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  I got a peek back backstage at the Soulpepper Theatre Distillery District at a rehearsal for Strange Loop Malachi McCaskill leads cast in rehearsal Award-winning Broadway musical A Strange Loop has its Canadian premiere on Wednesday. It tells the story of Usher (played here by American actor Malachi McCaskill). The musical follows the journey of Usher, a young Black queer writer working as an usher at The Lion King. This provocative, groundbreaking production brilliantly blends humour and heart as Usher battles the swirling voices in his head—personified as "Thoughts"—while writing a musical about his own life. The Canadian premiere of A Strange Loop is co-produced by four major Toronto arts organizations: Soulpepper Theatre, The Musical Stage Company, Crow’s Theatre, and TO Live. The production runs from April 22 to June 1, 2025.

  Ushering in the Perfect Thought Even Before It Starts By Stephen Weir It doesn’t happen often to me. In fact, this might be the first time I=ve been invited to and accepted a backstage sneak peek of an all-Black rehearsal. A Strange Loop, an award-winning Broadway musical, is what Toronto has been eagerly awaiting, and it is making its Canadian premiere later this month. I was one of a half-dozen journalists to enter the expansive Distillery District’s Young Centre for the Performing Arts, taking folding chairs just a few feet from the cast in a rehearsal space earlier this week. What a trip! What an experience to get an early look at A Strange Loop, the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical that is a collaboration among The Musical Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, and TO Live Usher left “This is a musical that speaks to the Black community,” explains director Ray Hogg, a Toronto director with strong Jamaican roots. “Not just in the messaging but in the bea...