Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Ghostlight Records and Yellow Sound Label have announced the release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-Prize winning musical in digital and streaming formats today, Friday, June 10. The Broadway premiere of the show – directed by Tony Award nominee Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, and produced by Barbara Whitman along with Page 73 Productions, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons – is currently running at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). A Strange Loop is currently nominated for 11 Tony Awards®, including “Best Musical,” making it the most-nominated show of the Broadway season. The cast album is available to stream or download at ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/AStrangeLoopPR
The album was produced by Michael Croiter and Michael R. Jackson, with Kurt Deutsch and Barbara Whitman as executive producers. It was co-produced by Charlie Rosen, who provides orchestrations; and Rona Siddiqui, who serves as music director and music supervisor.
The Broadway cast of A Strange Loop features Tony Award nominee Jaquel Spivey (Usher), Antwayn Hopper (Thought 6), Tony Award nominee L Morgan Lee (Thought 1), John-Michael Lyles (Thought 3), James Jackson, Jr. (Thought 2), Tony Award nominee John-Andrew Morrison (Thought 4), and Jason Veasey (Thought 5). A Strange Loop features set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costumes by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Drew Levy, casting by The Telsey Office/Destiny Lilly, with production stage manager Erin Gioia Albrecht.
Meet Usher: a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer... Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he both loves and loathes. Hell-bent on breaking free of his own self-perception, Usher wrestles with the thoughts in his head, brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-shooting ensemble. Bold and heartfelt in its truth-telling, A Strange Loop is the big, Black, and queer-ass Great American Musical for all.
Michael R. Jackson was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for A Strange Loop.
When A Strange Loop opened on Broadway earlier this season, The New York Times called it “a dazzling ride. No measure of praise could be too much.” The Washington Post hailed it as “explosively imaginative. Dazzlingly one-of-a-kind. Broadway’s best new musical.” Variety lauded it as “The most furiously entertaining show on Broadway.” According to Time Out New York, “A Strange Loop is unmissable. A thrilling, wild ride. Screamingly funny. This is the musical we’ve been waiting for.”
A Strange Loop made its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons, in May 2019, in association with Page 73 Productions, and was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for “Best Musical,” five Drama Desk Awards including “Best Musical,” six Outer Critics Circle Award including “Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical,” two Lucille Lortel Awards, two Obie awards, and an Off-Broadway Alliance Award. In December 2021, A Strange Loop played a critically-acclaimed run at Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company prior to coming to Broadway.
Reviewing the recent run of A Strange Loop at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Peter Marks of The Washington Post describes Jackson’s musical as “marvelously inventive, exhilarating, and beautifully staged by director Stephen Brackett and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly.” He writes, “There is so much to raise the spirits here. Jaquel Spivey makes an electric debut; it’s a guarantee you’ll never forget him. The score, played by a five-member band conducted by music director Rona Siddiqui, boils and bubbles in an ecstatic cascade of musicality. The ensemble members all deserve shout-outs.”
Tickets for A Strange Loop range from $49 - $179 (inclusive of the $2 facility fee) and are available at Telecharge.com (212-239-6200). The performance schedule for A Strange Loop is as follows: Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 PM, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM, and Sunday at 3:00 PM.