Colorado's Jason Veasey taking Black Pride to Broadway's biggest night | John Moore

Ask actor Jason Veasey how he’s doing right about now, and he’ll tell you: “The little train that could … is could-ing!”

To strain the metaphor, Jason Veasey is a train that has left the station.

Veasey, a graduate of Coronado High School in Colorado Springs and the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, is riding high as a key player in the ensemble of the breakout Broadway hit musical “A Strange Loop,” which leads all shows with 11 nominations heading into next Sunday’s Tony Awards.

Cast members from each show nominated for Best Musical will perform a number on the CBS telecast, which means Veasey is about to be beamed singing and dancing into millions of American homes and personal devices. And Veasey hopes that a whole lot of those watching are heartland Black queer kids looking for hope, a role model, or even survival.

“Being from Colorado, I mean it when I say: This is a life-saving show,” Veasey said from backstage at the Lyceum Theatre. “I’ve seen it happen.”

Michael R. (note the “R”) Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning story centers around Usher, a Black queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical … about a Black queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Usher is a young artist at war with the thoughts in his head (played by six actors including Veasey). The musical has been described as blistering, dazzling and mind-blowing.

“I think on a human level, this is a show that recognizes we all are on a journey of learning how to love ourselves and how not to self-sabotage,” Veasey said. “For queer audiences, this is a show about representation and, further, about love and acceptance of oneself. And for Black queer audiences, it’s about all of those things – without the need for the approval or validation of whiteness.”

Veasey was nominated for a 2003 Denver Post Ovation Award when he starred as Jesus in the Littleton Town Hall Arts Center’s “Godspell.” He also performed for the Walden Family Playhouse, Arvada Center and Lone Tree Arts Center before making his Denver Center debut in the DCPA Theatre Company’s “Smart People” in 2017. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of “The Lion King” in 2011, but because he is originating his role in “A Strange Loop,” he said, “It feels like my Broadway debut.”

For Veasey, “A Strange Loop” has been the culmination of both his life’s work as an actor and his own personal journey. He’s beyond excited to be performing on the Tony Awards telecast, which he calls the realization of a dream he’s had since he was old enough to sing. Veasey can only hope that the performance reaches a whole bunch of kids who are just like he was at 15. That's how old he was when he moved to Colorado Springs with his family.

“I think about that a lot – Black queer kids from Colorado watching the Tony Awards – and I want all of them to know that I am invested in them knowing that I am from Colorado,” he said. “I want Black and Brown queer kids to know that there is someone like them performing on that stage Sunday night.” 

And coming during Pride Month will make the experience all the more meaningful. Because June is not only Pride Month, it is Black Pride Month. “And Black Pride is particularly important because Black community, Black connection, Black love and Black friendship are important to the survival of Black people,” Veasey said.

Over the past 50 years, Pride Month has grown from an annual acknowledgement of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan into a full-out, worldwide celebration of the freedom of all people to simply be themselves. But, like most everything else in America, Pride Month is an overwhelmingly White endeavor. Black Pride Month, which began in 1991, is a movement within the movement that affords Black gay people the opportunity to come together as a community to focus on specific issues such as racism, homophobia and systemic inequities as they apply to communities of color.

Black Pride Colorado, which spans June 15-26, is an intersection of both Pride and Juneteenth, now a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves. “Our programming not only continues to acknowledge, uplift, empower and engage Black LGBTQIA+ folx (a term meant to explicitly include commonly marginalized groups), but also highlights the issues that impact the mental health and wellness of queer, trans and non-binary people of color across the state,” said Dr. Tara Jae, who founded Black Pride Colorado with award-winning local actor Tyrell Rae (drag name Miss Za​​rah Misdemeanor).

Veasey said it is essential to create spaces where Black people can gather together and breathe as their fullest, most authentic selves, without having to do what they must 24 hours of every other day, which is to in some way accommodate accompanying whiteness.

“Black Pride is particularly important in Colorado and other places that are not what you would call Black meccas,” said Veasey. “It is a very common experience for Black people to leave Colorado and only then realize that Colorado is not really a place that is set up for them to thrive socially. If you are a Black person, you can make that happen in Colorado – but it’s a lot of work.” 

Veasey says he knows a lot of Black people who grew up in Colorado and have told him, “I didn’t realize I was Black until I moved out of Colorado.” Not because they weren’t constantly aware of their own otherness – because they never experienced true communal Blackness.

“It is so important for White people to have Black friends, and to have a Black community in their lives,” Veasey said. “But it is also important for Black people to have their own spaces in places like Denver. Black people are not a monolith, but I do think every Black person deserves to be around other Black people and feel powerful and beautiful.”

To those White friends who might want to join in on the Black Pride party, Veasey says with a laugh, “I say to White people, ‘You know, it’s OK not to be invited to the cookout. You are not invited to everything. I want you to know it is OK for your friends who are Black-identified to go and be around people like them. Just … support that.’”

But to Jae, it is essential for Black Pride Colorado to be seen as a fully inclusive and welcoming experience for all. Local events will include a family-friendly “Queer Cookout” and an all-Black drag show featuring special guests from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” At each year’s gala, the “Asante Award” is given to a community member who consistently works to create conversations around diversity and empowerment, and the “Ally & Accomplice Award” goes to someone who supports the causes of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Veasey’s hope for Black Pride Month “is that Black queer people can find community, acceptance and love in all its faith and forms,” he said. “Because the whole ‘love is love is love’ thing will never matter until Black love matters. It is very important for Black queer people to see ourselves through the gaze of our own hearts first."