Jukebox musicals have become an important slice of the pie that is the craft and business of Broadway, mixing the power of nostalgia with a wink and a nod, and a dusting of exploitation. Fueled by the adoration of the legions of pop music fans yearning for the golden years and music hits of individual performers and ensembles, these productions seem to defy their own gravity, generally enjoying surprisingly large fan bases and degrees of longevity. Shows like Mamma Mia! (Abba), Jersey Boys (Four Seasons), Beautiful, the Carole King Musical, and Ain’t Too Proud (Temptations) have defined the genre in their approach, often showcasing remarkable young talents charged with being impressive facsimiles of their subjects. And, it goes without saying that jukebox musicals must be a treat for the eye and ear, even if all that glitters is not dramatic gold.
Embracing that genre is MJ the Musical, a through-the-keyhole look at the life and music/dance of Michael Jackson that opened on Broadway in February, 2022. At the time of this writing, the show is still running at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre having surpassed 1650 performances. A National Tour production hit the road in August of 2023 and is enjoying a one-week stop in Knoxville as part of the Broadway at the Tennessee Theatre series.
Admittedly, it just feels a bit shallow to plumb the depths of Jackson’s life and career promoting his talent and professional work ethic while sanitizing the issues that made him controversial in the public’s eye—but that is exactly what the show’s creators have done. Centering the plot around rehearsals in a studio for Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour—a studio that just happens to have a very obvious mirror— the book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage establishes two narrative paths. First an interesting casting metaphor: Jackson’s tour manager Rob and Jackson’s abusive father, Joe—seen in heated flashbacks—are played by the same actor, Devin Bowles. Second, a music journalist/crew, Rachel (Kristin Stokes) and her cameraman (Kevin Cruz), are present in the studio, clearly searching for the “real Jackson story,” explanations for the rumors and truth to the innuendos and controversies of Jackson’s offstage behavior.
While Nottage clearly sought to paint Jackson as the tortured artist and the product of a harsh family background, time tends to take the starch out of both excuses and controversies. Thankfully, she and director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon hung the show on the most obvious and usable hook, spectacular song and dance numbers that both tell the cleaned-up Jackson history and entertain the hell out of the audience with eye and ear candy. Three different actors portray Jackson at different points in his life in this scheme: Little Michael (Quentin Blanton, Jr.), teen and young adult Michael (Brandon Lee Harris), and the present-day MJ (Jordan Markus). Among them, the show spins through all the big hits: “Beat it,” “Man in the Mirror,”“Billie Jean,” “Thriller,” “Black or White,” plus a host of other biggies and B-sides, that are, nonetheless, given the star treatment.
Much of that star treatment comes in the form of visual razzle-dazzle: a clever and inventive scenic design by Derek McLane that uses projections by Peter Nigrini and fabulous lighting by Natasha Katz. Costumes by Paul Tazewell run the gamut from rehearsal clothes to recreations of the well-known items. Wheeldon won a Tony for his choreography, Katz for her lighting design, and Gareth Owen for the sound design which seemed to work really well even in this road version.
Kudos also to the excellent Rajané Katurah as Katherine Jackson and to a marvelous ensemble of dancers that make the background of the music numbers come alive.
Needless to say, one will no doubt come away from MJ the Musical with eyes and ears full of glitter. It would have been nice to have a little more substance to hold on to. Every artist deserves that.
