From the porn studio to the Tony Awards.
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The course of musical theater never did run smooth.Michael R. Jacksonshould know.
Indeed,A Strange Loopis all of those things thats precisely why Jackson never thought it would be produced.
And he and his character share a contentious relationship with Perrys work.
2002
The bungalow that started it all.
He applies to random jobs, including one as a security guard (which he doesnt get).
2004
The first song.
Jackson enters NYUs graduate program in musical-theater writing.
Hes played piano since he was 8 but has never written a song.
Its the first song he has ever written and will be the first song made forA Strange Loop.
(The musical will go on to be dedicated to Smith, who died in 2019.)
2006
Jackson performs his songs for the first time.
Goyanes invites Jackson to present what hes now callingFast Food TownOff Broadway at Ars Nova.
The one-man show opens with My name is Michael R. Jackson.
Im an usher at DisneysThe Lion King.I need the money.
Ive never had a steady boyfriend.
Welcome to my shithole.
Jackson performs on piano and is accompanied by a guitarist.
There are 20 people in the audience; two walk out.
I wanted it to be a musical.
But I didnt know how to do that.
2007
Enter two important friends.
That was always important to me to convey.
2011
An email from Liz Phair.
In real life, Jackson is also trying to get Phair to say yes to his musical.
In 2011, she responds in an email.
you better write your own songs.
2012
A vital conversation.
Jackson asks Brackett to direct a workshop ofA Strange Loopat NYU.
Brackett had been inspired by Morrison singing Periodically.
It was trying to get inside the head of how this protagonist sees himself in the world.
The supporting characters become known as Ushers Thoughts.
Brackett is later nominated for a Tony Award for his direction.
2014
The time they almost gave up.
Brackett and Jackson grew fatigued.
It just felt like people werent taking it seriously, Brackett says.
So to give up would be to do what?
I have to make this work.
Sometimein2014or2015(Jacksoncantquiterecall)
A breakthrough in therapy.
A Strange Loopnow has a beginning and a middle but no ending.
And Jacksons having a personal crisis.
His day job at an ad agency is sucking the life out of him.
His own thoughts are bringing him down: Im too fat.
And boys dont like me.
And no theater will do my work.
The discovery unlocks Ushers arc for Jackson.
Usher wanted to change.
He wanted to do whatever he could to get out of his skin, Jackson says.
The end would only come when he realized that there was nothing wrong with him.
2015
The porn studio where it happens.
MTF gives Jackson and his crew space to workshopA Strange Loopfor two weeks.
And sometimes the elevator wouldnt work, so wed go up these four flights of stairs.
And it was cold, oh my God!
Wed be in there with our coats on, singing AIDS Is Gods Punishment!
Jaws dropped to the floor, Morrison says.
And afterward, people were coming up to us like, I had never seen anything like that!
I didnt know how to feel.
What did you just do?!
2016
Enter the angel investor.
In the audience is Broadway producer Barbara Whitman (who did the Tony-winningFun Home).
Relatively quickly, three Off Broadway theaters offer to produceA Strange Loop.
2018
Last-minute revisions in the Catskills.
Jackson goes on a retreat in the Catskills with Brackett and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly.
Why not just say what it is that were doing?
If were making a big, Black, and queer-ass American Broadway show, we should say it.
Upstate, Jackson presents a completely rewritten Intermission Song that blows Brackett and Kelly away.
2019
A Strange Looppremieres.
The showdebuts at Playwrights Horizons, produced in association with from Page 73, another Off Broadway producer.
The reactions are rhapsodic.
They shared mind-blown reactions.
But thats also what makes it harder for works likeA Strange Loopto find their home.
Theaters an old dog; its often hard to teach new tricks.
You already know Jacksons answer.
It wins several major New York theater awards in a year with no Tonys.
And thenthe 2020 Pulitzer for Drama.
Congrats on your Pulitzer!!
(Though Perry, to date, has still not seen the show.)
2021
A star is born.
The musical is now without a leading man.
Its the 22-year-olds first-ever gig, having just graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
Spivey had never seen the show but was a fan of the cast album.
And when he came in in person, he blew us away with his presence and command.
The feeling was unanimous.
He was very clearly the choice for us.
Spivey, meanwhile, is a nervous wreck before making his debut at the Woolly Mammoth.
God, if it’s possible for you to just help me push this one out.
Im very scared, he remembers thinking opening night.
to the point that it shook me.
By curtain call, anxieties were hushed.
When I did my bow, I was just like,Okay, you got it.
The Tonys agree: Spivey is later nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance.
2022
FinallyBroadway bound.
They were so proud.
And they couldnt believe that people wanted to take their pictures, he says.
Look at this magnificent thing.
He then adds, with amazement, From the porn studio to Broadway.
The Tony Awards air June 12.
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