The Broadway company of MJ
(Picture: Handout / MJ: The musical (Lewis Jenkins from Story House) Photo by Matthew Murphy)MJ: The Musical is going to premiere in the West End in March 2024, opening at the Prince Edward Theatre.
The news is likely to thrill Michael Jackson fans: the so-called jukebox musical, which follows the making of Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour, packs in his hits, and has won four Tony Awards (including for Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design) since its Broadway premiere in February 2022.
But excited fans will have to wait for a little before they can bag their spot - tickets go on sale in Spring next year.
The musical, which is being presented by Lia Vollack Productions and The Michael Jackson Estate, has a stellar team behind it: the book (the non-sung part of the musical) has been written by Lynn Nottage, the first and only woman to have won two Pulitzer Prizes for drama (for 2009 play Ruined and 2017 play Sweat) and the musical has been directed and choreographed by Royal Ballet Associate Artist Christopher Wheeldon OBE, who brought the Tony Award-winning American In Paris to the West End.
Nottage said: “As a Black musician and a pioneering voice in the music industry, Michael Jackson demanded inclusion, broke incredible barriers and in the process made indelible music that continues to resonate, delight and move listeners today.”
Wheeldon said: “Michael Jackson had a profound influence on popular culture, as well as all of us as performing artists, and this musical is an exploration of that artistic mind and a creative process which is unmistakably Michael Jackson.”
Then on top of this, scenic design is by Tony Award and two-time Emmy Award winner Derek McLane, whose past credits include Moulin Rouge! The Musical, lighting design is by six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, who worked on Once, and costume design is by Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Paul Tazewell, who worked on Hamilton.
Other members of the team include award-winning and award-nominated creatives Gareth Owen (Come From Away), Peter Nigrini (Dear Evan Hansen), Charles LaPointe (The Color Purple), David Holcenberg (Matilda) and Jason Michael Webb (The Color Purple).
While MJ: The Musical has been a smash hit at the box office, the musical has brought in mixed reviews from critics.
“MJ ends without any updates on Jackson’s life after 1992, which is likely to gratify some and infuriate others. As part of his posthumous rehabilitation effort, MJ wants you to remember all the best things about him and not dwell on what came next,” said Rolling Stone.
The Guardian echoed these sentiments, saying: “MJ the Musical is bound by design and collaboration with the estate to that request, honoured to at times mesmerizing, ultimately discomforting effect. Certainly, many viewers will abide by the same compartmentalization and have a guiltless good time, and others, myself included, will find that impossible.”
“Ultimately, the problem with “MJ” is not its ethical stance but the way that stance distorts its value as entertainment,” said The New York Times.
