In ‘MJ’ the King of Pop Rises Again

By Sandi Masori

SAN DIEGO —- Anyone who grew up in the 70s or 80s will recognize the soundtrack to MJ, the musical about Michael Jackson now playing at the Civic Theatre presented by Broadway San Diego.  Making use of his many hits and expansive discography, the play uses his music to narrate his life as he prepares for his 1992-93 Dangerous tour.

Right from the very beginning we learn what a perfectionist he was and how he exacting he was to work with. The show opens in a rehearsal studio where dancers are warming up. The staging is somewhat unique in that the actors are entering the stage and milling around beginning their warm ups and chatting with each other inaudibly while the audience is still entering the theater.  It makes the show feel more intimate and makes it feel like we the audience are behind the scenes and part of the crew.

The premise is that an MTV film crew has come to follow MJ (Roman Banks) around as he designs and, much to the chagrin of his manager and producer, demands his vision for the upcoming tour. In answer to interviewer Rachel’s (Ayla Stackhouse) probing questions, we are led into flashback sequences that take us through Michael’s childhood and rise to fame.  Using this device, we learn about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, and touch on his emerging opioid addiction.

To illustrate the various periods in Jackson’s life, there are three versions of Michael, “MJ” (Banks) is the Michael of the 90s,  “Michael” (Brandon Lee Harris) is a teen Michael, and “Little Michael” (Josiah Benson) covers the childhood and young Jackson 5 version.  The first half of the show delves into the more sobering parts of his life, and can feel a little sad and negative.  Not to worry though, the second act brings the energy back up and takes the audience into the triumph of Jackson’s performances.

The staging cleverly switches the differently aged Jacksons in and out, often having MJ standing in the corner watching one of his previous selves, or taking over for a younger version as the scene shifts from past to present.

While all of the actors playing the various Michael’s were fantastic singer and dancers, I particularly enjoyed “middle Michael” as portrayed by Harris. It feels like he truly embodies the Michael Jackson that we gen Xers grew up with, and I found myself wishing for more stage time from him.

Besides the on-point singing and dancing, my favorite scene with Banks is where MJ is in disguise pretending to be an old janitor to get a minute of anonymity.  He really nails this moment and it’s a welcome moment of levity in a story that is a bit darker than some may have expected.

The dancing is, wow! incredible.  The footwork is complicated and perfectly executed.  In the actor chat back after the show, many of the actors admitted that the dancing was harder to master than the singing, or as “little Michael” alternate actor Bane Griffith put it, his songs are so iconic, they’re not hard to learn, but the footwork has to be perfect. Much credit goes to the original choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.

Members of the cast also spoke about how they were inspired to go above and beyond in seeking perfection, because that’s how the real Michael Jackson was, and if he could put in that kind of effort, so could they.  The effort is noticeable, especially in the high energy performances of the second half of the show.

While there are three actors playing Jackson, there is one actor who has quite a lot of stage time in dual roles, often shifting in quick succession from one to the next. Devin Bowles pulls off the difficult transition of going from portraying Michael’s father Joe Jackson to his producer Rob seamlessly by changing his body language and tone. Unfortunately, audio issues with the notoriously difficult sound system at the Civic Theater prevented us from hearing some of his dialogue, especially in the father role.

Audio issues also plagued some of Banks’ dialogue, though his mic seemed better adjusted in the second half.

I want to give a shout out to young Bryce A Holmes for his portrayal of little Marlon, though he only has one line (as he pointed out at the chat back,) his energy and presence on stage are significant.

The set design by Derek McLane is visually stunning, making use of the LED screen and 3D projections which are complemented by drop down set pieces. The floor of the stage is mostly empty as there is so much dancing.  Though it may seem like there’s not much on the stage, head carpenter Jamie Kurtz also appeared at the chat back and shared with us that the set requires eight box trucks to hold it all, and when you consider that the floor of the stage itself is specific for that production, it’s easy to believe.

Making use of the 3D projections, there are a few scenes where the audience is again given the feeling that they are behind the scenes.  The song “Thriller” appears twice in the show.  Once from the back when we see the making of the iconic Thriller video.  It’s a really clever staging trick to have the entire cast with their backs to the audience as they perform a snippet of the very famous dance. The song then reprises in the second half as a full audience-facing number.

In all the show is incredibly well done and enjoyable.  It will leave you with earworms and a groove in your steps.  While there’s no real Jewish angle here, it happens that I saw the actual live concert of the Dangerous tour (which the show centers on) at Hayarkon Park in Israel in 1993.  Sadly I could not recount many details of the performance itself for you though, as 21-year old Sandi was far more interested in the cute Israeli security guard she was talking to throughout the show.  I do remember it being pretty awesome though.

Back to current MJ, it plays at the Civic Theatre downtown through March 10.
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Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World