On Oct. 11, the Tony and Pulitzer award-winning Broadway musical, A Strange Loop, written by Michael R. Jackson, announced that it will be closing on Jan.15, just nine months after opening. This means that A Strange Loop will become the third shortest-running Best Musical Tony winner, with first place belonging to Passion and second to Hallelujah, Baby! If previews are included, A Strange Loop becomes the shortest-running Best Musical winner of all time; a truly disheartening statistic that is made even more so due to the glorious, riveting, unapologetic masterpiece that is A Strange Loop.
Unsurprisingly, the Broadway community was shocked and saddened by the news. Almost immediately, people were asking “why?” The standard reply was the same reason for Phantom of the Opera, Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice, and all the other shows announced to close as of late; financial difficulties resulting from Broadway’s return post COVID-19 pandemic closure. Others mentioned how A Strange Loop has struggled to find a devoted fan base the way other shows (like Hadestown and Six) have and that the show lacked a consistent audience. I have no doubt that all of this is true.
Right now is a hard time to be a Broadway show, that’s for sure. But you would think that being a Pulitzer and Tony award-winner would help… no? If Hamilton, which is the second-most-recent musical to win both awards, was opening in the current theater environment, do you think its success would have been lessened? A bit, perhaps, but overall, no. It comes down to content. Hamilton is a thought-provoking show, a masterpiece with plenty to dissect in terms of artistry and so is A Strange Loop. What I believe separates these pieces is the comfort level of the audience. A Strange Loop is an inherently uncomfortable piece. It asks uncomfortable questions, stars an awkward protagonist, and contains multiple scenes that could make an audience squirm (the songs “Inwood Daddy” and “Precious Little Dream / AIDS Is God’s Punishment” chief among them). The show is, as it states in its opening number, a “big, black and queer-ass American Broadway show.” The protagonist is Usher, a fat black queer man who struggles against multiple systems of power and oppression built to keep people like him from succeeding and finding joy. They are present in every aspect of his life, from his difficulty on dating apps to pressure from family, especially his mother (expertly played by John-Andrew Morrison), to “pray the gay away.” The show makes its audience uncomfortable, which is a primary function of art. To provoke ignored and hidden feelings or invoke new ones. To allow audiences to see new things or to see familiar things in a way they never have before. A Strange Loop succeeds immensely in doing this, and is why it has been so hard for audiences to handle. It has been doing its job as art too well. And audiences just weren’t ready.
The show is searingly original, and it was quite a surprise that it ever even made it to Broadway. Shows as raw as this rarely make it beyond underground workshops. Against all odds, this one did. It racked up acclaim and awards along the way. The importance of A Strange Loop isn’t the problem. The problem is that it’s an uncomfortable, absolutely-not-family-friendly show whose premise is not appealing to many for reasons of their own bigotry (NOTE: I am not saying that shows like this should not be made because it’s hard to get an audience for them, I am saying that audiences need to overcome their own prejudices so that great art like this can exist in major spaces such as on Broadway stages.) It is also unaffordable for many others who would like to see it, leaving the only possible audience being the small portion of open-minded people willing to confront their own biases, who are wealthy enough to afford a ticket. This raises a whole series of questions about the accessibility of theater and the racism, fatphobia, and even homophobia within the industry, from producers to theatergoers that need to be grappled with. Twitter user, @stevierosebudds, summed up the issue best in her tweet that reads as follows: “broadway’s racist history is its present. white audiences couldn’t handle a strange loop and the industry doesn’t allow for people in marginalized communities who want to see it—and for whom it was made—to afford it. it’s a vicious f*ck*ng cycle.”
The light at the end of the tunnel is that since the show is no longer playing on Broadway, its rights will be available for regional and local productions much sooner. A national tour has not yet been announced, but I am holding on to the hope that there is one. The more productions of A Strange Loop out there making audiences uneasy and forcing them to stare down ugly truths, the better.