Kyle Ramar Freeman Makes West End Debut in A STRANGE LOOP

Casting has been announced for the London season of the smash-hit musical A Strange Loop which is transferring from Broadway to the Barbican Theatre for a one-time-only 12-week limited season from 17 June.

Making his West End debut, Kyle Ramar Freeman - reprising the lead role he played on Broadway - will star as Usher, a young, gay, Black writer who hates his day job, so writes a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who's writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer.

He will be joined on stage by an all-British cast of six Thoughts, who are the physical manifestation of Usher's internal monologue. Playing the Thoughts are multi-Olivier nominated Jason Pennycooke (Lafayette/Jefferson - Original cast of Hamilton), Sharlene Hector, best known for being a lead vocalist for British band Basement Jaxx, Danny Bailey (Jesus Christ Superstar, Girl From the North Country), Eddie Elliott (Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Lion King and Motown The Musical) and Tendai Humphrey Sitima (The Play That Goes Wrong). Further casting will be announced soon.

A Strange Loop creator Michael R. Jackson said: "I couldn't be more excited to test the universality of Usher's journey of self-acceptance with this extraordinary London company portraying Usher's Thoughts. I am even more excited to bring Broadway powerhouse Kyle Ramar Freeman to London to anchor this production of A Strange Loop. Kyle is an immense talent and I have no doubt that London audiences will fall as in love with him as they did in New York City."

Originating Broadway producer Barbara Whitman said: "I'm thrilled that Kyle will be playing Usher in this production. He is a true star. And I can't wait to welcome the six new actors to our Strange Loop family."

Kyle Ramar Freeman added: "I am truly honoured to have my West End debut at the Barbican. I am excited to share this experience with London audiences and hope to deliver a performance alongside my fellow cast that will be as unforgettable as it was on Broadway."

Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop is a critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning blisteringly funny masterpiece, nominated for 11 Tony Awards and winner of every Best Musical award in New York. Only the 10th musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama - with the previous winner being Hamilton - the committee cited the show as a "metafictional musical that tracks the creative process of an artist transforming issues of identity, race, and sexuality that once pushed him to the margins of the cultural mainstream into a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities".

The New York critics heaped plaudits on this sensational production: The New York Times said the show was a "dazzling ride" and "no measure of praise could be too much". The Wall Street Journal described the show as "hilarious, intimate and personal" adding that "A Strange Loop is extraordinary in just about every way. It represents theater at its most daring and unexpected". And Variety summed it up, hailing A Strange Loop as "the most furiously entertaining show on Broadway".

Michael R. Jackson is a playwright, composer, and lyricist who is a rising star in the world of contemporary writing and quickly gaining recognition as one of the most innovative voices in American theatre. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Jackson moved to New York to attend NYU (New York University), where he began his career as a writer and performer. His writing is already drawing comparisons to other literary greats, and he is quickly becoming recognised as an inspiring and transformative writer in his own right. His next musical, White Girl in Danger, a co-production between the Vineyard and Second Stage, recently opened at New York's Tony Kiser Theater.

A Strange Loop is at Barbican Centre from 17 June 2023 - 9 September 2023