Finally! A show that really deserves a standing ovation! On Wednesday night’s opening of MJ The Musical at QPAC there were rolling standing ovations. Each one was well deserved. When does that ever happen?
I went along safely in the knowledge that this is a brilliant production, having seen it in London last year at the Prince Edward Theatre. It looked and sounded even better QPAC’s Lyric Theatre.
It’s all class with brilliant acting, singing, dancing and the most smoking-hot band live on stage.
Broadway sensation Ilario Grant plays the adult Michael Jackson – and his performance is flawless. It’s a big ask to portray The King of Pop, but he absolutely nails it. It’s as if he is channeling MJ and, in one way or another, he is.
Having said that, everyone in this show is brilliant and the show itself is so solid. It had to be considering that its creator is one of the world’s great choreographers, The Royal Ballet’s Christopher Wheeldon.
You might like
Everything rings true in this production, with a book by Lynn Nottage. The story is cleverly told centring on a major event – the eve of Jackson’s Dangerous world tour. Then there are flashbacks to his childhood. These flashbacks occur throughout the show and could have been clunky, but they never are.
The acting is superb and I must mention J. Daughtry for his masterful switching between two characters – MJ’s tyrannical father Joseph and MJ’s tour director Rob. His seamless transition between these two characters throughout the show is quite a feat. Conlon Bonner is excellent, too, as both Tito Jackson and Quincy Jones.
Ilario Grant is Michael Jackson for a couple of hours. He must be exhausted after every show, although he really just looked energised as he took his bows.
Oyoyo Joi is brilliant, too, as Jackson’s mum – and what a voice! Hometown hero Liam Damons plays Michael as a younger man. Little Michael is being covered by several youngsters – Blaiyze Barksdale on opening night. He had the right stuff, let me tell you.
Subscribe for updates
The story itself skirts around some of the issues that could have bogged the production down. It does so cleverly and respectfully.
Haters can hate but, for me, it is all about the music (all the major hits are covered) and Michael Jackson’s artistry. His music is part of the soundtrack of our lives. I remember when my son was at primary school he went through an MJ phase, so we played the music to and from school and we loved that.
Coming back to it again in this show makes you realise just how amazing the songs are and what an incredible performer MJ was. The spectacle of the night (and there were many) must be the exposition of Thriller, which is just incredible. The set is extraordinary.
I am not going to go through the whole cast but let me just say there are no weak links. The producers have obviously done exhaustive auditioning to get it right – and it is so right.
The music, the story, the dancing … it is the perfect confluence of all these elements. The band, under music director and keyboard player Michael Azzopardi, is key to its success and they fittingly stayed on stage at the end to blast out another tune before sliding into the wings.
The show runs through until later in May which gives you some time to see it, but do not tarry … book early and book often!
I have a strong feeling it will sell out because some folks are going to want to see it repeatedly. Like me. Well, I have seen it twice now. With some shows, once is very much enough, but not this time around. Since last night I have been driving around Brisbane to MJ … and loving it.
MJ The Musical continues at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC, until May.
qpac.com.au
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
Free to share
This article may be shared online or in print under a Creative Commons licence