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Stew | |
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| Born | Mark Stewart (1961-08-16)August 16, 1961 (age 64) |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, playwright |
Mark Lamar Stewart (born August 16, 1961), known professionally asStew, is an American singer-songwriter and playwright fromLos Angeles, California.[1]
In the early 1990s, Stew formed a four-piece band called The Negro Problem. (Stew himself is Black.[2]) In 1995 the band released a box set collection of singles including a cover of "MacArthur Park" and a multi-part pop operetta entitled "Miss Jones".[3]
Stew later went on to release albums under his own name. His 2000 releaseGuest Host was named Album of the Year byEntertainment Weekly and his 2002 album,The Naked Dutch Painter and Other Songs, repeated that feat. He toured in support of Love'sArthur Lee in 2002 and in 2003 he was invited to take part in theLincoln Center's American Songbook series of concerts.
Starting in 2004, he began writing the book, lyrics and music (with Heidi Rodewald) for his semi-autobiographicalrock musicalPassing Strange, produced with the support of theSundance Institute andThe Public Theater, which won him theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics. Also in 2004, he wrote and performed "Gary's Song" for theSpongeBob SquarePants episode "Have You Seen This Snail?(Where's Gary?)", which aired the following year, and is credited with giving him his first broadcast exposure.[4] In 2006, he and Rodewald continued to producePassing Strange as well as working on a film project with The Sundance Institute.Passing Strange had successful runs at theBerkeley Repertory Theatre inBerkeley, California, in the fall of 2006, andoff-Broadway atThe Public Theater in New York City during the spring of 2007. It received critical praise from both theNew York Times andVariety and opened onBroadway at theBelasco Theatre in February 2008 under the aegis of producer Liz McCann andthe Shubert Organization. The play garnered seven Tony nominations in 2008, with Stew receiving four nominations and winning the award for Best Book. The play closed in July 2008, with Spike Lee filming the final performances for a feature film which screened at the Sundance Festival in January 2009.
As of 2016, Stew, Rodewald and members of The Negro Problem were involved in their live show and accompanying album titledNotes from a Native Song, inspired by the writings of James Baldwin.[5]
Stew is Professor of the Practice of Musical Theater Writing at Harvard University.[6]
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