Full company; photo by Joan Marcus

Full company; photo by Joan Marcus

Company; photo by Joan Marcus

Full company; photo by Joan Marcus

None
Black and white portrait of playwright Michael R. Jackson, a black male, wearing a cardigan, checkered collared shirt, and glasses.

Michael R. Jackson; photo by Zack DeZon

A Strange Loop


Mainstage Theater


Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly

Produced in association with Page 73
World premiere

USHER
These are my memories / Of one lone black gay boy I knew who chose to turn his back on the Lord.

Usher is a black, queer writer, working a day job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a day job he hates while writing his original musical. Michael R. Jackson’s blistering, momentous new musical follows a young artist at war with a host of demons — not least of which, the punishing thoughts in his own head — in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop.

2017 Jonathan Larson Award winner
2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award winner

Featuring
Antwayn Hopper
Thought 6
L Morgan Lee
Thought 1
Jason Veasey
Thought 5
Elijah Caldwell
Understudy for Usher, Thought 2, Thought 3
Creative Team
Arnulfo Maldonado
Scenic Design
Montana Levi Blanco
Costume Design
Jen Schriever
Lighting Design
Alex Hawthorn
Sound Design
Cookie Jordan
Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design
Charlie Rosen
Orchestrations
Rona Siddiqui
Music Director
Michael R. Jackson
Vocal Arrangements
Tomoko Akaboshi
Music Coordinator
Erin Gioia Albrecht
Production Stage Manager
John C. Moore
Assistant Stage Manager
Reviews
  • “A full-on laparoscopy of the heart, soul, and loins — A Strange Loop is a gutsy, jubilantly anguished musical with infectious melodies by the very deft Michael R. Jackson.”

    — Ben Brantley, The New York Times
  • “Exhilarating and wickedly funny. A triumph!”

    — Sara Holdren, New York Magazine