Welcome to the Ahmanson Theatre and the Los Angeles premiere of A Strange Loop.

I have admittedly had my own strange loop with this funny, acerbic, and powerful new musical. I first met its creator Michael R. Jackson over a decade ago when I lived in New York City and attended an early reading of this new piece he was working on. Even then, while it was a work in progress, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced or heard before—or since. It centered characters that until then I had only encountered as supporting characters in a musical before.

Since then, I have been a big fan of Michael’s work and seen him take this show from a small rehearsal room to Broadway, the West End, and now LA and the Ahmanson, picking up a handful of Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize along the way.

A Strange Loop is about the strange loops in our heads that hold us back. We all have them—and, for me, the joy of experiencing this show comes from the ride that emerges when you break out of those strange loops. A Strange Loop is sometimes hard to watch or listen to—and I say this as a gay man of color who knows how painfully true so many of these scenes and conversations are. These uncomfortable encounters find their truth in the lived experiences of many of us. This show also makes me laugh out loud with its raw honesty, inventiveness, and circular wit.

Michael hews to his own advice as he wrote this story:
Don’t look back and don’t think twice...
Live your life and tell your story in exactly the same way:
Truthfully and without fear!
Despite those who wish you would disappear
Find joy inside your life while you’re still here

To dedicate your life to being a theatre artist—whether it be as an actor, writer, designer, or director—is nothing short of a calling. And for me, there is no higher calling than creating something that makes someone else feel less alone; than making someone who has felt unseen for so much of their life feel seen. There is so much inspiration for many of us in this musical. As the main character Usher is told, “If you’re not scared to write the truth then it’s probably not worth writing.” The truth can be uncomfortable, but it can also be empowering and letting it be spoken (or sung) aloud can be nothing short of liberating.

So now I break out of the strange loop of this note and thank you for being here, and for supporting not only live theatre, but innovative artists like Michael R. Jackson and bold works like A Strange Loop. This is a work that, if you can’t tell already, has had a profound impact on me, and nothing makes me prouder than to bring it to CTG and to share it with you.

Snehal Desai
Artistic Director

ABOUT CTG

Center Theatre Group (CTG), Los Angeles’ leading theatre company, is the largest producing not-for-profit theatre company outside of New York City, and is one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations. CTG produces and presents programming at the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. CTG is one of the country’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstances to serve Los Angeles. Founded in 1967, CTG has produced more than 700 productions across its three stages, including such iconic shows as Zoot Suit; Angels in America; The Kentucky Cycle; Biloxi Blues; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Children of a Lesser God; Curtains; The Drowsy Chaperone; 9 to 5: The Musical; and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. CTG also serves thousands of children and young adults each year through free educational and community-based programs that introduce the joy of theatre to future generations.

Pictured: Artistic Director Snehal Desai and Managing Director/CEO Meghan Pressman