#a strange loop

[milanesa-enthusiast]

I'm always thinking about this.

[lesmurples]

So Spotify Wrapped reminded me that I saw the San Francisco production of A Strange Loop this year, and listening to the soundtrack now I’m reminded just how damn good that show was. I really hope there’s another staging of it sometime, or the release of a video recording if one exists. (Or even a decent bootleg, I’ll take anything 😭)

The staging was beautiful, just an excellent example of what you can do with minimalism and lighting. And the ensemble cast was phenomenal - they sound amazing together in every production I’ve heard, and the concept of each of the cast being “thoughts” who trade parts around would potentially be a hard sell in another production, but here it feels seamless. I’m really impressed that it was able to take such a nerdy, high-concept and pretentious story structure and make it feel so accessible. Excellent writing and acting all around. “Entertainment as undercover art” indeed. The Usher we saw (Malachi McCaskill) was also exceptional and gave an incredible performance.

I think A Strange Loop is a great example of how much you can do by increasing specificity in artistic representations of identity. Creators seem to often be pressured to make identity-focused stories as broadly appealing as possible, making it so that their (for example) queer characters are everymen who just happen to be queer. And of course that usually means your “everyman” has to be a white cis able-bodied guy who is overall readable as “straight” unless you happen to know his orientation. And if he isn’t that, he’s as close to it as we can possibly get him.

By making a “Big Black and Queer-ass American Broadway show” about a fat gay black man trying to make it on the NYC theater scene, I think you actually create so many more opportunities in which an audience can relate to the protagonist’s experience. You don’t have to be a fat gay black man to relate with feelings of inadequacy, or struggling to make it in your professional field, or feeling too ugly to have a good sex life, or having a complicated relationship with your parents. Even if you don’t fully fall into the category of “fat gay black man,” it’s likely that you might identify with at least part of that experience, and you can exercise your imagination and empathy to engage with the rest. In comparison, I think a lot of us struggle to relate to a bland, filed down “everyman” character, despite the fact that he’s meant to be more “broadly appealing.”

A Strange Loop is unapologetically about blackness, and specifically the experience of a queer black person who sometimes struggles to relate with wider black culture. I am as white as wonder bread, and I was prepared to not directly relate with aspects of this musical, but I knew I’d still probably be able to enjoy it because, yaknow, it’s not actually that hard to understand media about experiences that don’t match your own. 🤷

But I found myself relating to the story way more than I expected. The details don’t fully align, but I too have had to navigate the world as a fat queer person unable to feel true “pride” about myself. I too have a strained relationship with conservative parents who are “loving” but deeply toxic and painful to speak with. I too feel the weight of capitalism crushing down on me, wanting to find “success” in this hellhole of a world but knowing I’d have to compromise my values in order to do so. I am not very similar to Usher on the face of it, but because his story focuses so much on the multiple specific experiences he has in this world, it’s actually way easier for me to find common ground with him than if there was just nothing there.

And while I can’t relate directly with Usher’s experience of blackness, I’ve heard enough stories and listened to enough black creators that I can at least follow his story and comprehend its connotations. If I didn’t come into the show having some background knowledge, then perhaps I would be inspired to learn more based on the representation I’d been made aware of, especially because of the ways in which I could relate and was invited to empathize. I hope we see more successful productions like this, where the specificity and messiness of intersectional, marginalized identity is allowed to exist as it is, because odds are that more people will be willing to engage with it than you’d think.

Anyway, really good show. It’s super fucking funny, and poignant, and deeply sad and vulnerable. I hope anyone reading this gets a chance to see it in some form if they haven’t already.

Also MVP award to Tarra Conner Jones in the SF production, she was SO GOOD. Absolutely everyone was phenomenal - shout-out to John-Andrew Morrison too, his performance of “Periodically” makes me fucking cry. The SF and Broadway and Off-Broadway casts are all amazing. God I love this show.

Edit: OH SHIT I found a clip of the cast I saw! They really were fantastic.

[mangorangez]

Not me casually digging into my regularly scheduled Wikipedia rabbit hole and discovering A Strange Loop.

If I had a nickel for every musical show about a queer guy with six head mates I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but holy heck ain’t that incredibly niche?

Fam how do I watch a Broadway musical in the comfort of my own home? 🫠

[ruthey97]

[owlpuddle]

Exile in Gayville is my favorite theatre song of the twenty-first century

[popblank]

A Strange Loop at the Ahmanson Theatre:

Overall impressions: the cast was very good and I still like the show in its tour form, though my experience was diminished somewhat because of poor sound. At my seat, the instrumentals overwhelmed the vocals so it was difficult to hear singers and lyrics (not ideal for a wordy show full of complex ideas). This isn't usually an issue for me where I was sitting, so I wonder if it would have been better at a different location. A seat closer to the center would have also have been better since I couldn't see the the extreme stage right Thought doorway.

Malachi McCaskill as Usher was good in both in acting and vocals. I did get the feeling that his Usher was a bit more comfortable with himself than Kyle Ramar Freeman's Usher was when I saw him last year. But he had that quality—necessary for this role, really—where he is highly present and holds your attention on stage even when he's not the focus.

I'm pretty sure I saw John-Andrew Morrison as Thought 4 on Broadway as well and he was once again very good, especially as Usher's mother.

It went by pretty quickly (1 hr 50 min, no intermission). I think someone in the row behind me might have left altogether early on (unless they came back and found an aisle seat); it might have been during "Exile in Gayville," which is as good time as any to decide if the show isn't for you. On the whole it seemed like the audience was pretty enthusiastic.

[ralkana]

I was just remembering - one of the best memories from seeing A Strange Loop on Friday was the old white couple that got up, scowling, halfway thru Inner White Girl, marched out, and never came back.

Did they not know what they'd bought tickets for?

[neverheardnothing]

alright I need to admit something. I don't understand the ending of a strange loop. yeah I get that the show recurses in on itself but is the conclusion of the show really that we're stuck in this cycle and change is an illusion? do I just have no media comprehension?

[vogelmeister]

listen i know there is many parts of the intermission song in a strange loop i shouldn’t relate to but being an usher thinking about the show they’re writing wondering why they’re writing it and if they should even write it while simultaneously wondering how many minutes there are until the end of intermission is something that’s strikingly relatable

[templeofshame]

should i decide that A Strange Loop is trending because i have no idea what loop is about

[milanesa-enthusiast]

Usher A Strange Loop was so right for having a toilet paper roll on his desk instead of tissues

[theatergal92]

Any Kimberly Akimbo bootlegs out there? So hard to find

Strange Loop would be cool too

[queercafe]

i cannot believe we let this musical close. what is wrong with you people. i tried to keep it open singlehandedly but apparently thats not possible

[thequeereview]

The Queer Review 2023 – LGBTQ+ highlights of the year

As 2023 draws to a close, we invite some friends of The Queer Review, including prominent creators, performers, artists, and activists to share the LGBTQ+ culture that has sustained, stimulated, moved, inspired, or brought them joy this year. We hope that you enjoy reading this eclectic selection and discover something new to revel in. We would love to hear your own LGBTQ+ highlights of 2023, so…

[greetings-inferiors]

Oh my god the “a strange loop” ads have driven me so insane to the point where I AM LITERALLY GOING TO SEE IT to verify that megalovania is in fact played.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this musical has ruined my life and I haven’t even seen it