This is a new musical that’s practically perfect, and made even more so by a breathtaking central performance from Kyle Ramar Freeman, who reprises the role from Broadway. Freeman’s tender, soulful, and ultimately powerful portrayal of Usher is the must-see performance of this year.
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“When such knowingly bold stylistic choices are mixed with big theatrical numbers, the story can get lost, and there are swathes of time in the middle when what’s happening is unclear.”
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This is quite possibly the most impactful musical in London right now – it’s fresh and exciting and unlike anything I’ve seen before. A Strange Loop has a lot to say, and we all need to listen. It’s a show which requires a period of digestion after consumption – and then you’ll probably want to see it again and again.
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“ ‘A Strange Loop’ concerns the idea that be it upward or downward, you progress through a series of hierarchical levels that are linked to one and other via some sort of relationship. You keep on accessing the levels until eventually you are back where you started.”
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" ‘A Strange Loop’ is different. It is an extremely Black, extremely queer, extremely horny, extremely New York show that is, to boot, extremely weird: a meta-musical about a theatre usher called Usher’s attempt to write a meta-musical about a theatre usher called Usher. "
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“What makes ’A Strange Loop’ so compelling... what cuts under its whirling cleverness, is the way it makes Usher’s suffering so intense.  As it digs, it unlocks true sadness and alienation, so that the relative calm of the ending is almost a relief.  It’s original and old-fashioned all at once.”
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"It’s stuffed with really catchy tunes full of triumphant melodies, with big high notes, snatches of literary and musical reference constantly winking at us. It’s messy and exhausting as much as it is spectacular. It’s too long, too repetitious, too much - and I’d watch it again in an instant."
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“So it’s an evening that goes round in circles. It knows that it is going around in circles. It tells you it is going round in circles. But finally I found this knowing sense of stasis more deadening than daring.”
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