MJ: The Musical: The Art of Michael Jackson

If you love Michael Jackson, you will love MJ—it’s that simple. The musical limns the controversial performer’s rise to “King of Pop,” avoiding the more difficult challenges of his personality in favor of music and dance—it’s that simple. Not that the star’s dependence on pain killers is not a significant plot issue—it’s that plot is not really significant. You do hear the word accusers—once—but that particular untoward issue is not a part of Lynn Nottage’s book either. If you are of the mind that he should be cancelled, shove it. MJ is not about that, but about his art. 

Taking place in a rehearsal studio in 1992 Los Angeles, --along with an ensemble of talented singers and dancers—Michael Jackson is rehearsing for his “Dangerous” tour. A film crew follows him around, hoping to get more of his personal side in an interview. Everyone’s concern for his demons is out front, getting at his opioid consumption and how that’s wrecking the schedule, not to mention the budget—but wisely, the music and dance, everything you know and love, shapes the origin myth, with first-rate staging, and Christopher Wheeldon’s brilliant choreography and direction.

 Flashbacks to childhood and his dad’s tyranny, his supportive mom Katherine, working with Berry Gordon and Quincy Jones, and early influences: James Brown, the Isley Brothers, The Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire and Bob Fosse among them—provide sufficient grounding for the extravagant musical numbers. You get the standards: “Bad,” “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” “Black or White,” “Thriller,” and much, much more. Apparently, armies of Jackson imitators entertain on TikTok, but, in his Broadway debut, the gifted Myles Frost brings the performer home with his vocals and moves. He captures the nuance of his art. Younger Michaels, Tavon Olds-Sample and, on the night I was there, Christian Wilson, do fine work, both new to Broadway as well. 

Mainly it is Michael Jackson’s genius that is the star, as this jukebox musical rises above the convention, focused as it is on the real “demon,” the inner imperative to demand of himself the perfection of his dreams and visions. Simply good enough is not an option. By the finale, the audience leaps to its feet.