He’s also successfully testing the conceit of how the universal is rooted in the specific. But as I am writing this, it occurs to me that what Jackson does with “A Strange Loop” isn’t just write a musical with catchy tunes and clever lyrics. Jackson’s Pulitzer-winning musical, I even asked my editor, “Am I the best person to review this?” What insight can a heterosexual cis Asian woman provide about a musical dealing with, “What it’s like to live up here/And travel the world in a fat, Black queer body”? And it’s not just identity Jackson’s musical also criticizes Tyler Perry, the racist and meat-market mentality within gay dating apps and mediocre commercial theater (okay, I admit that last one I completely understand).Īnyway, because the review schedule was set, and Broadway News didn’t want to overload its critics, and because “A Strange Loop” has lived rent-free in my mind since I saw it off Broadway in 2019, here I am now.
What can I say about “A Strange Loop” that hasn’t already been said? When I got the assignment to review Michael R.
