If you didn’t get to Joe’s Pub last night to see Stew & The Negro Problem and grab a copy of the new album, Making It, all is not lost.
It’s time for a better taste of The Negro Problem‘s fantastic show at Joe’s Pub on Jan 7 .
Here’s all the video Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? managed to shoot in the crowded room.
The first clip is just an excerpt, the last minute or so of one of my favorite Stew/TNP songs, “Peter Jennings,” performed with as much joy and excitement as I’ve ever seen.
After that is “Willow Song,” a Stew and Heidi number that many in the audience hadn’t heard before. It was written for last summer’s production of Othello for Shakespeare on the Sound, an outdoor community Shakespeare program in Connecticut. (Stew and Heidi tackle Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing for SotS Artistic Director Joanna Settle this summer.) It’s a beautiful, dreamy number that worked well in the play, but also stands alone surprisingly well.
Finally, for all you Passing Strange fans, there’s “Amsterdam.”
Enjoy!
Stew, Heidi Rodewald and The Negro Problem at Joe's Pub on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011. (Photos copyright 2011, Steven P. Marsh)
Stew, Heidi Rodewald and their current incarnation of The Negro Problem came home to NYC — to Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater — on Jan. 7.
What a homecoming it was. The show was rocking and well-paced, with old favorites — many reimagined in one way or another — and newer material from last fall’s Brooklyn Omnibus, a show premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
“Ken,” the never-fails-to-get-laughs tune about Barbie’s boyfriend Ken secretly being gay, was done with a reggae feel to it. And they did “Willow Song” from their music for last summer’s Shakespeare on the Sound production of Othello. They also did a great rendition of Stew’s self-proclaimed best song ever, “Gary Come Home,” written for TV’s SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show.
The current incarnation of The Negro Problem, Stew and Heidi’s first project together, is really just the pair of them backed by Joe McGinty‘s Loser’s Lounge crew plus awesome longtime guitarist Jon Spurney. (Spurney wasn’t in the earliest incarnations of The Negro Problem, but then again, neither was Heidi. Spurn was, however, involved from the beginning with the material that eventually became the acclaimed musical, Passing Strange.)
The place was packed. The show was great. And it seemed to go by in a flash.
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? was thrilled to be there. We’ll shut up now so you can look at the photos. (Video will come later!)
Stew in his Utilikilt with a new approach to hairstyling, and Heidi at Joe's Pub.
Posted in Music, News, Pop and Rock, Theater
Tagged Heidi Rodewald, Joe McGinty, Joe's Pub, Loser's Lounge, Passing Strange, SpongeBob SquarePants, Stew, The Negro Problem
When Yasmine Lever wanted an original but authentic-sounding punk rock score to fuel her new musical-in-development, Punk Princess, she turned to her friends Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the creators of Broadway’s 2008 critical smash Passing Strange.
Smart move!
The result, revealed to the public for the first time yesterday in two readings at The Theatre at St. Clement’s as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, was a lively show with memorable music, a winning cast and tons of promise.
Posted in Music, Punk, Theater
Tagged Chad Goodridge, Christian Gibbs, Debargo Sanyal, Erin Buckley, Frank Liotti, Heidi Rodewald, Joe McGinty, Justin Bond, Kelly J. McCreary, Laurel Holland, Lucas Steele, New York Musical Theatre Festival, Our Lady J, Punk Princess, Rebecca Hart, Stew, The Theatre at St. Clement's, Yasmine Lever
