There is a lot going on in the mind of Usher, the simultaneously insecure and ambitious leading man at the center of A Strange Loop. This unabashed and self-described “big, Black and queer ass” Broadway musical is making a fabulous Chicago premiere via a strong co-production by About Face Theatre and Raven Theatre through Nov. 22.
A Strange Loop has the distinction of winning both the 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama based upon its 2019 off-Broadway debut at Playwrights Horizons in New York. As the composer, lyricist and book writer of A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson doesn’t pull any hilarious or dramatic punches when it comes sexually explicit and emotionally abusive content in this very meta musical.
A Strange Loop deals with many of the complexities of life faced by Usher (Eddie Weaver) as an overweight, African-American queer man looking for romantic/physical love, familial acceptance and artistic fulfillment. And Usher’s unconventional way of doing this is via a self-representational piece of musical theater that he writes and imagines throughout this intermission-less 100-minute show.
Surrounding Usher in this musical of his mind is an ensemble of six “Thoughts.” This very talented performing sextet consists of Micah Mixon, Matheus Barbee, Christopher Wayland, Michael Turrentine, John-Payne and Naphtali Curry.
Usher’s Thoughts cycle through a number of supporting and antagonistic roles. These range from Usher’s personified self-doubts (like Matheus Barbee as a daily self-loathing affirmation in the form of a toned twink) to real-life contradictory people in his life (like Naphtali Curry as the down-low white guy who has an objectifying fetish for Black men).
The odds are stacked against Usher, whose main low-paying job is (ironically) an usher for the blockbuster musicalThe Lion King on Broadway. And faced with paying off his New York University MFA student loans, Usher is also constantly harangued by his coked-up agent (Christopher Wayland) and Bible-loving family members back home to write a money-making “gospel play” in the formulaic style of playwright/actor/director/producer Tyler Perry (whom Usher abhors).
Jackson makes sure to inject loads of humor throughout the show as Usher seeks to find belonging within the inter-sectional communities he identifies with. But Jackson also incisively jabs audiences with the cold hard truths of all the rejection that Usher encounters from both the gay community and his own religious family.
True to the musical’s title,A Strange Loop circles through many of Usher’s issues. Topics are touched upon repeatedly, sometimes orbiting far away from the source and then crashing dead-center to devastating effect—particularly near the end with a rousing (and horrifying) dramatized church funeral service for Usher’s older cousin Darnell, who died from AIDS-related causes.
Under Mikael Burke’s astute direction, Weaver triumphs in this marathon role of Usher who gets both vocally and emotionally rung through an acting wringer. The rest of the ensemble also shine as they pop in and out of scenic designer Sydney Lynne’s framework of sliding panels and the flashy work of lighting designer Brenden Marble. And everyone shows off amazing harmonizing pipes under music director Kyu Park.
The deep-voiced John-Payne is menacing as Usher’s drunken father, and Michael Turrentine makes for a complicated mother figure in the climactic confrontation. I was also quite moved by Micah Mixon as the encouraging musical theater fan who articulates through song why the art form is so emotionally powerful as a means of honest-to-god truth telling.
And exuberant/painful truth telling is exactly what makesA Strange Loopsuch an insightful and compelling contemporary musical. This powerful co-production certainly deserves a longer life, and hopefully A Strange Loop can follow in the footsteps of Raven’s recent hit Octetto make a transfer to a bigger Chicago venue in the near future.
About Face Theatre and Raven Theatre’s co-production of A Strange Loop has been extended through Nov. 22 at the Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets are $30-$45 with discounts for seniors, military and theater industry. Call 773-338-2177 or visit raventheatre.com for tickets or aboutfacetheatre.com for more information.
THEATER ‘A Strange Loop’ wows in About Face Theatre and Raven Theatre’s Chicago premiere
