Tony Winner ‘A Strange Loop’ to Close on Broadway

A Strange Loop, the 2022 Tony Award winner for best musical, will close on Broadway on Jan. 15. 

The musical, which also took home the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama, will end its run after opening on April 26, 2022 and will end up playing 314 performances on Broadway. While it garnered much critical acclaim, the musical, written by Michael R. Jackson, was up against a tough economic environment, in which tourism numbers are still down, and it had the added challenge of attracting audiences to unconventional subject matter for Broadway. 

The musical is a meta narrative following a young musical theater writer as he attempts to write a musical. Throughout his writing process, he’s plagued by his own thoughts, fears and dreams (which are brought to life by the ensemble) surrounding his identity as a Black, queer man and aspiring artist. 

“Though A Strange Loop is not autobiographical, it is my life’s work. As such, I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share this raw, vulnerable and personal story with the world and to have connected with so many enthusiastic, loving audiences,” Jackson said in the press release. “I am also indebted to the many extraordinary collaborators and institutions past and present that made the telling of this unique story possible. You each will have a piece of my heart, soul and my loop forever.”

A Strange Loop came to Broadway after a 2019 world premiere off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons and a 2021 run at Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. 

The musical was directed by Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly and produced by Barbara Whitman, Page 73 Productions, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons. 

“Bringing A Strange Loop to Broadway has been extraordinary. Michael R. Jackson is one of the most important voices of this generation, and we’re thrilled that so many enthusiastic audience members have been able to experience his monumental musical,” Whitman said. “We look forward to having more theatre lovers come see the show in its final weeks.”

Jackson, whose new musical White Girl in Danger will make its off Broadway debut this spring, also won the 2022 Tony Award for best book of a musical. Jaquel Spivey, who plays the lead, Usher, was Tony-nominated for his role, and leads an ensemble featuring Antwayn Hopper, James Jackson Jr., L Morgan Lee, John-Michael Lyles, John-Andrew Morrison and Jason Veasey.

The closing announcement for A Strange Loop comes amid the impending closures of stalwarts such as The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running musical on Broadway, and relative newcomers such as Beetlejuice and the revival of The Music Man. Come From Away and Dear Evan Hansen, the 2017 best musical winner, recently closed after multi-year runs. In addition to a lower number of tourists, productions are grappling with diminished numbers of office workers in the city, potentially keeping more audience members away from Broadway, as well as COVID-19 concerns and related production costs. 

While several best musical winners have had shorter runs, including recent winners such as A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder in 2014, Fun Home in 2015 and The Band’s Visit in 2018, A Strange Loop would have the shortest run on the list.