Not many musical artists are as generationally recognized and beloved as Michael Jackson. With songs like “Billie Jean” and music videos like “Scream,” Jackson has singularly carved out his mark in pop culture and music history.
With a catalog as extensive and recognizable as his, there’s very little that needs to be added. The easy cash grab would have been the standard jukebox musical.
Instead, MJ the Musical, directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon with a book by Lynn Nottage, forgoes being a Michael Jackson concert. They know that the charisma, stage presence, and essence of the man can not be duplicated.
Rather they lean on the story of Jackson. The story of the perfectionist whose grandiose visions go questioned by those who don’t yet understand the magnificence of his vision until he executes. The story of the abused child who sublimates the cruelty of his father to become the “King of Pop.”
Don’t expect to learn anything new that you didn’t already know. MJ the Musical, playing now at Broadway at the Hobby Center, dazzles. It doesn’t illuminate. His father, Joe, was abusive. His desires to breakaway from the Jackson 5/The Jacksons banner and become a solo artist were not well received from some members of his family. He and Quincy Jones created timeless albums. He was lonely and was notorious for an eccentric sense of arrested development. He had a monkey named Bubbles and a home called Neverland.
For a man who spent 40 years of his 50 years of life in the public eye, what about his life would the public not know?
What makes MJ the Musical interesting is that the public knows so much about Jackson that the subjects the musical doesn’t address are more pronounced. No mention of his children or the strange marriages. His child sex abuse allegations are vaguely mentioned simply as “the recent allegations.” The end of his life was marked by odd behaviors and plagued by addiction.
Maybe that’s why MJ the Musical starts in 1992 in the final rehearsals of his Dangerous World Tour and ends with his infamous platform jump to start the show. There isn’t a reason to address the ugly parts of Jackson’s legacy if they haven’t happened yet.
The show starts with an MTV camera crew taking footage of his rehearsing “Beat It.” Without MJ’s approval, Rob (Devin Bowles), his tour manager allows an MTV camera crew to have access to MJ while he’s preparing for the world tour. Rachel (Mary Kate Moore), the producer, intermittently asks him questions about his family and music which inevitably allow for flashbacks to his abusive childhood, his break-out as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, and his relationship with Quincy Jones.
What other musical artist can you clearly distinguish the time period in history by the jacket that they wear?
The showtime-style transitions between 1992 and the past flowed immaculately. The mobile set pieces allowed for seamless transitions between various locations. The projection design (Peter Nigrini) blended perfectly with the action happening on stage, grounding the understanding of where the stage events were happening without having to announce it.
The lighting (Natasha Katz) reveals the tenors of MJ’s lives whether through the isolated spotlight of his lonelier moments with Rachel or the stark blues in the abusive and more verbally critical moments of Jackson’s experience, to the bombastic pinks and purples when he was performing. The scintillating lights hit all registers of this production.
The double casting of Bowles as both the tour manager and Joe Jackson was deftly handled. Bowles’ ability to navigate from Rob’s caring advice to Joe’s derisive demands highlight the delicate line where abuse can be disguised as concern.
Roman Banks is fearless and undaunted in his portrayal of Jackson. Banks succeeds in capturing the delicate voice and groovy movements that MJ is known for without veering into Vegas-impersonator territory. Banks’ acting draws us into both the playful and lonely parts of MJ with equal curiosity.
The choreography carries the recognizably iconic movements without being copy-and-paste portrayals. It’s fresh and referential without trying to subvert or rewrite MJ’s original choreography.
All of his past is covered during the first act which leads to a second act that takes place primarily in 1992. Focused on preparing for the rehearsals, the show becomes a little more aimless and scenes get clunky. The music is still exciting. It’s Michael Jackson, of course.
However, the storyline from the first act doesn’t track as well in the second act without the flashbacks. The villain shifts away from Joe Jackson to the ominous and nebulous “media.” The second act meanders on MJ’s mistreatment by the media and his playfully exacting demands for perfection and extreme staging. Dangerous was the tour MJ exited off stage with a jetpack for one of his performances, after all.
The most exciting part of the second half is the reimagining of “Thriller” as a metaphor for MJ being haunted by perfectionism and criticism – all reminders of his father. The oddest choice was to have one of the last songs be “Man in the Mirror.” The song touts self-reflection and personal development as the source of changing the world’s problems, yet this show never feels like it’s reflecting on MJ’s legacy. It rarely even shows MJ reflecting on his own issues of arrested development or perfectionism.
MJ the Musical is produced “by special arrangement with the estate of Michael Jackson.” This partnership explains why certain subjects aren’t breached or questions asked. Maybe that’s the reason it’s called “MJ” and not “Michael Jackson the Musical.”
If you are expecting a well-rounded and comprehensive picture of the man, this production is not that. If you are expecting a full interrogation of the good, bad and ugly of MJ’s legacy, this production is not that. If you are expecting a celebration of the quintessential entertainer and legendary artist, then this production is precisely that. The hits will be sung. The choreography is well done. The lights, costume and design will enamor. The artistic gifts of MJ shine in all its scintillating glory.
Performances continue through November 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit thehobbycenter.org. $40-$139.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
