Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall

Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical Straight Outta Oz. From a small town in Texas to big-time show business, comes an inspiring documentary of grit, perseverance and the redemptive power of art.

Described as "if Willy Wonka and Pee-wee Herman had a black child," Todrick Hall is a YouTube celebrity, recording artist, songwriter, Broadway actor, "Drag Race" judge, and much, much more. But right now he has only four weeks to write, record, choreograph, film, stage, and design his upcoming "Straight Outta Oz" album and tour. Inspired by Beyonce's "Lemonade" and spurred by not getting a hard-fought role as the Scarecrow on NBC's "The Wiz Live!", Hall imagines "Straight Outta Oz" as a confluence of L. Frank Baum's oversized universe, Hall's story of growing up as a gay black male in Arlington, Texas, with a Christian mother, and a rousing piece of activism. As every set piece, costume, bit of choreography, and note is painstakingly created, Hall and his wide-reaching team pull 16-hour days to create "something epic, but for less than epic price." Behind the Curtain—as open-hearted and frantic as documentaries get—mixes this behind-the-scenes tour with a look back at Hall's own career and an examination of LGBTQ culture in the wake of the Pulse shooting, a nightclub near and dear to Hall's heart. The result is an inspiring film about grit, perseverance, and the redemptive power of art.