"Trapped in the Closet" is back in a big way.
Five years after he dropped the last chapter of his serial narrative of sex, lies and singing, R. Kelly returned Oct. 17 with Chapter 23 to continue the epic story of Sylvester, Rufus, Rosie The Nosey Neighbor, Twan, Roxanne and Pimp Lucius.
Now IFC will air 11 new chapters of the opus beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23. Kelly has confirmed that 20 more chapters have been filmed, but it won't even stop there.
"'Trapped in the Closet' is forever," he recently told Time magazine. "I've got like a hundred chapters to come."
Well, 85 for sure, if you believe what the Chicago-based R&B singer said Monday in New York, where he claimed "Trapped" might be heading to Broadway. The 45-year-old said the 85 chapters are "waiting in the studio for y'all," according to the Los Angeles Times. "The chapters that are coming--the show, we call it--is going to exceed every chapter that you have ever seen."
He said he's working to transform it into a Broadway show. "I don't have a job, so I sit in the studio all day and think of stuff to do and this is just something stupid I've done that's been successful for me," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with it."
Before you watch the 11 new chapters, check out our (very brief) recap of the first 22 chapters. (IFC will air the first 22 chapters beginning at 6 p.m. Nov. 23.)
Chapter 1: Sylvester wakes up in a stranger's bed. Before he can leave, the woman's husband comes home so Sylvester hides in the closet. His phone rings. The husband opens the closet ... closet ... closet.
2: Sylvester tries to leave, but the husband, a pastor, doesn't let him. The pastor phones someone and asks "Baby" to come to the house. Baby does, and baby is a man ... man ... man.
3: The husband, Rufus, and his male lover, Chuck, tell Rufus's wife, Cathy, that they have been dating about a year. Sylvester calls his own home, where a man picks up the phone ... phone ... phone.
4: Sylvester speeds home to confront the mystery man but is pulled over by a cop, who tickets him. When Sylvester gets home, his wife says her brother, Twan, answered the phone. Sylvester wants to make up with his wife in bed. But he finds a used condom ... condom ... condom.
5: Sylvester's wife confesses that the man on the phone wasn't Twan. He's a man his wife's friend, Cathy, introduced her to. The man is revealed to be the policeman who stopped Sylvester ... Sylvester ... Sylvester.
6: The cop, James, comes back to Sylvester's house, where the men fight over Gwendolyn (Sylvester's wife, James' lover). All of the sudden a gun goes off. Pow ... Pow ... Pow.
7: The bullet hit Twan (Gwendolyn's actual brother), who just got home from jail. He's OK though; his family catches him up on all the drama. There's a knock at the door, and everyone pulls their guns on Rosie the Nosy Neighbor ... neighbor ... neighbor.
8: James (the cop) returns to his car and calls his own wife, who made him a pie. He heads home to find Bridget acting strangely. She just slept with another man, who is still in the house ... house ... house.
9: James hears a noise in the kitchen, and when he searches the room she stands in front of a cabinet. He opens the door and finds a midget ... midget... midget.
10: The little person says he was paid by someone to sleep with Bridget. Bridget pulls a shotgun on James as Twan and Sylvester bust in the door, guns drawn. The midget soils himself and passes out ... out ... out.
11: Bridget says she knows about James' infidelity and that the little person--a stripper named Big Man--is the father of her unborn baby ... baby ... baby.
12: Back at Cathy's, she, Rufus and Chuck still are arguing when Gwendolyn calls. Gwen says she saw Sylvester with a wig-wearing ho, which makes Cathy realize the man she slept with was Sylvester. She tells Gwen, "I'm sorry, girl, but that ho was me." (This is the first chapter without a musical ending.)
13: Sylvester and Twan catch up while driving to a restaurant so Sylvester can collect money from someone ... who turns out to be Cathy.
14: Twan sits in Sylvester's car waiting for him to come out of the restaurant. He gets a call from a friend who tells him Tina, the woman who set him up to go to jail, works at the same restaurant. He goes inside to find Tina and her friend, Roxanne, about to attack Sylvester.
15: Twan is angry. But honestly, skip this episode. Uh, we mean episode ... episode ... episode.
16: Tina's pregnant with Twan's baby. Twan accuses her of lying, which makes her eye twitch. (It's an old hooker injury apparently.) After much deliberation, Twan decides to get legit and raise his kid. Then Roxanne and Tina reveal they're lovers ... lovers ... lovers.
17: Skip it ... skip it ... skip it.
18: Twan's still angry about Roxanne and Tina, but back in the car Sylvester tries to calm him down. For some reason, we shift to Rufus's church, where he gets a call from Chuck. When Cathy comes in, Rufus tries to break things off with Chuck, who reveals he's in the hospital ... hospital ... hospital.
19: Meet Pimp Lucius, who has a severe stutter. He's in Rufus's church, where Rev. Mosley James Evans attempts to get him to give up pimping. The choir sings, "You can do it, Pimp Lucius."
20: Randolph tells his wife, Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, that he was hiding in the closet of Rufus's office and heard the Rufus/Chuck/Cathy exchange during Chapter 18. He says Rufus has "the package," which she repeats to anyone who will listen.
21: Twan wait outside while Sylvester and Joey the mobster talk business. Twan falls asleep and dreams that he and Sylvester are in the same situation, but someone is pointing guns at them. There are no guns.
22: All of the characters--many, many, many more than we've mentioned in this recap--talk about the mysterious "package." What could it be?
Which leads to Chapter 23 (below) ... and beyond. Find more "direct from set" videos at IFC's YouTube channel.
Five years after he dropped the last chapter of his serial narrative of sex, lies and singing, R. Kelly returned Oct. 17 with Chapter 23 to continue the epic story of Sylvester, Rufus, Rosie The Nosey Neighbor, Twan, Roxanne and Pimp Lucius.
Now IFC will air 11 new chapters of the opus beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23. Kelly has confirmed that 20 more chapters have been filmed, but it won't even stop there.
"'Trapped in the Closet' is forever," he recently told Time magazine. "I've got like a hundred chapters to come."
Well, 85 for sure, if you believe what the Chicago-based R&B singer said Monday in New York, where he claimed "Trapped" might be heading to Broadway. The 45-year-old said the 85 chapters are "waiting in the studio for y'all," according to the Los Angeles Times. "The chapters that are coming--the show, we call it--is going to exceed every chapter that you have ever seen."
He said he's working to transform it into a Broadway show. "I don't have a job, so I sit in the studio all day and think of stuff to do and this is just something stupid I've done that's been successful for me," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with it."
Before you watch the 11 new chapters, check out our (very brief) recap of the first 22 chapters. (IFC will air the first 22 chapters beginning at 6 p.m. Nov. 23.)
Chapter 1: Sylvester wakes up in a stranger's bed. Before he can leave, the woman's husband comes home so Sylvester hides in the closet. His phone rings. The husband opens the closet ... closet ... closet.
2: Sylvester tries to leave, but the husband, a pastor, doesn't let him. The pastor phones someone and asks "Baby" to come to the house. Baby does, and baby is a man ... man ... man.
3: The husband, Rufus, and his male lover, Chuck, tell Rufus's wife, Cathy, that they have been dating about a year. Sylvester calls his own home, where a man picks up the phone ... phone ... phone.
4: Sylvester speeds home to confront the mystery man but is pulled over by a cop, who tickets him. When Sylvester gets home, his wife says her brother, Twan, answered the phone. Sylvester wants to make up with his wife in bed. But he finds a used condom ... condom ... condom.
5: Sylvester's wife confesses that the man on the phone wasn't Twan. He's a man his wife's friend, Cathy, introduced her to. The man is revealed to be the policeman who stopped Sylvester ... Sylvester ... Sylvester.
6: The cop, James, comes back to Sylvester's house, where the men fight over Gwendolyn (Sylvester's wife, James' lover). All of the sudden a gun goes off. Pow ... Pow ... Pow.
7: The bullet hit Twan (Gwendolyn's actual brother), who just got home from jail. He's OK though; his family catches him up on all the drama. There's a knock at the door, and everyone pulls their guns on Rosie the Nosy Neighbor ... neighbor ... neighbor.
8: James (the cop) returns to his car and calls his own wife, who made him a pie. He heads home to find Bridget acting strangely. She just slept with another man, who is still in the house ... house ... house.
9: James hears a noise in the kitchen, and when he searches the room she stands in front of a cabinet. He opens the door and finds a midget ... midget... midget.
10: The little person says he was paid by someone to sleep with Bridget. Bridget pulls a shotgun on James as Twan and Sylvester bust in the door, guns drawn. The midget soils himself and passes out ... out ... out.
11: Bridget says she knows about James' infidelity and that the little person--a stripper named Big Man--is the father of her unborn baby ... baby ... baby.
12: Back at Cathy's, she, Rufus and Chuck still are arguing when Gwendolyn calls. Gwen says she saw Sylvester with a wig-wearing ho, which makes Cathy realize the man she slept with was Sylvester. She tells Gwen, "I'm sorry, girl, but that ho was me." (This is the first chapter without a musical ending.)
13: Sylvester and Twan catch up while driving to a restaurant so Sylvester can collect money from someone ... who turns out to be Cathy.
14: Twan sits in Sylvester's car waiting for him to come out of the restaurant. He gets a call from a friend who tells him Tina, the woman who set him up to go to jail, works at the same restaurant. He goes inside to find Tina and her friend, Roxanne, about to attack Sylvester.
15: Twan is angry. But honestly, skip this episode. Uh, we mean episode ... episode ... episode.
16: Tina's pregnant with Twan's baby. Twan accuses her of lying, which makes her eye twitch. (It's an old hooker injury apparently.) After much deliberation, Twan decides to get legit and raise his kid. Then Roxanne and Tina reveal they're lovers ... lovers ... lovers.
17: Skip it ... skip it ... skip it.
18: Twan's still angry about Roxanne and Tina, but back in the car Sylvester tries to calm him down. For some reason, we shift to Rufus's church, where he gets a call from Chuck. When Cathy comes in, Rufus tries to break things off with Chuck, who reveals he's in the hospital ... hospital ... hospital.
19: Meet Pimp Lucius, who has a severe stutter. He's in Rufus's church, where Rev. Mosley James Evans attempts to get him to give up pimping. The choir sings, "You can do it, Pimp Lucius."
20: Randolph tells his wife, Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, that he was hiding in the closet of Rufus's office and heard the Rufus/Chuck/Cathy exchange during Chapter 18. He says Rufus has "the package," which she repeats to anyone who will listen.
21: Twan wait outside while Sylvester and Joey the mobster talk business. Twan falls asleep and dreams that he and Sylvester are in the same situation, but someone is pointing guns at them. There are no guns.
22: All of the characters--many, many, many more than we've mentioned in this recap--talk about the mysterious "package." What could it be?
Which leads to Chapter 23 (below) ... and beyond. Find more "direct from set" videos at IFC's YouTube channel.
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