MJ The Musical has brilliant songs – and one inescapable problem
MJ The Musical earned multiple standing ovations from a star-studded opening night crowd – but there’s one problem that’s hard to ignore.
Music
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When it comes to jukebox musicals, MJ The Musical – which opened at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on Saturday night – has perhaps the best pedigree there is.
The show pulls musical high points from throughout the King of Pop’s career, stretching from early Motown Jackson 5 classics to the world-conquering years of Thriller and Bad to his final major hits of the mid-90s.
They’re songs you don’t hear as often nowadays – for obvious reasons.
The 2019 documentary film Leaving Neverland, which focused on two men who allege they were sexually abused by Jackson when they were children, somewhat snuffed the public image of Jackson as a misunderstood, childlike genius that had crystallised since his death a decade earlier.
Yes, there had been allegations against Jackson for years, but Leaving Neverland was the first time they had been aired publicly in such forensic detail. For some fans (myself included), the harrowing near-four-hour doco put an almost immediate stop to the ability to enjoy Jackson’s music.
Six years on, are those of us who believe the allegations about Jackson ready to separate the art from the artist?
It’s a question that frequently makes watching MJ The Musical such an uncomfortable experience.
If you’re a fan of Michael Jackson’s music (and really, who isn’t), it’s a genuine thrill to hear his songs brought to life again in spectacular fashion – not just the iconic hits like Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough and Smooth Criminal, but less ubiquitous songs like I Can’t Help It, Stranger in Moscow and Jam.
Those early Jackson 5 hits are a huge burst of energy throughout Act 1, thanks in no small part to a terrific performance from William Bonner as “Little Michael.” Aussie Liam Damons plays MJ as a young man, and we see the hunger to cross racial barriers that pushed him from disco classic Off the Wall to becoming the biggest pop star in the world with Thriller.
The production gets into dicier territory between songs.
We meet Jackson in 1992, deep in rehearsals for the Dangerous world tour. He’s played to perfection by US import Roman Banks. His “MJ” is guarded, exacting in his perfectionism, yet playful and childlike. And it’s a bang-on impersonation, his vocals so reminiscent of Jackson’s that at times you really do forget it’s not the man himself on stage.
The show’s writer Lynn Nottage makes a couple of very vague allusions towards the allegations against Jackson in this estate-sanctioned production (one of Jackson’s children, son Prince, was even present on opening night).
During one scene, a harangued tour producer complains that Jackson’s demands are spiralling out of control, and notes that people will “ask questions” about the star’s demand to “bring a family” on tour with him as part of his entourage. The show swiftly moves on, the line left to foment in the heads of any audience members still reckoning with the allegations about Jackson’s private life that were detailed in Leaving Neverland.
Also icky is the depiction of Jackson’s adversarial relationship towards the press which comes to a head during claustrophobic musical number They Don’t Care About Us.
MJ stands at a pulpit, ready for a press conference to discuss his world tour and his charity work. But all these pesky reporters want to ask about is his private life, and the unnamed “allegations” against him. If only they’d just all leave him alone and stop snooping into his business!
It’s at this point the show begins to feel less like a harmless celebration of the star’s back catalogue, and more like a sinister exercise in rehabilitating the public image of an alleged child sexual abuser.
With a catalogue of songs like this, the many musical high points in MJ The Musical make the show an undeniable crowd pleaser – indeed, the opening night audience leapt to their feet multiple times throughout the show, high off the thrill of hearing those Jackson classics again.
Just be warned: Once the buzz wears off, you might find you feel a little dirty.
MJ The Musical is now playing at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre.
Originally published as MJ The Musical has brilliant songs – and one inescapable problem
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