The song immediately struck a chord in me - I spent most of my childhood and adolescence being told I was (or wanted to be) a white girl because of what I liked. In the song “Inner White Girl,” he sings about the ability white women have to move about the world however they want to without regard for other people’s perceptions of them or fear of repercussions. One of the things that struck me most about the show is Usher’s relationship to his Blackness and how he reconciles that with his “inner white girl” and his alleged feminist beliefs.
Even though I no longer want to perform, seeing a show like this being produced and not only that, revered, I knew I needed to get into that room and see the show. When I was in my early 20s, I would have done anything for a show like A Strange Loop. I saw it firsthand - I graduated with a degree in theatre studies and spent a year auditioning and getting nowhere before giving up. Growing up in a pre- Hamilton theatre world, I was told that my love for musicals was never going to be a viable path for me. Being Black is inherent to Usher’s journey as an artist. Not only that, but where the story is rooted in Blackness. I have never seen a show where the vast majority of characters are Black (no, Hamilton doesn’t count.
I come from a line of musical lovers - my grandmother and mother introduced me to musical movies when I was a preschooler, and I knew I wanted to be on Broadway after seeing Beauty and the Beast in third grade. I have been a musical theatre nerd for as long as I can remember. It’s such an important piece of theatre, not just for Black creatives, but for any creative person who is reconciling with how the intersections of themselves can co-exist within their art. It really is a “big, Black and queer-ass American Broadway show,” and I’m heartbroken that it won’t get to play longer. The people who have wanted to see A Strange Loop probably already have, and the people who need to see the show either don’t live in NYC or can’t afford a ticket.Īs a Black, queer creative person who loves musical theatre, I have NEVER felt more seen by anything than I have by A Strange Loop. Even “Fun Home”, which is the only other explicitly queer Best Musical winner in recent history, will have played more shows at closing. It is incredibly rare for a show that won the biggest Tony of the night to close within the year after winning, but given the state of Broadway right now (I mean, “Phantom of the Opera” is closing in February after 36 YEARS) then I can’t say it’s a total surprise. (I was smart and bought tickets the week before the Tony’s because I knew once it won, they’d be impossible to get.) It was announced this week that the show would be closing in January 2023. After reading about the show when it first opened, I knew I had to see it during our family trip to New York City this summer. This year, it won Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical at the Tony Awards, and they were so deserved. Because the whole show takes place in Usher’s head, the other actors play Thoughts 1-6, who act out not only his thoughts, but the people in his life, including his family (who he has named after characters from “The Lion King,” the show where he works as an usher.)Īfter winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2020, A Strange Loop opened on Broadway on Apafter beginning previews on my birthday, April 14. The name comes from an actual scientific concept, but also a Liz Phair song. Jackson, it’s about Usher (played by Jaquel Spivey), a fat, queer Black playwright writing a musical about a fat, queer Black playwright, writing a musical about…you get the point. With those words, you’re thrust into the world of the musical A Strange Loop. “How many minutes ‘til the end of intermission?” The 200 Best Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Movies Of All Time.LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now.
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