Rock thespian Stew brings his ‘concert novel’ to Abu Dhabi

Tony Award-winning rock 'n' roll thespian Stew talks ahead of the international premiere of Notes of a Native Song, a rousing tribute to the life and work of James Baldwin.

Notes of a Native Song, inspired by the life of African-American writer-activist James Baldwin, is the fifth major stage work by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Courtesy NYUAD

To be an American performing in the Middle East on the eve of the United States presidential election is a treat Stew is clearly looking forward to. The rock 'n' roll thespian will present Notes of a Native Song at New York University Abu Dhabi on November 2 and November 3, a conceptual "concert novel" inspired by the life and work of African-American writer-activist James Baldwin – a subject charged with issues of identity and discrimination ever-precedent in 2016.

“Any artist who goes anywhere outside of the US this week, and puts on the same old show,” says Stew, “is not worth a penny as far as I’m concerned”.

A songwriter first, Stew released a string of albums, both solo and with his band The Negro Problem, before making an abrupt turn into musical theatre a decade ago with the smash Broadway musical, Passing Strange.

A heavily autobiographical rock comedy, about a young man fleeing Los Angeles for Europe, it earned Stew two Obie Awards and 2008’s Tony for Best Book. Spike Lee directed 2009’s movie version. Penned alongside longterm collaborator (and bassist) Heidi Rodewald, Notes on a Native Song is the pair’s fifth major stage work, following 2010 song cycles Making It, Brooklyn Omnibus, and this year’s new musical, The Total Bent. However, in the subject of Baldwin – a writer, novelist, playwright and poet whose legacy resounds to this day – the ever-fearless Stew has arguably met his greatest match.

How might a democratic election taking place more than 10,000km away affect your performances in Abu Dhabi?

It’s like a chemical – we put on a show to an audience, and it’s really you guys who determine it as much as we do. I’m very used to seeing America from outside America. I’ve spent a lot of time in Europe, and this in East Africa, so I know what it’s like to have people look at me and say: ‘What the hell is going on? Can you explain this to us? Why are you guys so crazy’? No time more than now is that question coming up. People inside the US are trying to figure out what’s going on, let alone from outside. How long can something resemble a cartoon?

And what’s the answer – what is going on?

The thing about Baldwin is he’s always probing the personal inside the political. The big picture is false to me – Donald Trump does not interest me as much as the people who vote for him. If you and I were allowed to be followed by CNN all the time and everything you said they published, you’d keep on talking, and so would I. He’s doing nothing different than anybody else would do. That’s not very interesting to me – what’s interesting is who and why, and the chasm between them and me. The show itself becomes the conversation table.

Your style of musical storytelling blends rock, comedy and stage banter – how does that mix work while tackling a historical figure such as Baldwin?

Humour to me is absolutely essential – a serious show about James Baldwin I couldn’t pull off. Our goal was to claim Baldwin as the rock ‘n’ roll figure we actually knew he was. He liked to a party, to rabble rouse – he had much more in common with Keith Richards than any stuffy activist. The problem with any oppressed group is they don’t allow their heroes to be human. Martin Luther King can’t be a human. Malcolm X can’t be a human. Baldwin can’t be a human – people get mortally offended when we talk about these people as being humans in the show.

How much of this reaction have you encountered?

The first time I did a preview of the show, six members of Baldwin’s family were there, and one of them would not talk to me afterwards. These six people came as a unit, and all had different reactions. Two thought it was the best thing they’d ever seen, one was mad, one was crying – it was pretty heavy.

Did the experience make you think twice?

Never think twice, but it made me think harder. But you can’t stop. You don’t get anywhere just by being reverent. Too many people, particularly from my community, feel like you have to handle these guys with white gloves – museum relics you must bow down to – who never did anything wrong and never had complicated ideas and lives. This is why comedians are great – comedians destroy audiences’s defence mechanisms with laughter – you get them to laugh, and then you go in for the kill.

• Notes of a Native Song will be performed at NYUAD Arts Centre on November 2 at 8pm and on November 3 at 4pm and 8pm. For free tickets, register at www.nyuad-artscenter.org