New York Shakespeare Festival

for Passing Strange by Mark Stewart and Heidi Rodewald

Stew (Mark Stewart) Book, Lyrics, Co-Composer, Co-Orchestrator, Narrator for Passing Strange is the critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, founder and leader of The Negro Problem, a pop-rock combo from Los Angeles. Works: Post Minstrel Syndrome (1997), Joys & Concerns (1999), Welcome Black (2002). Along with Heidi Rodewald he co-founded the Afro-Baroque cabaret ensemble known as STEW. Works: Guest Host (2000), The Naked Dutch Painter (2002), Something Deeper Than These Changes (2003). Artist-in-residence at the California Institute of the Arts (2004/5); Sundance Theatre Lab (2004/5); Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab (2005); Sundance Directors’ Lab (2005); Passing Strange, Berkeley Rep/Public Theater (2006/7). Composed “Gary Come Home” for the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon.

Bio as of April, 2008.

Heidi Rodewald, Co-Composer, Co-Orchestrator, Bass, Vocals, for Passing Strange has spent more than a decade as a performer, arranger, producer and composer for both The Negro Problem and the multi-disciplinary ensemble known as STEW. Credits include Passing Strange, Berkeley Repertory Theater/The Public Theater (2006/2007); Karen Kandel’s Portraits: Night and Day (2004); co-writer with Stew of the screenplay We Can See Today, Sundance Screenwriters’/Directors’ Lab (2005) wrote and performed with the seminal female punk band Wednesday Week.

Bio as of April, 2008.