A Strange Loop (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (839)
See it if you want a small Broadway musical with a big heart that speaks to issues one confronts from family, friends and strangers when different.
Don't see it if you do not like honesty presented with humor, current language and song.
See it if hilariously meta/moving; U's anxieties brilliantly personified by various actors; sharp satire religious homophobia; brilliant Ensemble&Lead
Don't see it if few memorable tunes or lyrics; some may be turned off by subject matter Read more
See it if you enjoy meta shows or those with deeply introspective characters wrestling with their identities.
Don't see it if you only like traditional narratives or graphic discussion of sex acts and race make you uncomfortable.
See it if You have seen every other show and want to add another one to your list.
Don't see it if You are not interested in a very preachy and whiny show.
See it if No ifs about it. See it.This is what theatre is all about--entertaining, insightful, touching, current.Performances are beyond great.Just go
Don't see it if you are a bigot.Actually you are exactly who should see it.Open your eyes to the challenges of being black, of being gay, of being young. GO
See it if desire moment of self recognition that you can uncomfortably travel in someone else's shoes, bridge acceptance gap of someone else's story
Don't see it if can't travel in someone else's shoes, can't accept cultural/sexual/human differences, don't want to hear about them, love Tyler Perry
See it if interested in a meta show about an overweight,queer,black musical theater writer. Funny, smart, unsettling, heartbreaking, joyous, raunchy.
Don't see it if homophobic, closed minded, looking for more traditional subject matter, fan of Tyler Perry. Some problems with sound design. Read more
See it if you’d enjoy a hilarious, sometimes gut-punching look into the inner thoughts of one man, witnessing his hopes, fears, dreams & insecurities
Don't see it if you want something with less substance and more popcorn.
Critic Reviews (21)
"It seems as if there is no measure of praise that could be too much; after all, this is a show that allows a Black gay man to be vulnerable onstage without dismissing or fetishizing his trauma, desires and creative ambitions. Now that’s some radical theater."
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" In a Broadway landscape dominated by shows that often seem designed by corporations for audiences of focus groups, Michael R. Jackson’s musical is the defiant product of a single and singular authorial vision. This wide-ranging intravaganza takes a deep dive, often barely coming up for breath, into a whirlpool of ambition and frustration as Jackson's seeming alter ego—a queer, Black writer-composer named Usher (Jaquel Spivey)—struggles to define himself amid traps of sex, race, family, body image, religion and entertainment. It’s screamingly funny and howlingly hurt, and it’s unmissable."
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"We know what happens to Usher because we know what happens to Michael R. Jackson. But the musical doesn’t know that yet — and at this point, the fabulous, piety-smashing 'Loop' still feels as exhilarating as your first trip on the merry-go-round."
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"Jackson's work reveals itself in new and exciting ways at every turn, endlessly keeping the audience on their feet. His score is packed with maddening melodies and clever rhymes. It's a fresh, erratic, and inspiring first work that's both wildly specific and incredibly human."
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-"Even truth can be subjective, but 'A Strange Loop' doesn’t stoop or pander to solicit understanding and empathy. Undoubtedly there are details that may elude typical (read: white, straight, affluent) Broadway theatergoers, language and references specific to Black and/or queer culture presented here without explanatory commas. While 'A Strange Loop' may feel 'radical' to some (in the parlance of Usher’s mom), to others it will be a rare and revolutionary moment of recognition."
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"Fluidly directed by Stephen Brackett, with Raja Feather Kelly’s clever choreography punctuating Jackson’s delightfully brash score, 'A Strange Loop' grabs hold of us the moment Usher concludes that funny introduction. If the show begins to lose a little steam – but just a little – towards the end, it’s only because Jackson has already made his points so clearly, pointedly and winningly."
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"The composer-lyricist already has that Pulitzer, but now he deserves the Tony. Spivey should get one, too. Heck, give 'A Strange Loop' a lot of Tonys. That’s only just, for the best Broadway musical of the season."
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"Spivey ― who is vulnerable, sassy, inquisitive, and incendiary ― grounds their work, not because he overwhelms the stage through sheer power and vocal charisma, but because he knows how to pull back and allow us to come to him. His performance is a conversation between his onstage partners and the audience that shows us we will fail, and we can try again until we finally overcome our own strange loop. This is art as activism in its highest form."
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