R. Kelly Believes He Can Fly to Broadway with Trapped in the Closet
© Parrish Lewis / IFC
At a premiere for new chapters of his hip-hopera Trapped in the Closet in Boston last night, the R&B star announced his intention to bring Trapped in the Closet to Broadway. The new chapters will air on the IFC channel this coming Friday, November 24.
Trapped in the Closet is a video pseudo-opera-cum-song-cycle that stars Kelly as Sylvester… who wakes up after a one night stand and is asked to hide in the closet so he won’t be caught by the woman’s husband (who is a pastor, obviously). New characters and plot twists are revealed over the next 20-plus chapters, including mobsters, cherry allergies, prostitutes, and lots of drugs.
Kelly is a three-time Grammy Award winner for his 1998 hit “I Believe I Can Fly.” A superstar of contemporary R&B, Kelly has been a polarizing pop culture figure ever since his 2002 legal drama involving allegations of inappropriate relationships with underage women.
The Trapped in the Closet saga began in 2005, when the first five chapters were released on Kelly’s album, TP.3 Reloaded. Kelly performed a new chapter at the VMAs that year which was followed by a DVD release of the first 12 chapters. In December 2007, all the chapters were released on one DVD.
The series has developed a devout cult following, spawning Rocky Horror-style sing-a-long screenings at venues like Chicago’s Music Box Theatre and New York’s Comic-Con mega-gathering.
Kelly has stated he has 85 total chapters of Trapped in the Closet ready, which means the Broadway adaptation stands to run double the length of Les Miserables–though when you replace angsty student revolutionaries with violent midgets, maybe six hours won’t feel so long.
