The Musical A Strange Loop Was Totally Lost on Me
- Alexia Rowe
- May 8
- 3 min read
Note that this is strictly my opinion. It should not be regarded as the sole truth about A Strange Loop or Broadway theatre at large.
Thanks to the perks of working with theaters on shows, I got a couple comps to see A Strange Loop at the Calderwood Pavilion about a year ago. I assumed it was going to be an amazing show, because after all, it won a Pulitzer Prize and a ton of Tonys and I helped build the set. Well, I get what they were trying to get at with having a queer black man have his sense of identity and confidence in his skills as a playwright get dictated by his inner thoughts (who are actual characters in the show) and then try to write about that. That is some interesting metaphysical stuff. But after watching it, I didn't quite understand the appeal.
I can see why the show only lasted nine months on Broadway despite all the accolades and it taking Michael R. Jackson twenty years to write. The population of people who can afford to watch Broadway shows has for the most part been loaded older white people (though the average age in the last season was millennial women). A storyline centering a black queer person is certainly a bit unusual to them. So naturally low ticket sales and the lack of appeal for tourists to see unconventional shows was bound to happen. The stupid status quo. Hamilton won over though, because hey. Broadway seems to love autobiographical stuff seeing as we have a musical on Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, and even Neil Diamond, among others.
As you can read on my website, my whole career has been made up of unconventional shows. But for me, this was one that read more like a non-zoophilic version of Equus than something to do with metaphysics. I get that Usher figuring out how to exist as a gay man (should I sleep around or not like it's expected of me?) is important, as is his complicated relationship with religion, but I'm just glad I saw the show with my friend rather than my parents😬. Being straight, single, cisgender females who attended a Christian college, we were both especially uncomfortable during the sex scene. It probably was supposed to do that. Because religion makes it all taboo to talk about anyway. Though I can rewatch Season 1 of Bridgerton now without feeling guilty.
Naturally we weren't going to relate to the queer struggle the way someone who had to come out would. I could relate as a black writer especially where Tyler Perry was concerned, seeing as I didn't even grow up in America. Knowing what Michael R. Jackson is up to these days (a musical about a religious girl with teeth in her vagina?), the taboo over-the-topness is going to be an established thing. It's just the audience is probably not on Broadway. At least, not right now.
That said, the amount of sexual references in the show simply clouded some of the fundamental themes of what the show was supposed to be about in my mind. The complexity of being a Christian and a gay man, which some see as mutually exclusive. Self-image. And the struggle of creating art against traditional gatekeepers. Other than the last one, these weren't immediately apparent to me. I posted a TikTok recently asking people for their takes on the show, and someone said that it portrayed queer folks in a way that is rarely seen in shows, and that they saw themselves in a story for the first time. Perhaps that was the point. Even one of my friends' newly out gay brother liked it for that. But I definitely feel that developing the metaphysics more could have helped the show last longer on Broadway. Even if I don't believe Broadway is the gold standard of theatre.
Still, go watch some Broadway shows that come to your city. That way you can keep a pulse on what's going on and what new things are being developed. Especially if you're a writer like me. And then take that knowledge, and that confidence, and use it to produce your own show without waiting for someone to give you permission.
Stay educated,
Alexia
