A Strange Loop Creator Michael R. Jackson on How His Pulitzer Win Felt Like Being on Quantum Leap

It would be an understatement to say that Michael R. Jackson has had a good quarantine. In the past few weeks, Jackson has earned over a dozen nominations, honors and awards for his work as the creator of the hit off-Broadway musical A Strange Loop. Included in those accolades is the highly coveted Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Not only is A Strange Loop only the 10th musical in the history of the awards to be recognized, but Jackson is the first black writer of a musical to receive the honor. To celebrate his success, Jackson stopped by Broadway.com's #LiveatFive: Home Edition to talk about his soap opera dreams, his next project and more.

"It definitely was not on my vision board, that much is true," Jackson said to Paul Wontorek about his historic Pulitzer win. "I had no expectations about anything in terms of awards season. A Strange Loop is my professional debut so I really had no context about it all. To be in a category with [A Chorus Line composer and lyricist] Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kieban and Sondheim and Hamilton just blows my mind. I was actually on the phone with my friend talking about Real Housewives of Atlanta and, unbeknownst to me, he was watching the announcement of the Pulitzer. I feel like Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap, just constantly bouncing from one dimension to the other."

Jackson moved to New York City from Detroit to work on a TV writing career. "My dream was to be a soap opera writer," he said. "I thought I would become the head writer for One Life to Live or something." Now, Jackson is bringing his two loves together for his next project: "I'm working on my next show which is called White Girl in Danger," he said. "It is drawn from my love of soap operas and Lifetime original movies. It is set in a town called Allwhite where there are all white characters who have these dramatic, crazy lives and storylines. Then there are characters known as the Blackground, who are the black characters who are there to be extras. It focuses on a Blackground girl named Keisha who decides that she has what it takes to be the protagonist of her own Allwhite story. I'm really excited about it."

After a a sold-out two-month run at Playwright Horizons, it was announced that A Strange Loop would play at Washington, D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre before a possible Broadway run. Now, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson isn't sure what's next. "We're just in this waiting phase right now," he said. "There are definitely a few things I want to work on in the show. Nothing earth-shatteringly major, though. I really got to absorb audience reactions and there are a few things I want to fine-tune. I'm excited for the show's next chapter."

Watch Jackson talk more about what Tyler Perry had to say about that song and more in the full episode below!