The new musical, “The Lion King,” opened Tuesday at Lyceum Theatre. We meet Usher, a unhappy playwright who works as an usher at “The Lion King,” in real life. If the wind were just right, Usher might even be able to hit Rafiki with a rock.
We get musical theater every once in a while, but it is too rare. Michael R. Jackson’s “A Strange Loop” is now on the list. It is amazing, challenging, and absolutely awesome, just like them.
Jackson’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize Drama Winner is a theater Meta-journey — a musical show about a Black man who writes a show about Black gay men. This show is also known as “A Strange Loop”.
Poor Usher is haunted daily by the Greek chorus of voices that haunt him — his thoughts and homophobic family members. They slap, berate, and pummel him. One says, “It’s Your Daily Self Loathing!” “I had some time so I thought I’d drop by to remind you just how worthless you truly are.”
Jaquel Spivey plays Usher on Broadway in his Broadway debut. His performance is so full of sweet vulnerability and hangdog that audience members may have to exercise great self-control not to hug him. A toxic mix of artistic rejection and romantic rejection has made him feel ashamed of his secret love for white girl music, as well as fear of being an outcast.
Six sensational actors play the role of the chorus: Antwayn Hoop, L Morgan Lee and John-Michael Lyles. Jason Veasey, John-Andrew Morrison, John-Andrew Morrison, James Jackson Jr. and John-Michael Lyles are also present. Stephen Brackett’s direction has a crisp, varied style that lasts over 100 minutes. Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography is amazing and combines everything from gospel swaying to twerking.
Jackson, who was a usher at “The Lion King,” in real life, is also the songwriter. He writes the 18 Broadway songs, which are a beautiful mix of R&B and rock, with harmonies, ballads, and belting. There are subtle allusions to his influences like “Exile in Gayville”, a riff on Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville”, which is the song that inspired the title of the musical.
Jackson’s sharp dialogue — “Snagging men is like finding affordable housing here — there’s long waitlists and discriminators” — is matched by his lyrics: “Why not just ravage/with your gay Dan Savagery?”
The mischief-making “The Lion King”, however, is not the only target. Tyler Perry is given a lot of abuse for his “simple-minded hack buffoonery.” Scott Rudin is called out on Broadway for the first time and the critics are poked (“Watch them write off you as lazy/Not forgetting navel-gazy!”
One of the most memorable scenes is when Usher is confronted with a group of ancestors who are angry at him. Harriet Tubman and Marcus Garvey, James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hilston, Whitney Houston, and an actor representing “Twelve Years a Slave,” which was nominated for an Oscar.
The musical uses the nwood, apologizes, and then continues to use it. It gently mocks #MeToo and harnesses internet terminology. Jackson’s sly humor is clearly not politically correct and takes jabs at all sides. One scene shows Jackson’s inner thoughts offering his critique to the script. “Listen, it needs to be about slavery and police violence so your allies have something intersectional they can hold onto.”
However, homophobia is ultimately the ultimate target in “A Strange Loop” and Usher attempts to get back to the beginning — his family — before he can close the loop. His mother is a beacon of hope, but his father is not reachable. Is it possible to soften her heart by writing her a hateful Tyler Perry-style gospel drama that lays out the ugly side of anti-queer ugliness — in which the chorus sings, “AIDS is God’s punishment” –? Is there anything that can help him accept himself? Keep watching.
Jackson makes a terrible mistake though. The tormentors of Usher begin to question the play’s purpose. They say, “No one cares that a writer is struggling to write/They’ll tell you it’s too repetitive/And so ambitious.”
They are wrong on every count. “A Strange Loop” may last as long as “The Lion King.”
