Although I will hold out for the CD release on this, I’m really excited to see how much positive press Stew and Heidi have received for Passing Strange. I’m a long time Negro Problem fan, and it thrills me that Stew has found a somewhat mainstream audience.

From Variety
Cast recording exclusive to Apple

By GORDON COX

"Passing Strange" will be the first Broadway tuner to release its
original cast recording exclusively on iTunes, more than a month before
the CD arrives in stores.
Ghostlight Records' digital release, set for May 27, makes the "Strange"
OCR available in time to take advantage of the awards attention
producers hope the show will receive after Tony noms are announced
Tuesday.

Due to the time lag for manufacturing and shipping, the
CD is not expected to be available in brick-and-mortar stores until
July. Cast album was recorded April 14 in an unusual live session at
the show's venue, the Belasco Theater. (Most cast albums are taped in a
studio.)

"I wanted to make the music available in time for all
the exposure the show is hopefully going to get in the next few weeks,"
said Sh-K-Boom/Ghostligh t prexy Kurt Deutsch.

The iTunes exclusive reps another first for the old-fashioned legit
industry, which like other sectors of showbiz is working to cultivate
the benefits of digital-age fixtures such as YouTube and MySpace.

According to Deutsch, the initial iTunes-only release makes sense for a show like
"Passing Strange," a rock tuner that aims to appeal to a young -- and
therefore tech-savvy -- demo. In recent years, he has seen downloads
jump from 5% to 25%-30% of sales for albums of youth-appeal tuners such
as "Legally Blonde."

Deutsch and Bill Rosenfield exec produced the "Passing Strange" OCR, with Stew and Heidi Rodewald, co-creators of the musical, serving as producers.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798 ... id=16&cs=1