city left me in awe—and hurting from all the laughter. It’s an eye-opening show that has a lot to say but never stops being entertaining.”—The Suburban
The buzz on Carrie Fisher
“Addiction, mental illness, movie-star parents, bad marriages, really bad hair…Carrie Fisher, right? You got it: Princess Leia has recycled her nightmarish life yet again, this time putting it onstage in the form of an exceedingly clever one-woman show called Wishful Drinking. Berkeley Rep, which brought Passing Strange into the world a year and a half ago, is now giving the hapless daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher an opportunity to be drop-dead funny about a string of personal crises so horrific that the only alternative to laughing at them is slashing your wrists in sympathy.”—Wall Street Journal
“Hilariously enobling…Wishful Drinking, the Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes, is an L.A. story that would defy credulity were it not for the very credible presence of its narrator. You can call Fisher many things—an unflagging exhibitionist for starters—but she has a candor that makes her a most reliable witness to the far-fetched autobiography that is at once her curse and cure.”—Los Angeles Times
“Fisher knows how to write wickedly comic material and, better still, how to deliver it. It’s also quite brave…Princess Leia is just telling her life story—as honestly, sardonically, fetchingly, caustically and comically as she can.”—San Francisco Chronicle
spike lee films final performances of passing strange
The long, strange trip has come to an end—Passing Strange, which made its debut in Berkeley Rep’s 2006/07 season—played its final performance in Broadway’s Belasco Theater on Sunday, July 20.
During the show’s final weekend, legendary director Spike Lee and a camera crew filmed the production to preserve it for a wider audience.
“This fresh musical is an unstoppable force of energy, music, and mayhem,” Lee commented. “The pure rock energy, Soul, profound humanity, and brilliant cast are the elements that make Passing Strange unforgettable. As a filmmaker, the greatest artists on this earth to me are musicians because I feel their talents have come directly from God. So when I saw the play I was knocked out. The story, its musicianship, and the acting are a revelation. So often, when you see a great piece of theatre, it’s gone unless you look at an archive of it at Lincoln Center. But this is a great piece of work, and it’s going to be documented for many generations to see.”
During its six-month Broadway run, Passing Strange garnered huge critical praise, including Audelco, Drama Critics and Drama Desk awards for Best Musical, and a Tony Award for best book of a musical. The piece also won two Obie Awards—for best New Theatre Piece and Outstanding Ensemble—during its off-Broadway run.
The show was seen as a new infusion of artistic talent on Broadway—or rather, as the New York Times said, “please don’t call it a Broadway musical. You could scare away too many people who might actually enjoy it. Call it a rock concert with a story to tell, trimmed with a lot of great jokes. Or call it a sprawling work of performance art, complete with angry rants and scary drag queens. Call it whatever you want, really. I’ll just call it wonderful, and a welcome anomaly on Broadway, which can use all the vigorous new artistic blood it can get.”
Details about the release of Spike Lee’s recording of Passing Strange will be forthcoming. For now, however, we thank the audience members both here and in New York for their continued support, and send best wishes to Stew, Heidi, the cast and crew who have been with the show all the way since its birth in Berkeley. It has been a long, strange trip—and we are so glad to have been part of it.
Download the cast album from iTunes (CD review).
