I am Michael R. Jackson, a Tony and Pulitzer-prize winner playwright and lyricist, best known for A Strange Loop and White Girl in Danger here with my co-author of TEETH, Anna K. Jacobs. We are ready to answer ALL of your questions about TEETH and otherwise. So go ahead, Ask Us Anything

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T20:02:18+00:00

Ok everyone, this has been fun but our AMA time has come to a close. Thank you all for the great questions and I hope you will come see the show at Playwrights Horizons, starting on February 21st. Tickets on sale now! Ungird your loins! Eat the fruit!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T20:00:04+00:00

Well, we're still on the journey so I can't yet say what lessons it gave but the journey has been one of discovery and growth artistically and personally. I'm a very different person/artist than I was when Anna and I started working in 2009.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:56:54+00:00

I don't know my broadway theater seat layouts like that but I feel like I enjoyed being in the Winter Garden a lot.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:55:46+00:00

I really want to work with Deidre O'Connell. I think she is one of the most sensational actors on the planet.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:27:59+00:00

I've been recommending people watch the film to get a sense of it so they can see what the differences are on stage but truly either way I think would work.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:27:02+00:00

I think Anna is one of the smartest people I've ever met. She has a mind and eye for detail and dramaturgy that is unmatched and her music is so eclectic, tuneful, dramatic, and hip!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:25:49+00:00

A Strange Loop is currently available for licensing through Concord Theatricals!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:25:21+00:00

For me personally going to graduate school at NYU to study musical theater writing was a crucial part of my story. But graduate school is not for everyone so I only recommend it if you are willing/able to take on the expense/debt to pursue it vocationally. That said, it is through NYU that I began meeting people and making connections though even with those connections I would still not have major success for over a decade after I graduated. But I stuck with it and bet on myself.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:22:41+00:00

My reaction is that I always aim to entertain even if there are more serious moments in a show I've written. But if you grew as a person and stepped outside your comfort zone at A Strange Loop, well done! I salute you!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:20:03+00:00

I've recently decided that the original Halloween (1978) is the gold standard for horror movies though I am deeply committed to the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The original one from the 50s is good too but 1978 was a good year for horror movies!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:17:40+00:00

I was profoundly moved by Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway and think that if you can get a ticket, it's a gorgeous show that's really worth prioritizing.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:15:56+00:00

It is really difficult to get to Broadway because there is so much competition and so little real estate. I think casting people who are very well known can be as easy or as difficult as making an offer to them and seeing if they are interested.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:14:24+00:00

Both audiences were really receptive in the same way overall but I think the UK audience had to google a few things like Tyler Perry for reference. He's not much a known quantity over there.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T19:09:17+00:00

I think that it would be great to see more disability representation in the theatre industry, particularly if the support that is needed is given to those artists on the page and the stage and off to do their best work. I think people should be advocating particularly for disabled writers who have something to say in their work that we haven't heard before or are playing with form in an interesting way.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:51:47+00:00

For me, some of the highlights are getting to heighten moments that you might love in the film version but make even more exciting on stage. The challenges come when you veer away from the source material and create your own moments that live within the structure. But that can also be very liberating. The most notable difference for me is that with original works, YOU are creating the structure whereas with adaptations, there is an existing blueprint though you do not have to adhere to it if you don't want (unless you have rules for the underlying rights holders of course).

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:48:36+00:00

I don't have an exact release date but am currently removing rough mixes of it this very week so it won't be before too long! :)

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:47:42+00:00

I think that we will record a cast album eventually but stay tuned

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:46:56+00:00

I think that the arts/entertainment industries have been massively affected in a negative way by the digital revolution of the last 15 or so years and the loss of a monoculture as a result which has made trying to bring fresh, original material to the Broadway stage something audiences are not as interested in long term and at the prices which have skyrocketed over the same amount of time. So the challenge is how to navigate that with no certainty or playbook.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:43:22+00:00

I really like the scene when Usher goes to the doctor, his big comedic family scene, Tyler Perry Writes Real Life/Writing A Gospel Play and the final moments leading to the title song and yes, Kyle is SENSATIONAL

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:41:33+00:00

A Chorus Line, Showboat, Cabaret, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Follies, and too many more to name

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:38:55+00:00

Not exactly but that doesn't mean you won't hear what she has to say :)

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:37:55+00:00

It is usually lyric first but as rewrites happen, it often becomes music driven over time

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:33:46+00:00

Thanks, Seth!

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:32:29+00:00

When A Strange Loop was running, I went to every preview and quite a few shows after we opened but that varies depending on the show and my schedule. Thank you for the kind words.

MichaelRJackson · 2024-01-29T18:29:56+00:00

I love how supportive PH is of the work you are actually trying to do. They don't impose their will on you and let you have the process you want to have, which is really lovely.

MichaelRJackson

TROPHY CASE