Since relocating to Austin, I’ve visited my hometown, NYC, for the past thirteen years to see any Broadway musical featuring a pop, rock, or jazz musician or group. For over a decade, my life as a former music critic and reporter for luminary publications such as Billboard, Circus, Record Week, and Performance revolved around music making and the artists behind the labels. Music is the lifeblood of creativity and, in my humble opinion (IMHO), the sounds of the heavens brought down to earth.
No one was better than Michael Jackson, who embodied the universality of the language of music. Across the globe, millions of fans adore him. Not only was he a permanent superstar from his young pre-teen years with the Jackson Five, but he remained so for the short duration of his life. He sold over a billion records and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I met MJ in person in LA in the Beverly Hills Hotel lobby for an interview. This was in the mid-80s, and he was accompanied by his chimp Bubbles, who lived with him at Neverland. Bubbles mischievously jumped on my lap, startling me with his weight and strength. MJ was shy and reticent in person, yet his deeply compassionate nature was translucent, and he was misunderstood or ignored by his father, the moguls in the music industry, and the press. He shined onstage in front of thousands of fans and his friends like Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, and Elizabeth Taylor. I attended Diana Ross’s free show in Central Park in that same decade. While the crowd expected Michael Jackson to appear, he did not.
The multiple Tony Award®-winning musical MJ takes audiences behind the scenes of Michael Jackson’s iconic 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Created by Tony Award®-winning Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, the show delves deeper than Jackson’s signature moves and sound, offering an intimate glimpse into the creative genius and collaborative efforts that made him a legend. MJ is captivating sold-out crowds on Broadway, across North America, and in London’s West End.
As a perfect homage to the musical genius and sad, repressed life of Jackson, Jamaal Fields-Green assumed the title role of ‘MJ’ after achieving the distinction of being the first and only person to have played the role in all three global productions: on Broadway, on the National Tour and in London’s West End. Jamaal did a spectacular job with precision dancing, glorious singing, and even the softness of his voice when he spoke, which sounded exactly like MJ. It was as if the ghost of MJ was performing onstage.
The live orchestra and band of local musicians were equally outstanding. From Blame It on the Boogie, Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, For the Love of Money, The Way You Make Me Feel, Thriller, Man in the Mirror, and Smooth Criminal, the array of MJ hits was not presented linearly. From his childhood to becoming a pop superstar, we were given three versions of MJ, sometimes at once (the young pre-teen and the twenty-something to the colossal star), and sometimes just one reflection. This allowed the audience to grapple with all the colors of MJ’s lonely life, the man in the mirror and the one onstage. The boy and his impossible task of becoming perfect for his father, and the singer who demanded the same of himself until he almost collapsed of exhaustion and pill popping to keep up the perfect act.
When Jamaal and his mother, played by Anastasia Talley, sang “I’ll be There,” we hoped for some salvation against Joe, MJ’s father, played by Devin Bowles, in a convincingly aggressive manner. The world, how Michael wanted it to be, and the protection his mother couldn’t offer yet understood was heartbreaking. The cast were outstanding, with T Josiah Benson and Bane Griffith alternating as Little Michael. Those agile boy performers blew the audience away.
Many may not know the story of Bubbles. MJ named his chimp after the late John “Bubbles” Sublett, a tap dancer who influenced Michael Jackson’s dance moves. Sublett is considered one of the most important American tap dancers known for inventing the rhythm tap. He also originated the role of Sportin’ Life in the 1935 premiere of Porgy and Bess. Jackson, Bob Fosse, and James Brown copied his tight turns, coin-flip hat tosses, and sudden stops.
MJ – The Musical plays at the Bass Concert Hall until October 13, 2024. For more information and tickets https://texasperformingarts.org/event/mj-broadway-austin-2024/
Lead photo credit to Matthew Murphy
The show runs from Oct. 8-13, 2024
Tues – Thurs at 7:30 pm | Fri at 8 pm | Sat at 2 & 8 pm | Sun at 1 & 6:30 pm
at the Bass Concert Hall located at 2350 Robert Dedman Drive, 78712
Ticketsstart at $45 and are available at www.texasperformingarts.org and BroadwayinAustin.com, by phone at (512) 477-1444, or by email: Austin.groups@broadwayacrossamerica.com