{"id":15276,"date":"2025-06-26T03:50:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T03:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/15276\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T03:50:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T03:50:18","slug":"review-a-strange-loop-is-queer-raw-unapologetic-and-amazing-at-circle-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/15276\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u2018A Strange Loop\u2019 is queer, raw, unapologetic and amazing at Circle Theatre\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Circle Theatre\u2019s regional premiere of A Strange Loop, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, opened last Saturday. Directed by vickie washington, this meta-musical explores the trauma and identity-chasing of a Black queer man writing a musical about a Black queer man writing a musical \u2013 a loop that might hit close to home. It\u2019s more than a musical; it\u2019s a significant queer experience, brimming with clever music and lyrics.<\/p>\n

A Strange Loop (ASL) delves into the life of Usher, a young Black queer man employed as an usher for The Lion King musical on Broadway. He battles a relentless barrage of internal thoughts, personified by six actors who vocalize his self-loathing, doubts about his self-image, and his aspirations. These voices represent his mother, father, agent, and dubious romantic encounters.<\/p>\n

However, ASL doesn\u2019t offer Usher an easy escape. Instead, he confronts his trauma, memories, and reality directly.<\/p>\n

Due to its unique concepts and complexities, conveying the show\u2019s brilliance is challenging and almost a disservice. Michael R. Jackson\u2019s writing is effective, sharp and gritty, yet laced with both light and dark humor. The show also features some of the most entertaining show tunes of the modern era, with each song offering a new surprise through provocative and enlightening lyrics that unfold Usher\u2019s personal experience. Jackson crafted a fully-realized character, and director washington led the cast to remarkable performances, complemented by Djore Nance\u2019s music direction.<\/p>\n

Kiba Walker\u2019s portrayal of Usher was front and center; a true home run. Usher battles constant internal and external pressures urging him to abandon his dreams, with thoughts telling him he\u2019s \u201ctoo Black, too thick, too queer.\u201d Walker masterfully navigated these profound struggles, delivering a captivating performance.<\/p>\n

In a prior interview, Walker shared his deep personal connection to the character, a connection he clearly leveraged to fully inhabit the role. Though this was Walker\u2019s professional theater debut, his extensive experience in community theater was evident. He confidently conveyed Usher\u2019s complex layers of self-loathing, doubt, desire, and aspirations.<\/p>\n

Walker flawlessly navigated the show\u2019s challenges, maintaining his delicate demeanor amidst encircling negative thoughts. He portrayed a passive yet yearning desire during a demeaning racial encounter with a hookup. His performance soared with triumph in \u201cInner White Girl\u201d and later brought heartbreak in \u201cMemory Song\u201d and the titular track.<\/p>\n

Landon Blanton, J. Dontray Davis, Kris Black Jasper, Quintin Jones Jr., Darius-Anthony Robinson, and Logan Rhys portray Usher\u2019s intrusive thoughts with incredible abandon. These Thoughts embodied his inner voices of self-loathing, anxiety and self-image. They also represent the parental burden Usher carries from his alcoholic father\u2019s constant criticism and his Tyler Perry-loving mother\u2019s denial, irrational fear of AIDS for her son, and pleas for a wholesome religious musical. Kiera Powers costumes the Thoughts in predominantly floaty white attire, contrasting with Usher\u2019s more casual 20-something and work clothes.<\/p>\n

A Strange Loop was a masterful exploration of identity led by washington that ventured\u00a0 into a widely entertaining experience with deep gravitas. Usher\u2019s journey may not culminate in complete resolution but his navigating and surviving life\u2019s absurdity is a queer story for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show runs through July 12.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2013Rich Lopez<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Circle Theatre\u2019s regional premiere of A Strange Loop, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, opened last Saturday. Directed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[15404,5229,15405,7371,7372,15406,15407,11603,15408,9221,15409,358,15410,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,15411],"class_list":{"0":"post-15276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-a-strange-loop","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-circle-theatre","11":"tag-fort-worth","12":"tag-fortworth","13":"tag-kiba-walker","14":"tag-michael-r-jackson","15":"tag-queer","16":"tag-rich-lopez","17":"tag-stage","18":"tag-stage-notes","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-theater-review","21":"tag-tx","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-vickie-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114747632693769852","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}