'A Strange Loop' Creator Michael R. Jackson

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is about a Black gay man working as an usher on Broadway. Michael R. Jackson talks about writing the book, music and lyrics and how his time working as an usher at The Lion King on Broadway inspired it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is fresh air, I'm Terry Gross.
0:02.5	The show that won this year's Tony Awards for Best Musical
0:05.9	and Best Book for a Musical was written and composed
0:09.2	by my guest Michael R. Jackson.
0:11.4	One of the cast members became the first trans person
0:14.0	to be nominated for a Tony.
0:16.0	The show, called A Strange Loop,
0:18.2	also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
0:20.9	Jackson started writing it when he was working
0:22.8	as an usher at the Broadway show The Lion King.
0:25.6	He describes his show as a musical
0:28.5	about a young, black gay musical theater writer named Usher
0:32.6	who works as an usher at a Broadway show.
0:35.5	In the play Usher is writing a musical
0:38.5	about a young, black gay, musical theater writer
0:41.3	named Usher who works as an usher at a Broadway show
0:45.0	and is writing a musical about a young, black gay
0:47.9	musical theater writer named Usher.
0:50.3	That is one of the strange loops that the title refers to.
0:54.4	A strange loop is a comedy and drama
0:57.1	about self-loathing, feelings stuck, and wanting to change.
1:01.5	And about Usher's church-going parents, who fear his sexuality will condemn him to eternally
	...

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