It was purse first at Broadway's A Strange Loop as the production celebrated LGBT History Month with a "Big, Black, Queer Night" October 27, with RuPaul's Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen on hand to moderate a post-show talkback with the cast. The performance extended a special welcome to Black and/or Queer theatregoers, who were asked to attend wearing black. See photos from the special night below.
"It’s truly one of the most brilliant shows I’ve ever seen in my life, and I thought to myself what if everyone in the audience was Black and/or Queer. How amazing would that be?" shared Bob in an earlier statement. "So I reached out to the producers and a friend of mine in the show, and I said, ‘Can we make this happen?'"
The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award–winning musical A Strange Loop officially opened on Broadway April 26 at the Lyceum Theatre. The musical, which had its world premiere Off-Broadway in 2019 at Playwrights Horizons, features a book, music, and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson, who makes his Broadway debut with the production.
Newcomer Jaquel Spivey leads the cast as Usher, a young, Black, gay theatre writer grappling with his toxic inner thoughts while trying to write a musical about a young, Black, gay theatre writer grappling with his toxic inner thought while trying to write a musical about... and on and on.
Spivey is joined by Antwayn Hopper, James Jackson, Jr., L Morgan Lee, John-Michael Lyles, John-Andrew Morrison, and Jason Veasey, all reprising their performances from the Off-Broadway production.
Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill) directs the production, with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly (Suffs), scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costumes by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Jen Schreiver, sound design by Drew Levy, hair, wig, and makeup design by Cookie Jordan, music supervision by Rona Siddiqui, orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, vocal arrangements by Jackson, and casting by The Telsey Office's Destiny Lilly. Tomoko Akaboshi is music coordinator, and Chelsea Pace is intimacy director.
See photos from A Strange Loop's "Big, Black, and Queer Night":
Jaquel Spivey, Bob The Drag Queen, and Peppermint
James Jackson Jr., Raja Feather Kelly, Bob The Drag Queen, Jon-Michael Reese, Mars Rucker, and Zachary A. Myer
Bob the Drag Queen and cast of A Strange Loop
James Jackson, Jr., Raja Feather Kelly , Bob The Drag Queen, and Jon-Michael Reese
Bob The Drag Queen
Michael R. Jackson
Bob The Drag Queen and guests at A Strange Loop
Bob The Drag Queen and guests at A Strange Loop
DJ 2Face, Jada Valenciaga, and Myles Johnson
Peppermint
Bob The Drag Queen and Peppermint
Raja Feather Kelly, Basit, and Bob The Drag Queen
Raja Feather Kelly, Basit, and Bob The Drag Queen
Victus and Bob The Drag Queen
Kizha Carr
Bob The Drag Queen, Michael R. Jackson, and Barbara Whitman
Bob The Drag Queen, Michael R. Jackson, John-Andrew Morrison, and James Jackson, Jr.
Bob The Drag Queen, John-Andrew Morrison, James Jackson, Jr., and Kyle Ramar Freeman
Jada Valenciaga, DJ 2Face, and guest
Michael R. Jackson, Barbara Whitman, and Zach Stafford
Mila Jam
