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Fiona Mountford's rating
, Jackson show has thrills but no plot
By
Fiona Mountford
22 Jan 2009
There is, without doubt, a musical to be written about Michael Jackson. For starters, he has produced some of the most indestructible pop songs of recent decades and, with Thriller, made the best-selling album of all time. Then, of course, there’s the always fascinating personal life: the odd family, the bizarre pets and the ever-morphing skin colour. Unfortunately, Thriller Live is not that musical.
It is instead a concert performance by a number of “lead vocalists” and astoundingly agile dancers of an eye‑watering 32 numbers connected with either his solo career or time in the Jackson 5. It’s a slick package all right, with costume changes galore, strobe lighting and video projections on a weirdly pointillist screen.
For many, however, the fact that a show whose script amounts, at most, to two pages of A4 has made it to the heights of Shaftesbury Avenue is a further sign of the hell and handcart dumbing-down of the West End.
It’s a tricky call. Even the most sceptical will quickly realise how much of Jackson’s work has seeped into the public consciousness. The hits just keep coming and we cannot help but tap our feet and jig along in our seats, or raise imaginary cigarette lighters for the drippy duo of Earth Song and Heal the World. The sheer vivacity of director/choreographer Gary Lloyd’s performers is a great tonic in these gloomy days and those dancers must surely burn more calories in an evening than most of us consume in a week.
And yet. Despite all Lloyd’s efforts at gifting each song a routine with a mini-theme, one number does tend to melt inexorably into another. For Smooth Criminal we’re in a Chicago speakeasy, all flapper dresses and trilby hats. Remember the Time has an Egyptian flavour. Man in the Mirror, with its theme of “take a look at yourself and make that change”, plays to a video montage of Jackson’s changing face, thus becoming an inadvertent paean to plastic surgery. There’s ample moonwalking to satisfy the faithful.
Occasionally, there arrives a cursory fragment of between-numbers narrative. “His [Jackson’s] message of peace, unity and world betterment is something we should all strive for” is one such example, making us glad that these interludes don’t come very often.
Kieran Alleyne as the young Jackson and former 5 Star singer Denise Pearson stand out among the strong-voiced vocalists. Thrilling, certainly, but empty, too.
Booking to April 12. Information: 0844 412 4661, www.nimaxtheatres.com/thriller
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (9)
Awful. Painful to watch. Mediocre dancers donning sparkles and spangles and lycra (when did Jacko wear neon lycra??) and shrieking at the audience whilst grabbing their crotches. Fake American-ish accents coupled with camel toe made this a very long 2.5 hours.
Good points - the young Jackson 5 Michael - Keiron Alleyne and Ricko Baird's performances. Although these guys weren't in it nearly enough...for some reason a female pop idol reject had the majority of the lead vocal. And not enough range to carry it off. True Jackson fans will cringe at this almost dire exploitation of his followers.
Also - the theatre is horrible. Horrible. Pee before you leave.
- Disappointed, South Coast, UK, 30/05/2010 19:44
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Don't waste your money going to see this! Terrible and not value for money. Much better to go and see Lion King, which we did as well. Compared to this, Lion King demonstrated how good a London show can be.
- Michael Ousby, Blackburn UK, 18/05/2010 01:08
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I saw this show last year (2009). It's not what I expected, I wanted a life story, something that was compelling. However, this show literally just plays his music. You may aswell stay in doors and play his albums. If you are a big MJ fan, don't expect nothing else but to here just his music - no storyline about his life, being raised through Motown, becoming famous, getting married, children, acusations.... nothing - just his music. Then again, I guess that's what he's best remembered for? I'd rate it 4/10.
- Ben, London, 02/04/2010 11:23
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Terrible. The singing was decent but the dancing was truly awful. We left at intermission.
- Megan, London, UK, 13/09/2009 21:21
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Susan i think you will find if you went to see the show its a whole lot different from 2006 , everything. And it didn't vanish, it went to europe.
It is a great show, great band, great singers, great dancers, a great night out for anyone wanting to celebrate the king of pop, rock and soul.
- James, London, 02/07/2009 14:35
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I saw this in 2006 at the first showing. It was awful and although I tried to complain to the organisers, no response was received and no refund. We were charged £30 per ticket. The show started late, was unco-ordinated, the electrics did not work all the time and the cast did not know where they should be. I found out in the interval that there had been no dress rehearsal and that was the first time all the cast had been together at one time. The singing was dire, there was no story, the dancing was nothing like Jacko. I have seen MJ live at Wembley and was disappointed at the amount of time he spent off stage changing outfits - one song on, one song recorded while he changed. Other entertainers provide better value for money - Elton John, The Eagles, the list is endless. The organisers tried to put on Thriller last year - UK tour but it vanished without any review - they probably think 3rd time luck!
- Susan, Wimbledon, UK, 30/01/2009 22:46
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It has no story, its no Mama Mia, its no We will Rock You, but if you want a great night out with all of Jacko's hits this is for you. What they do, they do brilliantly!, would recomend to anyone who needs the 'feel good factor', you'll have it after this!, because at this time we could all do with some!.
- Gary Cabell, Sherborne, Dorset., 25/01/2009 22:20
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This was the THIRD time I have seen the show as I saw it twice when it was on tour and this time it was even better!! I have never seen Jacko live and probably never will as I doubt he will tour again so I think this is the closest I willever get. Four of us went this time and we all loved it, up on our feet dancing. The show is brilliant, the dancers were fab and of course the songs were great! The young kid who played the young Michael was superb and so so so cute. I watched the show with a smile on my face the entire way through. I like the fact that there is no "story, acting" - I love Jacko and love his music so I loved the show!!!!!!!
- Laura Gaines, London, 23/01/2009 17:46
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This wasn't what I was expecting at all. There wasn't a story, there wasn't a
pretend Michael Jackson and very few special effects. But what a cracking night out, a real feel good show. This is a hard working top quality cast, top quality singing and dancing, top quality live musicians and costumes. It is packed with songs, some long forgotten by me but a good reminder. I absolutely LOVED IT. I was never a particular Michael Jackson fan but the show made me retrospectively appreciate how prolific and talented he was.
- Janice Riddell, Orpington, 22/01/2009 19:07
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