Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (reviewed Wednesday 21 May 2025).
MJ The Musical presented by Michael Cassel group does what any good musical should do. It inspires, it entertains, it tells a good story. It’s also family friendly. Critics have their opinions on what it ‘should’ have included. Child molestation allegations! In a musical! The public at large already know about the trial, and most have made up their minds one way or another based on countless tabloid magazines and documentaries. We don’t presume to know the truth, but we do know that MJ is considered an icon for his millions of fans. This show is an appropriate tribute to that legacy.
MJ The Musical begins its narrative in a downtown rehearsal space, vintage 80s style, where Michael and crew are rehearsing for his upcoming Dangerous tour. Never a creature to be completely at peace, Michael is goaded by the media to come up with something new, bold and outrageous to surpass his previous records. Michael has some cool – and very costly – ideas that will blow them all away. His management team, on the other hand, want him to play it safe, to not risk professional and financial failure, and all the consequences that go with it.
The musical intertwines this version of Michael and his younger self as a member of the Jackson 5. Adult Michael is haunted by the memories of his troubled childhood, relentlessly bullied and put through gruelling rehearsals by his abusive father Joe. We see how the experience has shaped Michael into being much more than an eccentric celebrity; Michael isn’t coasting on previous success, he cares deeply about his craft and will not waste a drop of talent on mediocrity.
Critics who have dismissed this aspect of the musical as ‘victim glorification’ really do need to shut their mouths and listen more. Specifically, to the words spoken about what it means to create music from the heart. The song numbers curated from an enormous catalogue of hits are undeniable spectacular and impressive, with full throttle volume that will have you tapping away. The only quibble is that the actor playing Michael on this particular night (there is a roster) had a voice that was quite thin and hard to hear. Even when the music wasn’t playing, this actor chose to hold back rather than project his voice, which is fine if it was TV acting, but in a large cavernous theatre it didn’t quite land.
The overlap between Joe as the father figure and Michael’s tour manager, Rob, is seamlessly integrated by the same actor, providing continuity of an authority figure that Michael mercurially both respects and despises. Michael wants to be, and is, the consummate professional, but the voice of his father is always in the back of his mind, mistrusting people’s deeper motivations for wanting to get close to him, or worse, hold him back from achieving more. It almost feels like celebrity Michael cannot co-exist with private Michael; a man who wants to be left alone in his own private world to ponder and create.
Seeking to penetrate this barrier is pushy documentary film-maker, Rachel, who, along with her cameraman, is granted access to the rehearsal space for two whole generous days, during which she will film and interview Michael and find out what makes him tick. He’s not happy about her presence. He finds cameras intrusive to his creative process. This isn’t just Michael being secretive; he values the freedom of spontaneity without a camera shoved his in face to obtrusively ask him about his private life. Gradually though, Rachel’s presence draws Michael out of his shell, even if she does seem a little too triumphant at having discovered his addiction to painkillers, a dependency exacerbated by a horrific accident in 1984 during which Michael’s hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial. “I don’t drink Pepsi anyway,” quips Michael.
In this musical you get to see moments from a period of time that made Michael Jackson iconic – it wasn’t just talent, or unique physicality, or bling costuming, or catchy songs, or even dedication to hard work, but a relentless need to ‘chase his dreams like a warrior’. Jackson’s imagination, his sensitivity, his masculinity, his humanity, his undeniable charisma – are on full display. And the results of all those things is absolutely mind-blowing.
MJ The Musical is playing at Sydney Lyric Theatre in Pyrmont til 23 August. For tickets and showtimes go to https://mjthemusical.com.au/
Credits:
Cast & Creative: https://mjthemusical.com.au/cast-creative/
Images: Daniel Boud https://www.danielboud.com/