Interview: Malachi McCaskil's Bursting on the Ahmanson Stage as Usher in A STRANGE LOOP

Michael R. Jackson’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning A Strange Loop opens June 5, 2024; at the Ahmanson. A co-production of Center Theatrer Gtoup and American Conservatory Theatre, Stephen Brackett  directs the cast led by  Malachi McCaskil as Usher with Dave J. Abrams, Angela Alise, Jordan Barbour, J. Cameron Barnett, Carlis Shane Clark, Alvis Green Jr., Albert Hodge, Avionce Hoyles, Tarra Conner Jones, Jamari Johnson Williams and John-Andrew Morrison.

I was able to chat Malachi after he finished his West Coast premiere at A.C.T.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Malachi!

Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

So how were the A.C.T. audiences for your west coast premiere earlier this month?

Real good. Some were very receptive, and laughed with us and enjoyed the interactions that we had. From what I've been told about my castmates, some of the matinees some were taken aback about what they're seeing a little bit. But for the audiences that I performed for they have been very receptive to the material that they’re seeing. Some people have been coming up to me at the stage door. Some people that look like me and some people that don't, come to say, ‘This is just amazing, like I felt I related to it so much.’ And you know, this is a beautiful story that needs to be told. Every night that I think an audience is not being receptive, they always stand at the end of the show and clap. They took something from it.

Any audience reactions take you by surprise?

There was one night during the run, I believe it was during the last week there at A. C. T. There were some people in the front row that were just not feeling it. Their faces were dull, and they just weren't in the body at all. Some of them weren't clapping at all. Definitely took them aback by what they were seeing, which is okay too. You know, sometimes the shows for some people, sometimes it's not.

Had you had the chance to catch a performance of A Strang Loop in its previous incarnations?

I have not unfortunately. I did not get the chance to see it at Playwrights Horizons with Larry (Owens). Nor did I see it on Broadway which Jaquel (Spivey) did. I didn't see it in London either. So this was really like a first time thing for me. This is the original for me, like I was originating it on the West Coast. I was making a question from scratch.

What would your three-line pitch for A Strange Loop be?

My three-line pitch for A Strange Loop? I will say this. I would say the show is about coming into your power and taking control of your own life. I'd also say that it's about growth, and it's about realizing who you are and that you don't need to change who you are to be happy. You are perfect just the way you are. And I'd also say that this show is not only for the person that you see on stage, ideally it's about everybody it was for everybody to relate to.

If you were to submit Usher for a dating site, what qualities of his would you list?

That’s a great question! I would list Usher as someone who's very witty. Someone who’s gonna keep you on your toes in the conversation because he's very intelligent. But he is trying to explore his options on what fun looks like to him. He

branches outside of his box. He’s writing musicals and sitting at his piano all day. He's looking to take on new adventures. I'd say that he's really sarcastic. He will definitely make you laugh with every single thing that he says. He's extremely funny. Yes. I will say that he is just really the kindest, sweetest soul that you'll ever meet. He's a very loyal friend.

What character flaws would you definitely omit?

I’d say that he is really in his head a lot. of things. He overthinks about everything. He overthinks about his life, what people say to him. He takes words and put them in his head to make himself feel bad a little bit. That goes with overthinking. So I definitely omit that he’s an overthinker. He's always in his head. He has low self- confidence and also low self-image about himself.

You were still a junior at UNC Greenboro when you auditioned for Usher. What made you decide to audition?

It was the year 2022. When I first heard of the show, I remember I was walking in my dormitory and my friend was running after me from the elevator and he was like, have you heard of A Strange Loop? And I said, ‘No, I haven't.’ I haven't really been focusing on new musical theater, just trying to work on classwork as of late. And he said, ‘Well you need to listen to it because the show is literally about you. It is your life.’ Okay.

It was like a weekend past from us having that conversation. And I remember just coming back from I think I went to a late-night restaurant that night and I got back at two o'clock. I sat in my car in the dormitory, and I was eating. So you know what, ‘Let me listen to this musical because my friend said is good. He said it's my life.’ I'm wondering how much of my life is it really. I played the soundcheck and from 2 am to 4am I sat in my car listening to the whole soundtrack no stops just straight through right. By the time I was done listening to the soundtrack, my food was already done. I was sobbing, from listening to this musical. And I realized, ‘Wow, this really is parallel to my life and what I've experienced.’ Ever since then I said in that moment 4am in the morning, I said I will play the role of Usher. This role is for me, I am destined to play it and 2020 went by, and 2023 I saw the casting call for national-wide call for Usher on Instagram. And I said, ‘Oh, this is my time!’ I never thought that I would get the opportunity to do so because I always thought this was a Tony Award winning, Pulitzer prize-winning show. I thought this was only for people who had agents who had a means of actually getting connections with the director and with the writer. So I took this as my opportunity. I submitted my videos, and they love them. So I submitted my dance and they love that as well. And I went up to New York and did the callback. I sang the songs and got the sides, and Boom, I was in San Francisco playing my dream role Usher.

How intensive was your audition process for Usher?

I believe I submitted my videos December 5th or 6th and we went up all the way into January 29. Two months to process. It was really quick like I thought it was gonna take a little bit longer for them to decide on the casting of Usher. But honestly, I went up there January 29 And I think it was January 30 that I found out that I got Usher. Actually it was such a shock to me. It was so quick. I was, “Whoa! This is happening so fast.’ And by that time, I was still in school working on classes. But as soon as that day came, I got the script, and it was just like a snap of a finger and I was already in San Francisco in the rehearsal process.

What do you remember of the very first time you stepped on stage as Usher?

The very first time, it's already in the wings when you felt the nervousness. I was, I'm not gonna say cowering. I was very nervous. I was shaking in my boots a little bit but you know I always have this pre-show tradition of me just saying a prayer and you know letting all my stresses go. It's given it to the Lord and you know, just going out there to do my best because that's all you can really do. Right? So as soon as I stepped out on stage after doing my pre-show prayer, I just felt everything melt away and as soon as the lights came up on me and as soon as I turned around with my little pad, I was Usher. There was no room for doubt. There was no room for nervousness, it was just me and my six castmates on stage and the audience. I knew I had to put on the show. All that melted away.

Did you always want to be an actor growing up?

You know? I’m gonna say, Yes!’ I grew up watching a lot of TV and I always wanted to be on Disney Channel, to be in a TV show. I knew that I always wanted to be an actor. I could always sing, but you know, I wasn't a singer. I never knew of the world of musical theater of only knew of the world of TV and television and acting that way. So as I grew up and I got sidetracked in my life growing up so I let that go because I was always a bigger guy. They put me in sports and I played football and let go of singing. let go of the acting portion of my life and just let football takeover.

But up until high school, I was playing football and I quit. I'm was still singing when I was playing football and still singing in the choir at my school. Up until my junior year, I quit football and I decided to pick up where I left off with my dreams and just being an actor. I did the school's musical. Because again, I always sing, so I did the school's musical and I realized then and there, ‘Oh, this is this is it for me. It all came rushing back like Oh, you wanted to be an actor. Maybe you're a good actor and this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. Yes.’

Who were your acting idols then?

I would definitely have to say James Monroe Iglehart. During my first process of the musical in high school, I stayed up to three o'clock in the morning just watching old Tony performances, old bootleg clips of Aladdin. And I saw this big black man that is literally me on the stage. So I knew that it was possible for me to have a long, happy career in musical theater or theater and acting in general because I'm seeing myself right now do this. So definitely James Monroe Iglehart. I love Billy Porter. One of my favorite musicals that I've ever fell in love with was Kinky Boots. I love his realness. I love his rawness and so just being unapologetically him. Cynthia Arivo, of course, Viola Davis, the seriousness of Idris Elba and how he takes his drama and his craft so seriously and how he just turns himself into this character because of all the work and research that he does. Just to name a few of course.

What else is in the near future for Malachi McCaskil?

You know, I, as a man of God., I'd like to just say that as a man of God, my plan is not really mine. So whatever God's will for me in my life is what it's going to be. What I want personally is to stay in L.A. and get my feet on the ground and hit the ground running with my acting career, which is in terms of like movies, TV shows, sitcoms, Netflix, Hulu to be anything that I could get my hands on really. But if God calls me back home to finish my degree first because I am a rising senior. If he calls me home to finish my degree and then gives it to me after that, that's perfectly fine. But you know, I've always balanced school and my work life very well. So, that's my plan, but whatever his plan is.

This is your first professional gig right?

My first large professional engagement, yes. I did my first semi-professional at a local dinner theater in Greensboro, North Carolina. after that I've had the chance to work out at North Carolina Theatre which is North Carolina's largest professional theatre company. But compare it to this Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway, this is definitely my biggest largest professional engagement.

Are agents come running out to try to rep?

I haven't had any reach out to me but if you're gonna put this in the interview, please come check me out. I'm all ears. I'm open to all the possibilities. Please. Yes!

Well, thank you, Malachi! This has been a pleasure interviewing you.

Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for having me again.

I look forward to meeting your Usher.

For tickets to A Strange Loop through June 30, 2024: click on the button below:

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