Tony and Pulitzer prize winning musical "A Strange Loop" tackles serious issues on Boston stage
BOSTON - "A Strange Loop," the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, is making its Boston debut.
The musical was written by a Black, queer man who worked in a Broadway theater and is about just that: a Black, queer man, working in a Broadway theater, who is writing a show about a Black, queer man, working in a Broadway theater.
A dream come true
Dorchester native Kai Clifton, who stars as Usher, says he's never heard songs like these before.
"It's so raw, and it's so real, and the lyrics are so in your face and unapologetic," Clifton said.
Clifton tells us that playing the role of Usher is a dream come true.
"I never thought I would see a fat black gay character in a musical," he said.
Two decades ago, Michael R. Jackson started to write the piece as a monologue about a "young Black gay man, walking around New York wondering why life was so terrible and sort of trying to imagine himself finding his place in the world. And they're the lead, and they're telling a story that's about the experience of being fat, black, and queer. It was mind-blowing to me."
Tackling serious issues on the stage
In the piece, Usher is trying to find his place in the world. He is surrounded by his "Thoughts," portrayed by other actors.
In the original Broadway cast, James Jackson Junior, who is from Randolph, played Thought 2.
Jackson Junior says he had a hard time believing the piece, which tackles serious issues like racism, sexual assault, and homophobia, could be produced for the masses.
"We can't do this in front of people. We aren't allowed to talk about these things or to be these people on stage," Jackson Junior thought when he first learned the musical was going to be Off-Broadway.
But he feels the message resonates.
"'A Strange Loop' is to this day is one of the very few places I've ever been allowed to come entirely as myself and that's so special," Jackson Junior said.
Clifton agrees, telling WBZ, "To do this show and to play this role in this theater that I've grown up in, it feels unreal. It feels full circle."
Where to see " A Strange Loop"
"A Strange Loop" runs at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End through May 25th.