After less than a year, A Strange Loop's Broadway run is coming to a close.
The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner and 2022 Tony winner for Best Musical is already getting ready to shut its doors. A Strange Loop, written by Michael R. Jackson, has announced that it will close on Broadway in just a few months, on January 15. It debuted on April 26, 2022.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the musical went up against not only a difficult economic time when tourism and Broadway attendance are overall down, but also it had “the added challenge of attracting audiences to some unconventional subject matter for Broadway.”
A Strange Loop is a meta-narrative about a young Black and queer writer attempting to write a musical about a Black queer man writing a musical. Throughout the play, he’s visited by thoughts, fears, and dreams (brought to life by actors) as he reflects on his identity as an artist and a Black, queer man.
“Though A Strange Loop is not autobiographical, it is my life’s work. As such, I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share this raw, vulnerable and personal story with the world and to have connected with so many enthusiastic, loving audiences,” Jackson said in a press release. “I am also indebted to the many extraordinary collaborators and institutions past and present that made the telling of this unique story possible. You each will have a piece of my heart, soul, and my loop forever.”
Jackson won the Emmy for Best Book of a Musical and was also nominated for Best Original Score. Jaquel Spivey was nominated for Best Actor, and John-Andrew Morrison and L Morgan Lee were nominated for Featured Actor and Featured Actress. Overall, the musical received 11 Tony nominations.
A Strange Loop is also notable for helping singer and actor Jennifer Hudson to become just the second Black woman to win the EGOT, as she was a producer of the play.
