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“A Strange Loop” runs at Actor’s Express from July 24 to Aug. 31 (Photo provided by Actor’s Express).
On Broadway, “A Strange Loop” – with a book, music and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson – won virtually every Best Musical award possible in 2022, including the Tony.
Hailed for its inventiveness, the Pulitzer Prize-winning show tells the story of Usher, a Black gay man who is writing a musical about a Black gay man, who himself is also writing a musical about a Black gay man. It may sound confusing, but rest assured “A Strange Loop” is full of terrific music, joy, and Black queerness.
Actor’s Express Artistic Director Freddie Ashley has wanted to stage the show for quite some time, and he’s finally getting his chance. “A Strange Loop” will run at Actor’s Express July 24 through Aug. 31.
Director Amanda Washington, a veteran of several shows at Actor’s Express, and actor Eddie Weaver, who headlines as Usher in his first Atlanta production, spoke to Georgia Voice recently about the upcoming musical. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What drew both of you to this material?
Eddie Weaver: I saw it on Broadway, and I related so much to the story, to Usher. I remember the first time I heard the soundtrack I thought it was so new and fresh. I knew once the opportunity came up, I needed to audition for it. It’s a story I think everyone can relate to. They can find bits and pieces to take away from it.
Amanda Washington: I did not see it on Broadway, but Freddie [Ashley] told me he thought I’d enjoy directing this. My response was, “We’ll see – it’s a musical.” I listened to it, and I think the next day I came to him and said, “Sign me up!” It’s fresh but raw, open and vulnerable. The approach and how we get there is a whirlwind, and that is the part I really liked. It felt like a beautiful challenge I wanted to take on.
Eddie, can you tell us about Usher?
Weaver: Usher is a beautiful character. He is complex and a product of his environment. He is a 26-year-old queer gay man who is a Disney usher who is a musical theater writer on this journey to write this beautiful piece. He is very emotional and wears his heart on his sleeve. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to share him with an audience.
Who are the other characters in the show?
Washington: They are Usher’s thoughts. How I described it to the cast is that they’re little seeds that grew up too fast and became their own beings until Usher is able to get them under control. There are good ones, and then the bad things that we think about ourselves, and they are all heightened almost to exaggerated levels.
Why did this show catch on the way it did?
Washington: It’s not a linear story. We think we are getting a story about a playwright who is emerging into the world and that is what we get, but we also get the root of how we got there and see the things he is struggling with. We don’t know if he is going to make it, but we do know by the end of the play that he is one step further in terms of his journey and where he wants to be in his life.
Weaver: I think this show is crucial right now because of the times we are living in and the [presidential] administration we have. I feel now there is a lot of erasure of a lot of communities, and I think this show does a wonderful job of shedding light on the queer community, being queer and Black in spaces where there aren’t a lot of queer Black people. I think this show also does a good job of showing that everyone has those thoughts in the back of your head, and those doubts.
Washington: It’s a particular niche here. Usher is a man of size, he is Black and he is queer. In a way he is also on this timeline – his parents are asking him when he is going to get married and get them some grandbabies. But it’s also about when his career is going to launch, getting to see that aspect of not just trying to find love, but to try and find stable income and figure out when you’re going to hit the “mark of success.” That story’s all in one, that I think a lot of people can relate to. That story from a queer lens needs to be amplified as well.
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