Michael R. Jackson Steps in as Usher in A STRANGE LOOP Due to Non-Covid Related Cast Illnesses
Rather than canceling the performances due to non-covid-related illnesses, the company performed a concert version of the show.
By: Blair Ingenthron Jan. 08, 2023
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Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of A Strange Loop Michael R. Jackson played the role of Usher in the Saturday, January 7th matinee and evening performances of the show at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway.
Rather than canceling the performances due to non-covid-related illnesses, the company performed a concert version of the show.
The Tony Award-winning Best Musical A Strange Loop will play its final Broadway performance on January 15, 2023.
Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop opened April 26, at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). The musical is directed by Tony Award nominee Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, and produced by Barbara Whitman, along with Page 73 Productions, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons.
A STRANGE LOOP won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was named Best Musical by the Tony Awards, New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Off-Broadway Alliance. Michael R. Jackson won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for A Strange Loop. Jaquel Spivey was awarded the Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and a Theatre World Award.
Upon closing, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical will have played 301 regular and 13 preview performances at the Lyceum Theatre.
A STRANGE LOOP features set design by Tony Award nominee Arnulfo Maldonado, costumes by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Tony Award nominee Jen Schriever, sound design by Tony Award nominee Drew Levy, music direction by Rona Siddiqui, orchestrations by Grammy winner and Tony Award nominee Charlie Rosen, and casting by The Telsey Office/Destiny Lilly. Erin Gioia Albrecht is production stage manager.
A STRANGE LOOP features Tony Award nominee Jaquel Spivey as Usher, Antwayn Hopper (Thought 6), James Jackson, Jr. (Thought 2), Tony Award nominee L Morgan Lee (Thought 1), John-Michael Lyles (Thought 3), Tony Award nominee John-Andrew Morrison (Thought 4), and Jason Veasey (Thought 5), with Edwin Bates, Kyle Ramar Freeman, Zachary A. Myers, Jon-Michael Reese, and Mars Rucker.
Meet Usher: a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer...
Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning, blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he both loves and loathes. Hell-bent on breaking free of his own self-perception, Usher wrestles with the thoughts in his head, brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-shooting ensemble. Bold and heartfelt in its truth-telling, A Strange Loop is the big, Black, and queer-ass Great American Musical for all.
A STRANGE LOOP made its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons, in May 2019, in association with Page 73 Productions. In December 2021, the show had a critically acclaimed run at Washington, D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company prior to coming to Broadway.
GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS and YELLOW SOUND LABEL released the original Broadway cast recording of A Strange Loop on June 10, 2022.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski
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