Eddie Weaver Will Lead A STRANGE LOOP Chicago Premiere at Raven Theatre
Eddie Weaver leads a cast featuring Micah Mixon and Matheus Barbee under director Mikael Burke's staging.
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About Face Theatre and Raven Theatre will present a co-production of the groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop, with book, music, and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson and direction by About Face Theatre Artistic Associate Mikael Burke. The highly anticipated Chicago premiere will run October 8-November 8, 2026, on the Johnson Stage at Raven Theatre, 6157 North Clark Street in Chicago. The press opening is Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30pm.
A Strange Loop made history by winning the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, marking the first time a musical written by a Black artist received the honor. Jackson's blistering, autobiographical masterpiece went on to capture the 2022 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical. The story follows Usher, a Black, queer playwright who spends his days working as an usher on Broadway. He spends his nights struggling to write an original musical about a Black, queer playwright who spends his days working as an usher on Broadway. Lines blur, thoughts intrude, and soon he finds himself wrestling to break free from a very strange creative loop. This musical explores identity, race and sexuality through the lens of a young artist at war with a chorus of his own demons and inner voices on a journey towards understanding and self-love.
The cast includes: Eddie Weaver (Usher), Micah Mixon (Thought 1), Matheus Barbee (Thought 2), Christopher Wayland (Thought 3), Michael Turrentine (Thought 4), John-Payne (Thought 5), Naphtali Curry (Thought 6). The understudies are Jordan Harris (Usher), Simmery Branch (Thought 1), Aiden McCoy (Thought 2), Michael Davis Arnold (Thought 3), Shawn Smith (Thought 4) and Reginald Hemphill (Thought 5).
The creative team is: Mikael Burke (director), Kyu Park (music director), Breon Arzell (choreographer), Sydney Lynne (scenic designer), Brenden Marble (lighting designer), Hannah Kwak (sound designer), Matt Reich (associate sound designer), Janelle Smith (Costume Designer), Mariah Bennett (props designer), Chels Morgan (violence and intimacy designer), Terry Guest (associate director) and Christopher Richard Pazdernik (dramaturg). Christine D. Freeburg is the stage manager and Rachel Simmons and Charlotte Horton are the assistant stage managers. Catherine Miller is the casting director.
About Face Theatre Producing Artistic Director Megan Carney comments, "This co-production between About Face and Raven Theatre is a dream come true. Together we've assembled a team that is passionate about bringing complex Black queer lives to centerstage and uplifting this groundbreaking exuberant musical in Chicago. A Strange Loop meets the moment in a spectacular way, and we can't wait to share it with audiences this fall."
Raven Theatre Executive Director Jonathan Berry adds, "We are so thrilled to partner with About Face Theatre to bring the Chicago premiere of this bold, remarkable piece to the stage. It is rare to find a piece that is so fearlessly honest about an artist's experience. A Strange Loop is a hilarious, touching, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting journey and Mikael Burke is the perfect director to bring it to extraordinary life on the Raven stage.”
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