Michael R. Jackson Named in Out100 2022
Michael R. Jackson by Bronwen Sharp
Michael R. Jackson by Bronwen Sharp

Los Angeles, CA – Out has named Michael R. Jackson in its annual Out100 list, hailed as “a prestigious compilation of the year’s most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people.”

“Over the last several years,” writes Out, “41-year-old playwright, composer, and lyricist Michael R. Jackson has been in a not-so-strange loop of success. In 2019, his musical A Strange Loop, which revolves around a Black gay man writing a musical about a Black gay man writing a musical, premiered off-Broadway. The show subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, making it the first musical written by a Black person to win and the first musical to win without a Broadway run.”

The article continues, “In 2022, A Strange Loop premiered on Broadway, and its success didn’t stop there. Earlier this year, the musical earned 11 Tony nominations — the most nominations of any 2022 production. The show ultimately won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.” 

“The largest obstacle I have faced is myself — my propensity for self-doubt and self-loathing has historically been a fearsome adversary and not easy to overcome,” Jackson tells Out. “It was years of writing A Strange Loop and going to therapy to get more into my body that helped me overcome those demons...I believe my purpose in life is to tell stories on stage and screen with clarity and eloquence.” He concludes, “I once heard this described by Kate Bornstein as the telling of truth to ease suffering.”