MJ Previews- Page 2

[Tjlovesmusicals]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 9:28am

Have we heard anything about rush / lottery yet?

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 5:37pm

Is anyone going to first preview tonight? 

[teos]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 6:59pm

There is a picture of the stage on MJ's FB page. It looks nice.

 

[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 7:30pm

In line for the first preview! The line goes down 52nd from the theatre, around the corner down 9th, and around the corner again down 51st. Finally starting to move forward just as some rain is starting. The hype is real!

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 7:52pm

From Instagram:

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[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 7:55pm

Some cast is walking around the stage behind a transparent screen that has some handwritten lyrics. They’re acting as if they’re arriving for a rehearsal (since most of the show reportedly takes place in MJ’s studio). Love before-the-show kind of stuff.

[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 9:29pm

Really interesting so far! The show balances between showing the creative process of the 1992 Dangerous Tour rehearsals (though a lot of the cast is dressed a bit too modern, especially the MTV reporter), and showing us the progressing of MJ’s career from the beginnings of the Jackson 5 through Thriller (Bad is mentioned in a sentence at the end of the Thriller medley showing that era, but so far seems oddly glossed over - maybe they’ll go back to it in Act 2).

 

The transitions between past and “present” (1992) are done via topics brought up in the interview between MJ and the reporter. The cast doubles between being MJ’s crew and figures from his past, which creates some very interesting moments (especially Rob the tour manager sometimes being an echo of MJ’s dad Joe, who he also plays - MJ’s dad trauma definitely gets touched on often to show the pressure he feels about the tour).

 

Some songs are done via rehearsal (though surprisingly not many), some are done as live performances during the scenes set in the past, and some are used in a more traditional musical way as a way of conveying how a character is feeling in the moment (which works in some ways, but other songs like Stranger In Moscow feel a bit awkwardly squeezed in).

Everyone is giving stellar performances. All three MJ’s - child, 20-something, present - are amazing, with leading man Myles really nailing his voice and mannerisms. The actor playing child MJ is also quite extraordinary, but really, all three shine.

Excited for act two to see how much more of the past gets explored, and also how they fit in songs whose eras already passed in the narrative like Billie Jean and Thriller. Joe’s character sometimes echoes Thriller in his laugh and the music under him, so I’m curious to see how that really gets explored later (if it does at all).

Bring on act two!

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 11:19pm

Thank you rpvee2...waiting to read your assessment of 2nd act.

Looking forward to seeing it next week.

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 11:50pm

Thank you for the detailed review! Did they sing I’ll Be There? 

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 11:52pm

Updated On: 12/9/21 at 11:52 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 12:06am

spicemonkey said: "Thank you for the detailed review! Did they sing I’ll Be There?"

"I'll Be There" is indeed part of the song list. In the MJ Playbill, the songs are listed in alphabetical order (a la Mamma Mia!), rather than separated by act. 

[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 1:09am

Wow, lots to unpack. Here are my thoughts on Act 2, and the show as a whole, as a continuation of my last post.

I think Act 2 was weaker than Act 1 and showed the general weakness of the show’s plot. The show’s story threads as a whole can be broken down into:

-An MTV reporter and her fanboy cameraman (who doesn’t do much to be honest) get permission to film two days of rehearsals for MJ’s 1992 Dangerous Tour, but she wants more of an inside scoop than just rehearsals. She wants drama.

-MJ is haunted by PTSD from his father’s career-long abuse in the name of making his sons perfect performers, consequently causing MJ to want nothing but perfection in the Dangerous Tour, even if at his own mental expense and possible bankruptcy.

-MJ’s tour directors are frustrated by his perfectionist-to-a-fault nature as they try to reason with him, while also concerned about his addiction to painkillers caused by the infamous 80’s Pepsi commercial accident where he suffered terrible scalp burns.

-Like I said in my first post, as the MTV reporter questions MJ throughout the show, the show uses his answers as segues to both go through his career from childhood to present and to show his father continually haunting him to be perfect.

The only issue is, these plots don’t entirely resolve. In the order of the above plot threads (some spoilers):

-The reporter overhears the managers talking about MJ’s painkiller addiction and is thrilled to have the scoop she wanted, but she soon bonds with MJ when he shows her how he sees the world via the song “Human Nature” (featuring a strange Hollywood paradise realm - I didn’t entirely understand what they were going for with it). Yet, near the show’s end, the reporter tells MJ that she needs to be honest in her MTV piece and that he needs to expect what’s coming. As far as the show implies by the end, MJ is still addicted and will get exposed on MTV by the reporter…?

-MJ’s father haunting him is the only thread that gets real resolution. It culminates in “Thriller”, which takes place in a wild literal circus in MJ’s mind that has his father become a dark circus master controlling him as a puppet, with zombies in decayed MJ costumes crawling around them. This ends with MJ facing a projection of his father’s glowing eyes on a big curtain, which he tears down - seemingly overcoming his father’s ever-looming pressure to be perfect as reality returns around him.

-As the culmination of the directors’ financial worries, MJ decides to mortgage his (in)famous Neverland Ranch to help fund the tour. He’s warned repeatedly that if the tour fails, he’s done for after such a risky move. This is never addressed again. The show ends with the launch of the Dangerous Tour, and I guess the audience is meant to assume all went well and he made the money he needed - but that happy ending isn’t done in a way that I’d say it felt wrapped up.

Generally, the show could use some tightening and clarifications story-wise, but there’s no denying the talent at hand, especially that of lead man Myles in his Broadway debut. His MJ impression, both in behavior and singing, is off the charts. The rest of the cast was stellar too, especially Ayana George as MJ’s mother (her duet with child MJ after his father first hits him, “I’ll Be There”, was incredibly heartwarming and her voice was insanely good).

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, some songs seemed squeezed in just to be there. A surprising number of them were used to convey a character’s feelings rather than being performed in the real-world moment, but they didn’t always entirely land, like “Stranger in Moscow”, which felt rather abrupt to show that MJ was feeling frustrated. But when those kinds of numbers did land, they made for some really interesting moments, like a mashup of “Earth Song” and “They Don’t Care About Us” during a press conference that had MJ try to bring attention to climate issues while the press only nagged him with tabloid-esque questions (this ended Act 1). Another neat example was the use of relatively deep cut “Money” as the Jackson family pressured MJ to join the Victory Tour.

Otherwise, songs were presented as performances in scenes set in the past, or as rehearsals in the “present”. Usually this worked well enough, but the very beginning of Act 2 was arguably the weakest moment story-wise because it was a rehearsal moment that was there purely just for show, without any insight into the tour’s development like the other rehearsal numbers had. It began with MJ rehearsing “Billie Jean”, which drove the crowd wild (and boy did we all go wild several times thanks to the stellar performances), but the song was cut surprisingly short (and sorely lacked the iconic drum-only dance solo that would traditionally end the song live on MJ’s actual tours). Then the brief “Billie Jean” transitioned into a tribute to some artists who inspired MJ. That tribute then evolved into a full performance of “Smooth Criminal” - which I think should’ve been shortened to allow Billie Jean to be longer - with the set transforming into a city street full of neon signs. I had a suspicion as to how all this theatricality would fit into the story, and sure enough, when the song ended, the tour managers came out to say “yeah, we can’t afford this” as the neon signs flickered out and were pulled away. A 10-ish minute theatrical intro to Act 2 was nothing but MJ’s budget fantasy, for the pure sake of having a theatrical moment that didn’t evolve the story. It felt like a very weak way to include those two classic songs and a grandiose set (one they’ve already promoted in photos).

Anyway, sorry for the long post. As a whole, this is definitely worth seeing for the performances, some amazing choreography, incredible audience energy, and solid arrangements of classic songs. But I do think the story needs tightening and more motivation, some outfits were too modern, and the reasoning for some songs’ inclusion should be more polished (and “Billie Jean” needs to be longer, at least with the famous dance solo).It was also disappointing that my favorite song, “Black Or White” (the biggest hit of the Dangerous era, I might add) was only used as part of the curtain call medley, though at least most of the song was used. Lastly, I think the music was way louder than a normal Broadway show and could’ve been lowered considerably.

It was a super fun time as a whole, and I’m excited to see how the show develops.

I’m sure more thoughts will come to me, but for now, that’s all, folks!

Updated On: 12/7/21 at 01:09 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 1:55am

Updated On: 12/9/21 at 01:55 AM

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 2:02am

Whitney Bashor plays the reporter, I assume?  Does she actually sing anything in the show, or is it one of those thankless roles that doesn’t do much except move the plot along?   I saw she was doing the show (I loved her in Bridges of Madison County), but couldn’t figure out what she might be doing in this piece. 

[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 2:03am

uncageg said: "Well now I am really interested in seeing this. I was going to post yesterday that I was wondering if they were going to focus on his addiction after the Pepsi accident. Was hoping for a lot of music from Off The Wall, Thriller, BAD and Dangerous. Looks like they went forward to his next album for music. I hope I like it enough to see it later in previews or after it opens to see if they tighten things up. I didn't realize it had such a long preview period."

I wouldn’t say the addiction was “focused” on. It was a plot point, but it never went anywhere or got explored deeper, unfortunately. That said, with the lead character named MJ’s subtle hiding of a pill bottle from other characters, and the on-stage band being rolled out on a moving platform, I was reminded of Jagged Little Pill a little bit. xD

The music they used goes across MJ’s entire discography from when he was alive. Any post-‘92 songs were used to represent a character’s internal monologue, which was a clever way of being able to fit in tunes that otherwise didn’t exist yet.

[rpvee2]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 2:06am

jakethesnake said: "Whitney Bashor plays the reporter, I assume? Does she actually sing anything in the show, or is it one of those thankless roles that doesn’t do much except move the plot along? I saw she was doing the show (I loved her in Bridges of Madison County), but couldn’t figure out what she might be doing in this piece."

Yes, she’s the reporter (Rachel). She duets with MJ a couple times, most notably on Human Nature and Black or White, but she doesn’t have her own number. That said, she does have a lot of dialogue.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 7:09am

Jordan Levinson said: "spicemonkey said: "Thank you for the detailed review! Did they sing I’ll Be There?"

"I'll Be There" is indeed part of the song list. In the MJPlaybill, the songs are listed in alphabetical order (a laMamma Mia!), rather than separated by act."

So, can we have a photo of the songlist, or a link to it? Hopefully the Jackson estate won't be harsh on songlist leakers...

 

Aside from You-Know-What, the main issue with the project is that MJ's life story is (phenomenal levels of success aside) an incredibly miserable one. There is a lot of dramatic potential in mining the contrast between the marvellous fantasies MJ created and the depressing reality, but I don't think MJ's estate would really allow that to be explored in too harsh a light....

However, some of the ideas here are interesting, and of course, you can't go wrong with the songs (I hope "Man In The Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" made it in!) I'll keep an eye out for more info.

Even accepting the fact this is a major blockbuster going straight to Broadway w/out tryouts elsewhere, an 8 week preview period feels way too excessive for me, esp. in these uncertain times...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 7:45am

I'm not sure what the long preview period has to do with "these uncertain times."  It will matter VERY little to any audience member....and ticket prices are the same either way.  Unless it's proven to be an actual blockbuster, then prices will rise - regardless of which side of opening night they are purchased for.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 7:55am

dramamama611 said: "I'm not sure what the long preview period has to do with "these uncertain times." It will matter VERY little to any audience member....and ticket prices are the same either way. Unless it's proven to be an actual blockbuster, then prices will rise - regardless of which side of opening night they are purchased for."

Fair point, but there is always a little bit of me that feels productions will be incomplete without an official opening night. The sooner you get it out of the way, the less chance there is of it being delayed by COVID-related disruptions

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 8:21am

BritCrit said: "Jordan Levinson said: "spicemonkey said: "Thank you for the detailed review! Did they sing I’ll Be There?"

"I'll Be There" is indeed part of the song list. In the MJPlaybill, the songs are listed in alphabetical order (a laMamma Mia!), rather than separated by act."

So, can we have a photo of the songlist, or a link to it? Hopefully the Jackson estate won't be harsh on songlist leakers...



Aside from You-Know-What, the main issue with the project is that MJ's life story is (phenomenal levels of success aside) an incredibly miserable one. There is a lot of dramatic potential in mining the contrast between the marvellous fantasies MJ created and the depressing reality, but I don't think MJ's estate would really allow that to be explored in too harsh a light....

However, some of the ideas here are interesting, and of course, you can't go wrong with the songs (I hope "Man In The Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" made it in!) I'll keep an eye out for more info.

Even accepting the fact this is a major blockbuster going straight to Broadway w/out tryouts elsewhere, an 8 week preview period feels way too excessive for me, esp. in these uncertain times..."

This was featured on a TikTok from someone that was there.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 8:36am

Jordan Levinson said: "BritCrit said: "Jordan Levinson said: "spicemonkey said: "Thank you for the detailed review! Did they sing I’ll Be There?"

"I'll Be There" is indeed part of the song list. In the MJPlaybill, the songs are listed in alphabetical order (a laMamma Mia!), rather than separated by act."

So, can we have a photo of the songlist, or a link to it? Hopefully the Jackson estate won't be harsh on songlist leakers...



Aside from You-Know-What, the main issue with the project is that MJ's life story is (phenomenal levels of success aside) an incredibly miserable one. There is a lot of dramatic potential in mining the contrast between the marvellous fantasies MJ created and the depressing reality, but I don't think MJ's estate would really allow that to be explored in too harsh a light....

However, some of the ideas here are interesting, and of course, you can't go wrong with the songs (I hope "Man In The Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" made it in!) I'll keep an eye out for more info.

Even accepting the fact this is a major blockbuster going straight to Broadway w/out tryouts elsewhere, an 8 week preview period feels way too excessive for me, esp. in these uncertain times..."

This was featured on a TikTok from someone that was there."

Amused to see two songs from The Wiz on there...

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 9:07am

I've noticed the onstage band in a few of the pre-show and curtain call pics. Do they slide in and out during the show? 

Also, I'm curious as to the tone of the show. Are there moments of humor? Seems like a like of sad stuff going on.

[bearhorn]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 9:19am

It’s impossible to include all the hits from an artist like MJ, but here’s some notable (Top 10) omissions:

 

Got To Be There

Ben

Never Can Say Goodbye

Enjoy Yourself

Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)

Off The Wall

PYT (Pretty Young Thing)

Say, Say, Say

I Just Can’t Stop Loving You

The Way You Make Me Feel

Dirty Diana

Remember The Time

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 10:09am

BritCrit said: "dramamama611 said: "I'm not sure what the long preview period has to do with "these uncertain times." It will matter VERY little to any audience member....and ticket prices are the same either way. Unless it's proven to be an actual blockbuster, then prices will rise - regardless of which side of opening night they are purchased for."

Fair point, but there is always a little bit of me that feels productions will be incomplete without an official opening night. The sooner you get it out of the way, the less chance there is of it being delayed by COVID-related disruptions"

 

No matter what happens covid-wise, the show will always get an opening night - regardless of whether it ends up being postponed.  And it will be a big deal, no matter what.

 

[BritCrit]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 10:19am

dramamama611 said: "BritCrit said: "dramamama611 said: "I'm not sure what the long preview period has to do with "these uncertain times." It will matter VERY little to any audience member....and ticket prices are the same either way. Unless it's proven to be an actual blockbuster, then prices will rise - regardless of which side of opening night they are purchased for."

Fair point, but there is always a little bit of me that feels productions will be incomplete without an official opening night. The sooner you get it out of the way, the less chance there is of it being delayed by COVID-related disruptions"



No matter what happens covid-wise, the show will always get an opening night - regardless of whether it ends up being postponed. And it will be a big deal, no matter what.

"

 

I don't think anyone is willing to endure another 20 month wait, even if vaccinations/treatments/decreased death rates make it less likely. And "Sing Street" is still waiting for a theatre...