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| Photo by Matthew Murphy |
The musical effectively captures the energy, excitement and mania of the pop/soul superstar’s storied career. It begins with dance rehearsals for the 1992 Dangerous World Tour with MJ obsessing over every minute detail and his business people fretting over the tour’s ever-growing costs. He's deep in debt and putting every dime into the Dangerous production to ensure that he gives his fans the most exciting and entertaining show possible. At the same time, he’s being followed around by an overeager MTV film crew that is looking to dig up some controversial tidbits on the legendary artist. This scene touches on MJ's notorious perfectionism and how he always swung for the fences in everything he did. Going small was not in his vocabulary.
And through cleverly set up flashbacks, the musical explores different periods in MJ’s career. It goes all the way back to his younger days before he and the Jackson 5 signed with Motown, as well as his teen years when the group parted ways with the legendary Motor City label and signed with Epic Records. There are also some terrific flashbacks to his Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad eras.
The cast is led by actor/singer/musician Roman Banks. He transfixes the audience with a masterful portrayal of the King of Pop–from the Thriller era through The Dangerous World Tour. Banks skillfully channels MJ’s unique mannerisms and performance style. And like MJ, his dance movements are at once slinky, smooth and explosive.
Brandon Lee Harris delivers a knockout performance as teen-through-early 20s MJ. And gifted young actor/performers Josiah Benson and Ethan Joseph are outstanding in their respective roles as Little Michael.
Among the musical’s many highlights is a brilliant reimagining of "Thriller" with inventive new choreography and a simmering Bob Fosse-ish dance routine set to a jazzy instrumental version of “The Way You Make Me Feel” that flawlessly segues into a show-stopping performance of “Smooth Criminal.” And the cast blows the audience away with incredible performances of other MJ classics such as “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Beat It” “Black or White” and “Bad.” Also, several of the Jackson 5’s hits were performed in the show, including “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “The Love You Save” and “Dancing Machine.” And Anastasia Talley (playing Jackson family matriarch Katherine Jackson) lights up the stage with a beautiful rendition of “I’ll Be There.”
A few of MJ’s less-popular tracks were also included in the production. For instance, Banks serves up a powerful performance of the criminally underrated “Stranger in Moscow.” He also treats the audience to a killer rendition of “The Price of Fame,” which was originally slated to be used in a 1986 Pepsi commercial but was replaced by an edited version of “Bad.” It was later included on the Bad 25 album, released on September 28, 2012.
In addition to Bob Fosse, the musical also gives big shout-outs to other great performers who influenced MJ, including James Brown, Fred Astaire, Jackie Wilson and The Nicholas Brothers.
The musical briefly touches on MJ’s addiction to painkillers but wisely steers clear of the sexual abuse allegations. That’s a subject better suited for an in-depth and balanced documentary–but definitely not a one-sided, factually inaccurate hit piece like HBO’s Leaving Neverland (2019). This production is designed to be a celebration of the artist and his music, and bringing up the allegations would seriously spoil its celebratory spirit. It’s for MJ fans who just want to enjoy the music and performances and relive the moments when they first heard one of his classic songs or first saw one of his groundbreaking music videos. It’s also a great experience for young MJ fans who never got the opportunity to see him perform live. This is the next best thing, because it definitely feels like you’re at a Michael Jackson concert in many parts. The audience roared and cheered following the rousing finale like they had just witnessed a real MJ concert.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage wrote the book for MJ the Musical. It was directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. He won a well-deserved Tony Award for his exquisite choreography in this amazing production. Victor Simonson is the production's musical director and conductor. As of November 2023, the musical had grossed $157.2 million, with attendance of more than one million people.
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