Stephen Brackett

One of the things that Michael and I both share is a great love of the tradition of musical storytelling, when I think of this piece, I think of a very classic hero's journey. There's something almost Greek about it to me.

Stephen Brackett

The moment you start to generalize, the moment it starts to feel a little inauthentic, we go to the theater to see humanity onstage -- life reflected.

Stephen Brackett

It was really important to us that, obviously, this show is about a young, gay, overweight Black man, it's very specific to the identity of that story, but we knew that we wanted it to have as much of a universal implication as possible.

Stephen Brackett

DNA of the piece has always remained the same.

Stephen Brackett

Every moment of outreach, we're extending that out to the audience as much as possible so that people can see versions of their own life onstage.

Stephen Brackett

I'm so excited for those moments onstage that are the simplest and where the audience feels a real connection to Usher, and what he's thinking and what he's feeling.

Stephen Brackett