The soap opera at the heart of Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop creator Michael R. Jackson's uproarious new Off-Broadway musical, that gives the show its title and catchy recurring theme song, White Girl In Danger, is set in the town of "Allwhite" and features a story that is "Allwhite", as the opening... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Anthony Rapp’s Without You (New World Stages, Off-Broadway) ★★★★
As Anthony Rapp reflects at the start of his poignant one-man show Without You—breaking from the opening bars of "Seasons of Love"—it's been half a lifetime since he originated the life-changing, career-defining role of videographer Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson's Rent. The seminal La Bohème-inspired "rock opera" (a phrase that Rapp admits initially "didn’t exactly... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Titanique (Daryl Roth Theatre, New York) ★★★★
As I prepared to step aboard the good ship Titanique (currently docked at New York's Daryl Roth Theatre), I had a sinking feeling—not due to a fear of icebergs—but because I thought I'd already seen enough Off-Broadway comedy musicals to last for a lifetime. Turns out this one is different. It's a loving parody of... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: A Strange Loop star Antwayn Hopper “I’m drawn to raw emotion, real-life storytelling”
Topeka, Kansas-raised Obie Award-winning actor Antwayn Hopper is currently starring on Broadway as Thought 6 in Michael R. Jackson's exhilaratingly meta musical, A Strange Loop. Hopper has been part of the ensemble cast for six years during the show's development ahead of its Tony-winning Broadway run, including appearing in the 2019 Playwrights Horizons Theater production,... Continue Reading →
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 Theatre Review: Unfortunate – The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (Underbelly) ★★★1/2
Ursula is here to spill the tea on what really went on under the sea. Splash-landing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this down and dirty Disney parody is full of show-stopping songs, magical puppets and delightfully filthy humour. Elliotte Williams-N’Dure as Ursula. Photo credit: Underbelly. Following in the footsteps of Cruella and Elphaba, everyone’s favourite... Continue Reading →
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 Theatre Review: Lizard Boy (Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose) ★★★★★
First dates are always tough, but when you are a Lizard Boy they can be even more challenging. Venturing out for the first time in twenty years, sweet and socially awkward Trevor goes on an epic rollercoaster of self-discovery. With a thrilling original score and superb cast, this new rock musical is a true smash... Continue Reading →
GLAAD Awards Exclusive Interview: Michael R. Jackson on writing A Strange Loop “I felt misunderstood, unseen & unheard”
A Strange Loop became the most Tony Award-nominated production of the season today, receiving 11 nominations including Best Musical. On Friday night the show's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, composer and lyricist, Michael R. Jackson, gave a powerful and moving performance of Memory Song from the musical on stage at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Ahead... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: A Strange Loop (Lyceum Theatre, New York) ★★★★★
Before the lights go down at the Lyceum Theatre, a recorded announcement by A Strange Loop's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, composer and lyricist—Michael R. Jackson—politely reminds us to keep our masks on and to switch off or silence our mobile devices. Theatre etiquette which he says, as a former usher, he finds particularly irksome when ignored.... Continue Reading →
Dr Emily Garside on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s love letter to musical theatre & Jonathan Larson’s legacy with tick, tick…BOOM!
Lin-Manuel Miranda's hugely creative film adaptation of tick, tick...BOOM! has been, it now seems safe to say, a huge success. Fittingly for the story of Jonathan Larson, a man who referred to himself as 'the future of musical theatre', it is an inventive movie musical that shows what the genre can be and has the... Continue Reading →
The Queer Review meets the cast & filmmakers of Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! “it’s a love letter to theatre”
In case you hadn't already heard, Broadway is back, baby, and on Monday it was abuzz, not with the opening of a new show, but with a celebration of the legacy of one of musical theatre's most beloved artists, taken far too soon, Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning Rent creator Jonathan Larson. The event at... Continue Reading →