LOOP DREAMS

Antwayn Hopper is ready for the spotlight.

“Do you want to know some tea?” Antwayn Hopper asks. Um, yes. “Michael R. Jackson stopped me as I was coming out of the Ritz bar in NYC one night and said, ‘Hi, I’m Michael Jackson, the living one. You’ll be receiving an email from your agent very soon.’ ” It was an email that would change Hopper’s life. The Carnegie Mellon grad, who’d previously appeared mostly in ensembles, was being invited to perform in an early reading of A Strange Loop. Now, after years of working on the show, Hopper— whose breakout moment began in

March with a thrilling turn as the Times Square pimp Memphis in the Billy Porter– directed revival of The Life—is bringing his mighty bass voice and powerful stage presence to its Broadway production. “I found myself through A Strange Loop,” he says, “and I hope people get joy from this, because it brings me joy to do it. If that’s not full circle, I don’t know what is.”