Feb 17
2 min read
MJ The Musical.
- man. The senior Jackson made his sons practice, leaving very little
- personal time for each of the then Jackson Five. But, as Nottage points
- out, Michael, a compassionate boy, would carry many of these memories
- well into adulthood.
- THE MANY FACES OF MJ
- InMJ, we get to meet three Michaels. The oldest is the excellent Myles
- Frost. Frost has Jackson’s moves, voice, and cadence down pat. When he
- sings, his movements and energy are first-rate; conversely, he is subdued
- when not performing. Here, too, Lynn Nottage deftly brings out the soft
- side of Jackson.
- Tavon Olds-Sample plays the teen Michael, and Christian Wilson plays
- the young Michael. Under both the direction and choreography of
- Christopher Wheeldon, all three are superb in their roles. With 37 songs
- throughout the show, Wheeldon directs the three actors masterfully and
- the high-energy backup singers and dancers.MJis a first-rate, non-stop
- whirlwind of great songs and insightful storytelling of Michael Jackson,
- his family, and the very secretive performer for the two and a half
- hours.
- DEALING WITH THE WORLD
- The show starts with theDangerous Tourin 1992, and when MTV
- chooses to do a documentary on Jackson. Not sure how this will play
- out, MTV sends Rachel (Whitney Bashor) to interview the star. Jackson
- is stand-offish as he does not trust the media. Rumors at this point are
- swirling on so many levels, some are true, and others are false, yet
- Jackson never comments either way.
- We see painkillers Jackson devours due to being burned to do a Pepsi
- commercial and never fully recovering from that accident. As the
- musical alternates from when he was a child to his teens and then his
- later years, the audience puts together pieces of the puzzle about how
- Michael Jackson became the way he did. Jackson was a kind soul who
- continually wanted to grow and do so away from his family. Being a
- dutiful son, he reluctantly did a concert with his brothers rather than
- capitalize on hisThrilleralbum. Even knowing that Don King
- promoting the tour would hurt both him and his family financially, he
- still did it — in excruciating pain.
- InMJ The Musical, the audience is treated to most of his and The
- Jackson Five’s best songs: songs like “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “I’ll Be
- There,” “Rock with You,” “Smooth Criminal” and “Thriller” all brought
- the house down. Derek McClane’s scenic design, Natasha Katz’s
- lighting, and Paul Tazewell’s costumes were all right on the mark. The
- most prominent of McClane’s set was to “Smooth Criminal.” It gave a
- seedy feel to the song and yet had a jazzy feel to it at the same time.
- Tazewell gave the audience one great Jackson costume after another.
- Not to be upstaged, Katz gave us the proper in-the-moment lighting
- throughout the show.
- For more information and tickets to MJ the Musical, visit
- mjthemusical.com
- M J The Musical, Robert Massimi, Google, Behance.com, Word Press, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Broadway Shows, Nimbus Magazine, New York Lifestyles Magazine, “The Gathering”, “Hamilton”, “Swingtime Canteen”, “The Music Man”, Facebook, Hollywood.
