R Kelly is getting back into the closet. The R&B star has found a home for his proposed revival of his Trapped in the Closet drama series, inking a deal with a US cable channel for a new instalment of his screwball musical melodrama.
Five years after the unveiling of chapters 13-22 of the series, chapters 23 and on will air this year on IFC. The channel also aired Kelly's previous instalment, and the 45-year-old will again be working with the same production company, Fuzzy Bunny Films. Unfortunately, it's not clear how British audiences will be able to follow the ongoing adventures of Sylvester, Roxanne and Big Man, the asthmatic little person.
"When I first began experiencing the unknown journey of writing Trapped in the Closet I knew after the first chapter that I had tapped into something that was not of this earth," Kelly said. The singer also promised to answer the "million dollar question" of recent chapters: the contents of a mysterious package passed between characters. "Well, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "not only am I ready to reveal what the package is, but I have many more chapters to share."
Since premiering as a sort of radio play on 2005's TP.3 Reloaded, Trapped in the Closet has become one of Kelly's best-known projects, attracting equal parts wonder, scorn and stupefaction. Kelly has issued subsequent chapters as short films, collected on two DVDs, which have become cult favourites.
