No matter what your personal feelings are about Michael Jackson (and mine are decidedly conflicted), there’s little denying that MJ the Musical, now playing at Hollywood’s Pantages, is skillfully crafted, sensationally sung and danced, and spectacularly designed, no matter how frustratingly uncritical it is of its subject.

Then again, what diehard Michael Jackson fan wants to see their idol’s reputation dragged through the mud as it’s been since certain lawsuits first made headlines several decades back?

The year is 1992, twenty-two years since The Jackson Five hit Number One with “I Want You Back,” thirteen years since Michael went solo with hits like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You,” and ten years since Thriller won MJ a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards.

It’s also, and I’m guessing deliberately so, one year before child sexual abuse accusations directed towards Michael first surfaced, thereby allowing MJ book writer Lynn Nottage to avoid any mention of this divisive topic and concentrate on other demons plaguing The King Of Pop as he prepares for his 1992 Dangerous World Tour under the probing gazes of a (fictional) MTV interviewer and her cameraman, sent to investigate MJ’s creative process and hopefully get Michael to open up about his past and present torments, much to the notoriously private superstar’s dismay.

Flashbacks return us to the Jackson brothers’ childhood, in particular to Michael’s relationships with a tyrannical, corporal punishment-loving father and a mother whose religious beliefs kept her submissive to her overbearing, philandering spouse.

Nottage’s book then zigzags back and forth through time with Little Michael (Josiah Benson at the performance reviewed) morphing into teenage Michael (Brandon Lee Harris) who later becomes grownup MJ (Roman Banks).

As MJ overworks his backup singers and dancers in much the same way that Joseph (Devin Bowles) once did to Michael and his Jackson 5 siblings Jackie (Jay McKenzie), Tito (Josh A. Dawson, who doubles as Quincy Jones), Jermaine (Jacobi Kai), and Marlon (Jaylen Lyndon Hunter growing into Brion Marquis Watson), MTV reporter Rachel (Mary Kate Moore) and cameraman Alejandro (Da’Von T. Moody) do their best to document MJ’s every move while following his orders to keep their distance at all times.

It’s only when Alejandro’s microphone picks up staffers’ concerns about MJ’s pill popping that Rachel determines to get up-close-and-personal with Michael about this and other rumors plaguing the superstar. (Does he bleach his skin? Does he sleep in an oxygen chamber? Has he had plastic surgery?)

Does MJ The Musical dig any deeper than that? Does it depict Michael Jackson as anything other than a quirky genius? Is it at all critical of its subject?

The answer to all these questions is no, and perhaps not surprisingly so given the musical’s “Special Arrangement with the Estate of Michael Jackson.”

What MJ The Musical does offer is one showstopping song-and-dance number after another choreographed by 2022 Tony winners Christopher Wheeldon and Rich + Tone Talauega, among them “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Bad,”. “Man In The Mirror,” “Black or White,” and a cleverly staged sequence spotlighting the influence of the Nicholas Brothers (Chelsea Mitchell-Bonsu and Watson), Fred Astaire (Matteo Marretta), and Bob Fosse (Kyle Dupree) on Michael’s dance steps.

In addition, Nottage’s book scores points for avoiding a more basic, run-of-the-mill chronological timeline, and for finding ways to integrate a number of MJ hits into the storytelling, as when Katheine reassures her preteen son of her love with “I’ll Be There” or MJ opens up to reporter Rachel with “Human Nature,” while others like “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” replicate iconic King Of Pop live performances.

Though I found leading man Banks’ petite stature an ever-present distraction, particularly since virtually everyone in the cast towers over him (and I’ve never once thought of Michael Jackson as diminutive), it’s unquestionably a triple-threat star turn that replicates Jackson’s distinctive falsetto speaking voice, his dynamic, evocative pipes, and his groundbreaking dance moves.

MJ’s supporting cast—completed by Anastasia Talley (a big-voiced Katherine Jackson), J. Daughtry (Berry Gordy and Don Cornelus), Matt Loehr (accountant Dave), Malcolm Miles Young (Randy Jackson and Jackie Wilson), Kellie Drobnick, and Sarah Sigman—are uniformly topnotch under Wheeldon’s assured direction, with a standout Bowles segueing effortlessly between the overbearing Joseph and MJ’s far more deferential tour manager Rob, Moore doing a lovely job of humanizing MTV reporter Rachel, and Benson and Harris spot-on as earlier incarnations of MJ.

Adding to the production’s overall pizzazz is Derek McLane’s Tony-nominated scenic design, one that allows Peter Nigrini’s projection designs to dazzle the eyes as Natasha Katz’s flashy Tony-winning lighting design works its own wonders, and Paul Tazewell’s Tony-nominated costumes not only evoke the ‘70s, ’80s, and early ‘90s but also Michael’s distinctive looks in each of these decades.

Gareth Owen’s Tony-winning sound design may be rather deafening for those unaccustomed to musicals performed at a rock concert volume, but it suits MJ The Musical to a T, with music director-conductor-keyboardist Victor Simonson and a sometimes on-stage orchestra adding to the excitement throughout the show.

 About as review-proof as a musical can get (despite a savage New York Times write-up, the show is still running on Broadway), MJ The Musical delivers precisely what Michael Jackson fanatics have come to see. Those with a more jaundiced eye might find themselves less enamored, but it’s hard to resist the urge to stand up and cheer when the season’s hardest working cast take their bows.

Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles.
www.broadwayla.org

–Steven Stanley
December 21, 2023
Photos: Matthew Murphy

Tags: Broadway In Hollywood, Los Angeles Theater Review, Lynn Nottage, Michael Jackson, Pantages Theatre