‘A Strange Loop’: A big, Black queer musical hit

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: (left to right): James Jackson Jr., L Morgan Lee, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, Jaquel Spivey, Jason Veasey & John-Michael Lyles. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

A STRANGE LOOP
Book, music & lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.StrangeLoopMusical.com

By David NouNou

What one expects from A Strange Loop going into the theatre is completely different from what one gets coming out. The expectations going in are for a “Big, Black & Queer American Musical!” as the poster tells us, a laugh riot, and in fact it is just that for the first half. The agony comes in the second part; of what it’s like to “travel the world in a fat, Black, queer body” and the pressures that go with it in the first song sung by Usher, “Intermission Song.”

Our hero, Usher (Jaquel Spivey) is an usher at Disney’s The Lion King and can barely make a living with this job. In addition, Usher carries a lot of baggage consisting of a chorus of six people in his head named Thought 1 through Thought 6. These thoughts play many parts: including his father and mother, both named after The Lion King characters. Some thoughts remind him of his self-loathing, student loans, issues on Black pride and his repressed sexuality. Various others comment on the show Usher is writing a musical about a gay Black man writing a musical about a gay black man to be named A Strange Loop, about that never-ending loop that man travels throughout his life.

Usher is further burdened by the guilt injected by his mother of how much she has sacrificed in raising him and in return wants him to write a Tyler Perry-style Gospel play with Jesus bringing salvation. Usher wishes he could be more like his “inner white girl” because they are free to do what they want, instead of being held back by expectations put on Black boys.

Usher at this point goes to his doctor for a physical and is asked about his sex life. This scene is a scream. To follow the doctors’ orders to find sex, he goes on various gay apps only to be rejected as being too Black, too fat, too feminine, and for having a small appendage. It’s around this point that the hilarity stops, and the truth that hurts starts appearing. Usher is outraged not only by his parents’ outlook on homosexuality; in addition, he now has to contend with the way the gay community discriminates against people with shortcomings.

Usher goes down a spiral of self-humiliating acts to finally find redemption and be able to live this strange loop he calls his life and how to bring an end to his show. Even when he brings an end to the show, what next, how will that loop of life still continue?

Michael R. Jackson won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this odyssey and is most deserving. The way he has interwoven the hilarity and tragedy, inner thoughts vs outer reality, faith, religion and family in one huge tapestry is profound. He has given us the best and most unsettling piece of theatre of what a Black, fat, awkward gay man has to deal with on a daily basis and his inner thoughts are his worst enemy.

Mr. Jackson has written the book as well as the score. The book is most unsettling toward the end as is intended, but the score always explains the thoughts and the situations that are taking place. It is both clever and thought-provoking. For some audiences, it may not have positive results. At times, it is jarring and hard to sit through. Not the type of show that would play well in Florida or Oklahoma.

Jaquel Spivey as Usher is heartbreakingly brilliant. You can see the daily pummeling and humiliation on his expressive face and how he wishes he can change the course of his life for the better. His performance may land him the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.

Director Stephen Brackett has done an excellent job of arranging the various thoughts: Thought 1 (L. Morgan Lee), Thought 2.( James Jackson Jr.), Thought 3 (John-Michael Lyles), Thought 4 (John Andrew Morrison), Thought 5 (Jason Veasey) and Thought 6 (Antwayn Hopper). They each move around the stage to the beat of their own drum and make a seamless ensemble.

The show is a must-see. You will laugh with glee and be joyously entertained, but be ready for the discomfort to follow. One will be traveling in Usher’s shoes; it will hurt, but ultimately a reward will ensue.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 1, 2022
Reviewed at April 29, 2022 press performance.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’ (left to right): Jason Veasey, James Jackson, Jr., Jaquel Spivey, L Morgan Lee & Antwayn Hopper. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: (left to right) James Jackson Jr., Jason Veasey, John-Michael Lyles, Jaquel Spivey, L Morgan Lee, John-Andrew Morrison & Antwayn Hopper. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: Jaquel Spivey. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: Jaquel Spivey & cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: The cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.