Michael Jackson Musical Review

NEW YORK [[AP) — The new, splashy Broadway musical about Michael Jackson begins with the King of Pop plotting an ambitious tour to reclaim his throne. He’s facing financial ruin, swirling rumors and an addiction to pain pills. You’d think it was 2009, just weeks before his death. That’s the logical place to start. But logic has little to do with “MJ.”


It’s actually 1992 when Jackson kicks off the show by entering a Los Angeles rehearsal studio that serves as the jukebox musical’s main set. He’s putting the final touches on the “Dangerous” tour and drilling his exhausted dancers: “Do it until we get it clean.”


We will soon melt back in time — back to the Jackson 5, “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” — but never forward. Why 1992? Jackson will be on the “Dangerous” tour a year later when he is first formally accused of molestation, an allegation that will be settled. The Michael on Broadway will never face that, forever shielded.



That’s just one very large disingenuous note in an altogether baffling production that opened Tuesday at the Neil Simon Theatre. Like Jackson himself, there are moments of sheer genius punctuated by head-scratching weirdness……

https://apnews.com/article/46719c4c1...008318fe3c1057

NEW YORK — It’s such a glittering piece of bio-drama — slickly constructed, devised for maximum dazzle — that even the famous white glove dotted with Swarovski crystal gets its own round of applause. I’m speaking, of course, of “MJ,” the new Broadway musical that dares to present the mountain of evidence for counting Michael Jackson among the greatest entertainers of the 20th century.


I say dares because it took nerve for book writer Lynn Nottage and director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon merely to have put the subject of Jackson before audiences at the Neil Simon Theatre, where the show had its official opening Tuesday. Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50, dogged by tabloid stories of a bizarre private life and more seriously, accusations of sexual abuse of young boys that led to police investigations and civil and criminal lawsuits.


That sordid history would not seem to have foretold a jukebox musical devoted to the upside of Jackson’s genius — and certainly not by artists of the caliber of two-time Pulitzer winner Nottage [[“Ruined,” “Sweat”) and the celebrated ballet world fixture Wheeldon. The show’s decidedly selective memory may be off-putting to theatergoers appalled by the stories of Jackson’s alleged misdeeds. Nevertheless, the creative team’s painstaking work has resulted in a riveting, adrenaline rush of a show, propelled by remarkable dancing and a mesmerizing central performance by Myles Frost as the sleek, soft-spoken pop megastar.….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/theat...ckson-musical/

I read these as saying “the music will be good but you’ll never want to admit you went to the show”

MJ will always be [[The King of Pop.]] But methinks this is a bit much. Can you say oversaturation.

This is the problem with Broadway right now. Every movie, every catalog, every act, every famous person's story has to be turned into a musical and practically all of them lack substance and heart. Forget creating an original story or an adaptation of one that touches the soul like West Side Story or Rent, but rather it all seems about a flashy, jukebox musical with songs the public already knows just to make the audience feel good and make a quick buck.

While I enjoyed Motown the Musical, I don't think it was anything great of substance. The Motown story is too big for a Broadway musical to be built upon especially the one Gordy wrote. I think a better usage of the Motown catalog would be an original story utilizing the songs. I haven't seen either this Michael Jackson or the Temptations musical, but I don't think either of their stories lend itself to a musical. The Supremes' story was essentially told in Dreamgirls and that musical worked because the Dreams story [[very much like the Supremes) was riveted with drama, dynamics, and fascinating characters. Michael was certainly an interesting character and did have lot of drama surrounding his life, but none of it is musical material.

Some things are best left alone. This is one of them.

Bump: We finally went to see this last night and found it to be spectacular, for the most part. No sensationalism here, just a clear-eyed, respectful celebration. Myles Frost was pitch perfect as MJ. He earned that Tony and then some. The writing, staging and production were electrifying. The show used the catalog imaginatively and surprisingly at times with no standard “and-then-I-wrote” jukebox musical conventions.The main weak link was the performer who played MJ from ages 15 to 25. While he nailed the notes and dance moves, he went overboard with the squeaky speaking voice, giving his performance an SNL-ish feel that repeatedly elicited laughter from the audience at inappropriate moments. The director needs to dial him back. Other than that, it was epic—no pun intended.

Thanks for your review, sansradio! Glad to read that you enjoyed it :)

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Originally Posted by carlo

Thanks for your review, sansradio! Glad to read that you enjoyed it :)

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No problem, carlo! We had a blast. My sister, who’s a lifelong MJ fanatic and dancer, came all the way from Minnesota with my niece to see it with us. She turned up in full regalia—white shirt, black fedora, sparkly white socks and black loafers. She hit some moves for our cameras outside the theater, drawing a lot of smiles from passersby. She called it her “Michael-con.”😁

I love that!! She made it a night to remember :)