MJ Previews — Page 7

While I have not seen MJ, I think there's something to be said for taking a very specific time in an artist's career/life (in MJ's case the DANGEROUS tour) and using that as a focal point for the book of the show. I give them props for breaking the jukebox musical mold and not trying to cram an entire life and career into 2.5 hours. Of course they probably chose this approach to not have to go into the controversies surrounding him, but, regardless, I think this sounds like a much more effective way to do jukebox musical.

This still does not appear to be selling well at all. Is the general consensus that they will stick it out at least through Spring or do people think I should brave it and see the show sometime this month?

My Jan 19 matinee was just canceled per notice from Nederlander folks. Bummer. No reason given. They offered an exchange. Was easier to take refund and get another.

I see now refunds have been extended to April 30th. Good idea.

I saw the show and didn't like it...

I thought it was boring and lazy: the story is not interesting at all, the staging is not impressive (I mean, it's MJ!), and the choice of songs is super conventional.

The only good thing is the cast and the energy. But that's not enough for me.

PM'd you

bwayphreak234 said: "While I have not seen MJ, I think there's something to be said for taking a very specific time in an artist's career/life (in MJ's case the DANGEROUS tour) and using that as a focal point for the book of the show. I give them props for breaking the jukebox musical mold and not trying to cram an entire life and career into 2.5 hours. Of course they probably chose this approach to not have to go into the controversies surrounding him, but, regardless, I think this sounds like a much more effective way to do jukebox musical."

I think this is why I enjoyed it more than I expected to. For anyone who was not around or didn't know about the mounting of the "Dangerous" tour the story may not interest them. But it has enough of his hit music to entertain. I remember the thing about the lift under the stage.

I just think the show needs a stronger book. I am also still scratching my head over the "Thriller" reprise with the "Dangerous" album cover framing the page. (The show is about the "Dangerous" tour) It was suggested they may not have had the rights to do the title song of the album but they did 3 songs from it in the show. The Estate is also behind the show so not sure why the song is not included. I know getting song rights can be tricky and fickle. But that reprise just doesn't work for me. I tried to think of a reason they did it and if it was supposed to mean something but came up with nothing!

A friend saw it tonight and was out of the theater at 10:30. So it looks like they have shaved about 15 minutes or so off of it. I got out at about 10:50.

Seeing social media posts from bunches of performers praising the show. I guess the qualms about the show even existing seems to be quashed among theatre people. Take that as you will.

uncageg said: "bwayphreak234 said: "While I have not seen MJ, I think there's something to be said for taking a very specific time in an artist's career/life (in MJ's case the DANGEROUS tour) and using that as a focal point for the book of the show. I give them props for breaking the jukebox musical mold and not trying to cram an entire life and career into 2.5 hours. Of course they probably chose this approach to not have to go into the controversies surrounding him, but, regardless, I think this sounds like a much more effective way to do jukebox musical."

I think this is why I enjoyed it more than I expected to. For anyone who was not around or didn't know about the mounting of the "Dangerous" tour the story may not interest them. But it has enough of his hit music to entertain. I remember the thing about the lift under the stage.

I just think the show needs a stronger book. I am also still scratching my head over the "Thriller" reprise with the "Dangerous" album cover framing the page. (The show is about the "Dangerous" tour) It was suggested they may not have had the rights to do the title song of the album but they did 3 songs from it in the show. The Estate is also behind the show so not sure why the song is not included. I know getting song rights can be tricky and fickle. But that reprise just doesn't work for me. I tried to think of a reason they did it and if it was supposed to mean something but came up with nothing!

A friend saw it tonight and was out of the theater at 10:30. So it looks like they have shaved about 15 minutes or so off of it. I got out at about 10:50.

I'm guessing they did it because "Thriller" is one of MJ's most well known and beloved hits, while "Dangerous" is not? I felt that the book was one of the strongest ever for a jukebox/bio musical --- FAR better than Beautiful, Jersey Boys, Tina (ugghh), Cher Show et al. I don't know anything about the book for STRANGE LOOP -- but MJ should be a frontrunner for Best Book of a Musical.

Reposting my comment from the thread "The Ushers March" :



I saw this last week and almost couldn't concentrate on the show, due to the situation with so many people disobeying the mask policy. I saw at least 25 people (yeah, I counted!) either not wearing a mask at all, or wearing it below their noses or chins. (And this was just a quick count of the people that I could see from my seat) Not once did any usher say or do anything about it, before or after the show, or at intermission. A fight broke out during the first act in the row behind me (I was sitting in the balcony) between a non-mask wearer and the very annoyed person sitting next to them. Again, the ushers were nowhere around. I spoke to the House Manager afterwards who said that it wasn't the usher's job to enforce mask wearing, and then told me that it was my fault for not bringing this to her attention sooner. Really? Nederlander customer service told me that they were "sorry" that I "felt unsafe." I felt unsafe because it was unsafe! It's really not acceptable.

JSquared2 said: "uncageg said: "bwayphreak234 said: "While I have not seen MJ, I think there's something to be said for taking a very specific time in an artist's career/life (in MJ's case the DANGEROUS tour) and using that as a focal point for the book of the show. I give them props for breaking the jukebox musical mold and not trying to cram an entire life and career into 2.5 hours. Of course they probably chose this approach to not have to go into the controversies surrounding him, but, regardless, I think this sounds like a much more effective way to do jukebox musical."

I think this is why I enjoyed it more than I expected to. For anyone who was not around or didn't know about the mounting of the "Dangerous" tour the story may not interest them. But it has enough of his hit music to entertain. I remember the thing about the lift under the stage.

I just think the show needs a stronger book. I am also still scratching my head over the "Thriller" reprise with the "Dangerous" album cover framing the page. (The show is about the "Dangerous" tour) It was suggested they may not have had the rights to do the title song of the album but they did 3 songs from it in the show. The Estate is also behind the show so not sure why the song is not included. I know getting song rights can be tricky and fickle. But that reprise just doesn't work for me. I tried to think of a reason they did it and if it was supposed to mean something but came up with nothing!

A friend saw it tonight and was out of the theater at 10:30. So it looks like they have shaved about 15 minutes or so off of it. I got out at about 10:50.

I'm guessing they did it because "Thriller" is one of MJ's most well known and beloved hits, while "Dangerous" is not? I felt that the book was one of the strongest ever for a jukebox/bio musical --- FAR better than Beautiful, Jersey Boys, Tina (ugghh), Cher Show et al. I don't know anything about the book for STRANGE LOOP -- but MJ should be a frontrunner for Best Book of a Musical."



I don't know why they did it but it just didn't feel right. Plus they had already done it earlier in the show. Dangerous spawned hits and went 8 times platinum in the U.S. alone. Worldwide it sold over 32 million copies.

I do like Jersey Boys' book. I think it is still the gold standard for Jukebox musicals.

Updated On: 1/26/22 at 02:44 AM

Fun facts about MJ The Musical

• The curtain in front of the stage has handwritten notes projected on it that audiences can see before each act starts. These notes, mainly about choreography ideas, are copied from Jackson's actual notes and are in his handwriting.
• Michael Jackson and the Dangerous World Tour were actually featured on MTV in 1992. The resulting TV miniseries, called The Dangerous Diaries, included backstage footage and snippets of his live performances. MJ The Musical isn't a direct retelling of that event, however; the MTV reporters are fictional, and their interview is inspired by multiple of Jackson's media appearances.
• The MJ The Musical creative team includes Rich and Tone Talauega as movement consultants. The Talauega brothers began as dancers on Jackson's HIStory World Tour and went on to dance and choreograph with him for years. They worked with director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon to make the choreography in MJ The Musical authentic to how the real Jackson actually danced.
• Michael Jackson is famous for naming and popularizing the "moonwalk" dance move, but did you know he also popularized the robot?
• Jackson has nearly 70 awards and honors to his name, including 15 Grammy Awards, 6 Brit Awards, a Golden Globe Award, 39 Guinness World Records, and inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame. He is also the only music artist to be inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame.

Updated On: 1/26/22 at 10:35 PM

32 million copies sold and the tour grossed $100 million bux. Such brilliant artwork.