This month, the Tony Award and Pulitzer-winning Strange Loop opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Written by Michael R. Jackson, this hard-hitting and provocative musical centers around Usher, a young, gay, Black writer who writes a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who is writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer…thus a strange loop. Usher embarks on a journey of self-discovery covering the raw aspects of life, the good and the bad, while dealing with his Thoughts, personified by a unique cast of characters. Having just wrapped up a run at San Francisco’s ACT, this production highlights a fresh face to the scene via North Carolina, queer performer Malachi McCaskill as Usher. Like Usher, Malachi is finding his way through life and professional theatre as a young, queer, Black performer. In this episode, we talk about it all. We talk about finding his identity in high school, his relationship with religion, manifesting his role in Strange Loop, coming to the West Coast for his first time, his creative process as an actor, the realities of being a young, gay, Black men in entertainment, what the future holds in store, and his message to the LGBTQ community.

Hosted by Alexander Rodriguez @AlexanderisOnAir

You can check out our in-depth chat with him in the current issue of GED Magazine now on newsstands or at GEDMag.com