A Strange Loop NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (354)
See it if you want to feel, cry, laugh, and really have an intellectual, emotional, theatrical experience.
Don't see it if you're offended by queerness, queer sex, sex onstage, discussion of HIV/AIDS. Some triggering content around religion/homophobia.
See it if you want to see a ground-breaking musical with AMAZING performances by the entire ensemble.
Don't see it if you're not able to put yourself in the shoes of a struggling, gay, overweight, black artist or if you're offended by simulated graphic sex. Read more
See it if You want a glimpse of what it’s like for big black queer boy who writes musicals in the city.
Don't see it if You’re easily offended and don’t like raunchy humor.
See it if Just go fucking see it.
Don't see it if You are uncomfortable with sex, queerness, race, or want conventional subject matter. Read more
See it if You want to hear a fresh voice in musical theater.
Don't see it if You are uncomfortable with explicit sexual references, and race, size and sexual preference issues.
See it if You enjoy hearing an original new voice, who speaks truth (even if sometimes uncomfortable) and makes the audience sit up and take notice.
Don't see it if You're homophobic or a prude. Read more
See it if you are interested in a new frontier in musical theatre form, queer representation, black representation, or autobiographical work.
Don't see it if you’re a prude or your empathy is off.
See it if You like original, cutting edge, creative theater with great singing and dancing.
Don't see it if You prefer jukebox musicals, traditional splashy musicals, and don’t like to invest energy into more profound fare. Read more
Critic Reviews (24)
"Much of the show is sung, with whip-smart dialogue rushing into lyrics dense with au courant terms and references and wordplay, much of it concerning race, gender and sexual identity, some of it too raw to be reproduced here...The sequence, like many in 'A Strange Loop,' is entertaining, moving and disconcerting, leaving us a bit unsure of what a proper response should be. Laughter? Tears? Rage? I suspect Jackson would approve of all three, and add another: Engagement."
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"After enduring its 140 straight through minutes one wishes that this therapeutic exercise had been monologue, a play rather or anything else other than a full-fledged musical. The material certainly has dramatic potential but here we’re in smarmy self-indulgent territory recalling '[title of show]' and reveling in bombastic coarseness...Like its central character, 'A Strange Loop' has a good heart but also a lot of problems."
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"Michael R. Jackson's semi-autobiographical musical transforms oversharing into high art…features plenty of momentum, fresh melodies, and artful lyrics that explore essential elements of the human condition - angst, despair, ambition, desire, and hope."
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“While ‘A Strange Loop' is clever and funny, it is also very raw and not for the faint of heart. Jackson pulls no punches in his language or his exploration of Usher’s experiences. He challenges the audience not to flinch in accepting Usher’s reality...Unfortunately, the music is not on the same level as the book and the lyrics. Out of the 18 musical numbers, there isn’t one that I walked out of the theater humming or even really loved while I was listening."
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"Directed with crafty ingenuity...The thrills of that first number sent me into joyous giggles of delight and surprise. And it just kept getting deeper and smarter, wittier and wiser with each effervescent and boundary-free song. The show is like no other...There are times we don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or clap along to the sounds of this collision of hurt and humor, as the players all bring forth an authentic slap to each well crafted song."
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“Jackson’s self-referential meta-musical loops around itself a little too much to be fully satisfying, but still offers plenty to think about and enjoy...Humor and some stellar musical numbers rescue the unrelenting introspection from being too deadly...The musical numbers...feel fresh and original...The production has a compelling energy and 'A Strange Loop' crackles with potential even as it fails to overcome some of the issues inherent in the concept. ”
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"Usher’s self-identity 'crisis' is parsed by layers of rich and enduring questions that reverberate with deep authenticity and believability...Despite the importance of the discussion Michael R. Jackson initiates with 'A Strange Loop,' the play’s repetitive style and content and its dependence on what might seem unnecessary vulgarity often detract from the inner strength of the script."
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"Fifteen years in the making, it is rich with 18 tuneful songs, witticisms, mini-parodies, complex layers of erudition, and knowing allusions. It is presented in a clever, entertaining production directed by Stephen Brackett with lively choreography by Raja Feather Kelly. The seven-member cast is extraordinary...But yes, 'A Strange Loop' is also repetitious...Still, taken moment by moment, the satisfactions in 'A Strange Loop' are plentiful."
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