He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Now, Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry is heading to the West End in the multiple Tony Award®-winning musical MJ.
Centred around the making of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into legendary status.
Created by Tony Award®-winning Director / Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ will open at the Prince Edward Theatre in March 2024.
Yet many of the details of Jackson’s sad, strange, entirely tragic story are both well known and impossible to view today entirely outside the prism of the allegations that dogged the last two decades of his life. MJ The Musical is not exactly an apologia, but while it refuses to indulge the tabloid image of Jackson as a freak, it’s arguably guilty of magical thinking in casting him exclusively as a victim. But does this make his art – as so beautifully honoured here – any less intoxicating? I’m not sure in the end it does.
A musical recounting Jackson’s fame was always going to face an awkward challenge. First, there is the issue that every jukebox musical encounters: how to squeeze well-known songs into a succinct narrative? Then there is the itch to say something fresh about a figure who was a global phenomenon, yet also notoriously enigmatic. But these problems pale in comparison to the issue of Jackson’s own legacy. He was always a man of mystery and a deeply controversial one at that. Since the harrowing 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, it is hard to ignore the repeated allegations of child sexual abuse.
2024 | West End |
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