On opening night at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, the audience laughs so hard at A Strange Loop that it’s easy to miss some of the lines. But by the time Kiba Walker croons “AIDS is God’s Punishment” near the end of the 100-minute Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical, the room has gone dead silent.
That’s the power of composer Michael R. Jackson’s semi-autobiographical metanarrative. It’s about Usher, a self-described “fat, Black queer” who’s trying to write a musical about same trying to write a musical about same.
The loud guffaws come despite, or maybe because of, the racial and sexual epithets flying around the stage. Many of them are aimed by Usher at himself. The song “Today” opens with the announcement, “It’s your daily self loathing!”
Later, his family joins the chorus, often in painful voicemails, and Usher shouts explicit references to sexual acts in the most vernacular language available.
Like his character, Jackson was an usher for the Broadway run of The Lion King for years. The show opens at an intermission as the other characters, Usher’s “Thoughts” numbered 1-6, intrude. They also play his equally tortuous parents and siblings.
It’s not a show for families or people with tender sensibilities. But that’s also responsible for some of its genius: Jackson through Usher doesn’t let anyone, including himself, off the hook.
Outside of Usher, Tyler Perry takes the most licks. Amid repeated skewering of the highly successful film, TV and theater producer, Jackson stages a mock Perry play with all of its attendant religious and familial cliches after Usher is hired by him to write a script.
Ironically, the rawness of the feelings expressed are matched by catchy tune after catchy tune. Jackson knows how to write hooks, one of his main inspirations being the iconic 1990s singer-songwriter Liz Phair and her celebrated debut album Exile in Guyville.
Early versions of A Strange Loop, which took 18 years to get from conception to off-Broadway, reportedly featured Phair numbers. Some of the funniest yet touching by Jackson include “Inner White Girl” and “Exile in Gayville.”
Kiba Walker does a phenomenal job playing a potentially unlikeable character. Walker’s singing is both beautifully emotional and down-to-earth. The Thoughts — Kris Black Jasper, Darius-Anthony Robinson, Landon Blanton, J. Dontray Davis, Quintin Jones Jr. and Logan Rhys — are game for whatever tormenting Jackson needs them to do.
The director, Vickie Washington, who helmed another difficult Black play, What To Send Up When It Goes Down, at Stage West in 2022, successfully navigates the fury of A Strange Loop as it morphs from a relentlessly dark comedy into a moving drama about the price you pay to overcome the obstacles that society and one’s own inner demons place in your way.
Details
Through July 12 at 230 W. Fourth St., Fort Worth. $40-$45. circletheatre.com.
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