Review: MJ The Musical

On Thursday, 9th December my daughter, granddaughter and I went to watch this brand new – SOLD OUT – Broadway show. In the build up to it opening, there have been mixed opinions to how it would be – would it show Michael in a good light? Would it address his genius? Would it show the life he had? Would it address the heinous allegations against him?

The buzz in the theatre while waiting for the start was electric. There were people of all ages there, all anticipating what was to come. There were clearly fans there – t-shirts, Thriller jackets, aviator glasses, along with people who had dressed in their best for an evening out. We were sitting next to a girl and her mum. I asked her if she was a fan or just liked the theatre? Her response “I’m in theatre school, but hey, it’s Michael Jackson!”

The start is very understated – no overture or fanfare. The set is a rehearsal studio and characters enter one by one until ‘MJ’, played by Myles Frost, arrives and the tempo changes!

The show centres on MJ’s rehearsals for the Dangerous Tour with a series of flashbacks to situations in his life that clearly moulded him. From his singing of Climb Ev’ry Mountain at age 5 right upto the iconic start of the opening night of the Tour. Though some of the music is not from the Dangerous era, it is pertinent to the storyline. There are 3 actors who play MJ at different stages of his life and ‘little’ Michael , played by 13 year old Walter Russel III, will blow you away!

MJ’s music speaks for itself, and the influence of other great artists comes through. It pays homage to Fred Astaire, Bob Fosse, The Nicholas Brothers and James Brown among others and it acknowledges the great artists and music of Motown. It shows MJ’s character – his benevolence, thoughtfulness & naivety, along with showing the man who knew what he wanted artistically and his determination to have exactly what he wanted to give everyone the best show possible. The flashbacks show how he was eternally affected by the life he had, what he saw and how he was treated as a child and a young man. As a fan, his relationship with his father was a difficult watch. It also addresses Joseph cheating on Katherine and how that impacted on Michael. Katherine was not only portrayed as a loving mother, but also as an ally to Joseph, pushing Michael to do what Joseph wanted in a scene to the song ‘Money’

The allegations and prescription drugs use were there, and within the context of the show, these were important and were neither dismissed nor dwelled upon. The allegations were addressed in a simple exasperated one line to Michael “…. And about this family you want to take on Tour…”. Some critics have said the issues weren’t dealt with, but they were acknowledged, not ignored. The prescription drug use was depicted also with MJ’s character seen on two occasions ‘taking’ medication and being questioned about it. It is a show about a period in time, not specifics, so what was there sufficed.

Part of the narrative is MJ being followed by a camera crew and journalist during the rehearsals. They are quiet yet omnipresent, and even as a viewer of the show, you sometimes forget that they are there! Until of course, they see him with the prescription drugs and promise to expose him.

This is an upbeat show with some humour too. In a discussion about Michael’s insistence on having the ‘Toaster’ to pop up out of at the start of the tour show despite the cost, MJ’s character says “I have to have it or someone will give it to Prince”.

The costumes for MJ are true to what we know but the different costumes for the dancers are an acceptable change. This is not an MJ concert with MJ, its not a ‘tribute show’ it is a musical theatre show and you have to take that into account. Some of the songs were reimagined and if someone had told me this before, it would have frightened me! I’m a purist and want the music to be what MJ wanted, what I know & not “messed with”. However… Thriller was a revelation! It’s a brave move to reimagine any MJ song, but Thriller?! Not only the song, but the choreography too – but it worked and I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised! Of course parts of the original were there & the original was reprised elsewhere in the show, plus we got the voice of Vincent Price at the end echoing through the theatre.

For a fan this was a great homage.

For a non fan, this is fabulous and educational. It is definitely thought provoking. They will of course enjoy the music, but have some food for thought when they leave the theatre. Hopefully if they go away and think about what he went through & then maybe do their research, they’ll see what we as fans see.

The set is simple but effective, the costumes and changes are fabulous & the essence of MJ fills the theatre.

Myles frost is superb as Michael. Rich & Tone have worked so well with him – his talent & enjoyment for the role is clear to see – and he kicks with the correct leg! The ending, which focuses on the start of the Dangerous Tour takes you to Michael’s perspective- we, the audience, are at the back of the stage viewing a mass audience, flashing lights & chants of “Michael, Michael”. The stage is empty and you hear the wind sound building, the chants getting louder and suddenly he pops up out of the toaster! The sound effects of the theatre along with the actual audience reaction is incredible. Having been blessed enough to see the start of that tour for real, it brought back such incredible memories and was definitely a goose-bump moment. “Michael” is rotated to face us. Standing stock still, he moves his head to one side and the crowd go wild. He flicks his head to the left and slowly takes off his glasses…. and the stage goes into blackout. He’s gone.

The cast come on to take their bows and Michael’s music fills the theatre again. Every single member of the audience are on their feet singing, dancing and having a fabulous time.

I highly recommend you go and see it if you can! I hope you get the same experience as we did.

MJ: The Musical Review by Gill Roberts.

For more information and tickets to the show, CLICK HERE

Notes from MJVibe:

While the Estate joined the fans on the first preview night, Prince Jackson went to see the show few days later and a source said: “Prince was very, very, sweet. He kept saying, ‘Wow,’ and talking about how much he loved the show, loved the energy — even loved the logo.” 

After the show, Prince stuck around to say hello to some of the creatives, and chatted with them from the front row of the theater.

The star “hung around a long time after the show,” the source said, “and mentioned how he can’t wait to see it again.” 

He also snapped a selfie with a fan but he wasn’t able to meet the cast of the show as COVID restrictions prevent backstage visits. “But he kept saying he was excited to meet Myles Frost, who plays Michael, praising his ‘incredible’ performance,” the source said.

MJ The Musical shows were all sold out during the week of December 6 which helped the growth of Broadway attendees.

Broadway box office rebounded last week from the previous week’s post-Thanksgiving dive, with 32 shows taking in a total of $30,533,809 for the week ending December 12. The figure represents a boost of about 16% from the previous week.

Total attendance was up a commensurate 14% to 240,602, with an average ticket price of $127 roughly in keeping with previous weeks.

The increase also reflects the return of David Byrne’s American Utopia following a previous week of cancellations, as well as the post-shutdown return of Dear Evan Hansen and the arrival of MJ: The Musical.

MJVibe was in New York during the first week of the show previews and we tried to contact Lynn Nottage regarding her comments in 2019: ‘I think they were telling the truth.’

Unfortunately, Nottage and her team did not respond to our request. And therefore we maintain our decision to not see the show based on the continued lack of clarity on this matter.