MJ THE MUSICAL

Prince Edward Theatre

★★★

“a stellar cast and jaw-dropping technical wizardry”

Michael Jackson is one of the most chronicled yet enigmatic pop icons in history. ‘MJ the Musical’ attempts to demystify the legend, exploring the demons that haunt his artistic genius. Despite this ambition, the production only partially succeeds in illuminating a tortured soul, ironically lacking a little heart itself.

‘MJ the Musical’ rewinds to 1992, detailing the tense lead-up to the legendary Dangerous World Tour. Ambition collides with adversity, mounting pressures threatening to derail MJ’s exacting artistic vision. He’s plagued with traumatic flashbacks to his troubled upbringing, and we see the ‘man in the mirror’ as damaged and doubtful, striving for absolute perfection at any cost. Still, a quiet hope lingers. Will it find its voice?

Written by Lynn Nottage, the show has a stylised flair, shifting seamlessly between real-time and flashbacks through a single actor who plays both Jackson’s domineering father and concerned choreographer. The result is a Jekyll and Hyde-esque switch between tenderness and tyranny with an intrusiveness echoing buried trauma. The narrative drive is less strong, sticking to a narrow window in Jackson’s life which sidesteps later controversy. The continued flashbacks start to feel repetitive, despite ending with a slightly more nuanced scene. The dramatic tension goes nowhere: a climactic, nightmarish ‘Thriller’ is followed by a beautiful but narratively underwhelming ‘Man in the Mirror’ (cue megamix). A documentary crew sneaking incriminating footage raises the stakes, only to fizzle out in a rose-tinted dreamscape. The result is a flat emotional arc despite literally being in his head.

Christopher Wheeldon’s direction is sharp, bringing out standout performances across the cast. Scenes are seamlessly integrated with technical elements, the ambitious staging mirroring the scale and spectacle of Jackson’s historic tour. Though the shift to the Hollywood Hills during the final interview, while visually striking, feels a little ungrounded. Wheeldon’s real strength (rightly recognised with an Olivier) is the choreography, moving fluidly through time and space while delivering iconic moves we know and love. It’s sharp, rhythmical and complex, seamlessly blending storytelling into the dance itself.

With music, orchestrations and arrangements by David Holcenberg, Jason Michael Webb and Strange Cranium, the show delivers fantastically rich renditions of Jackson’s pre-1992 classics. The medleys are a particular delight – flashy, fun, and offering welcome reprieve from the confines of the studio. Unusually for a jukebox musical, the songs don’t feel shoehorned in, the rehearsal framework instead offering more freedom. That said, one strength of jukebox musicals is casting familiar songs in new lights, and while ‘Thriller’ is delightfully distorted, most of the other songs remain faithful to their original interpretations.

The technical and design aspects are phenomenal, with scenic design (Derek McLane), lighting (Natasha Katz), sound (Gareth Owen), projection (Peter Nigrini), costume (Paul Tazewell), make up (Joe Dulude II), and wigs and hair (Charles G. LaPointe) uniting in an impressive feat of creativity and execution. The sheer variety is mindboggling, let alone their impeccable delivery. My favourite moment is the ending – no spoilers – which is everything it’s hyped up to be before collapsing in on itself like a black hole. Stunning.

The cast is superb overall, with Jamaal Fields Green and Mitchell Zhangazha absolutely nailing Jackson’s speech, dance and gentleness while delivering flawless vocals. Matt Mills rises to the challenge of the demanding Joseph Jackson/Rob, switching effortlessly between cold and considerate with rich vocals to boot. The ensemble shines in diverse dance styles and heartfelt vocals, though larger numbers lag slightly behind the band. The on- and offstage band is superb, driving the energy throughout.

‘MJ the Musical’ delivers a heartfelt if slightly sanitised glimpse into the mind of a controversial man. It shoots for perfection, landing sheer spectacle, a stellar cast and jaw-dropping technical wizardry. But when it comes to emotional depth, it pulls its punches. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Just don’t expect to learn more about the King of Pop than you already knew.

MJ THE MUSICAL

Prince Edward Theatre

Reviewed on 15th October 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Matthew Murphy

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DEAR ENGLAND | ★★★★★ | October 2023

AIN’T TOO PROUD | ★★★ | April 2023

MJ THE MUSICAL

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Piccadilly Theatre

Reviewed – 20th January 2022

★★★

“this would make a really fun proper knees-up sing-along if that’s the direction they wanted to go in”

When Moulin Rouge was released in 2001 it put its very best foot forward with an absolute dream team of Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce, Craig Armstrong, Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo, and Richard Roxburgh to name a few. For goodness sake, even Kylie Minogue featured for a second (“I’m a green fairy!”) Not only that, but it apparently took Luhrmann over two years to gain the rights to the most carefully curated track list, featuring some of the biggest songs of the century. So, with all that in mind, Moulin Rouge: The Musical faces a tremendous amount of pressure. How on earth could you make a version of a Baz Luhrmann production and make it better, even make it just as good?

Filing into the theatre, the staging already promises a lot, with tens of floor-to-ceiling light-encrusted ruby red hearts sitting nestled within one another; an enormous adorned elephant bedecks the royal box, and opposite, the iconic windmill spinning lazily. Emblazoned in bright lights across the front of the stage, ‘MOULIN ROUGE’. As the audience shuffles past one another, holding plastic cups of wine, taking off their giant winter coats and shoving them under their chairs, dancers move in seductive slow-motion across the stage and around the front rows, in encrusted velvet corsets and top hats, crescendoing with two low-key sword swallowers before its even begun. It’s all very alluring, and the first song, ‘Lady Marmalade’ is the perfect smutty number to introduce us properly, filthy-sexy and so much fun.

But as the play unfolds, unfortunately it doesn’t quite keep up, with some songs merely echoing the film’s outrageous performances, and others bizarrely saccharine or, quite frankly, just not good enough.

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It’s a strange beast in that it doesn’t quite know what it is. On the one hand, Derek McLane’s gloriously over-the-top, no-holds-barred stage design, and Catherine Zuber’s saucy, sexy, sometimes lurid, sometimes lavish costumes are the stuff of the very highest production value. On the other hand, there’s something disturbingly panto about some of the performances, the leads feel a bit- dare I say it- Disney in their wholesome asexual chemistry, and the additional songs not included in the movie are presented like a sing-along; rather than being cleverly and carefully chosen and then moulded to suit the story’s palette, they seem to clash. In the second half, for example, the morning after Satine has had to break Christian’s heart and pretend she doesn’t love him because otherwise the Duke’s going to have him murdered; it’s a pretty tense and heavy moment. Christian starts singing Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ with all the melodrama of a fourteen-year-old Glee member, and the audience takes their cue and joins in! Not only are they clapping along, they’re bloody singing! At near on the saddest part of the whole story.

That’s not to say there aren’t flashes of flamboyant ecstasy: Clive Carter’s Harold Zidler, despite doing a sort of impression of Jim Broadbent’s performance, is delightfully sinister and scornful, and contributes a slightly different flavour to the complicated character.

The end of the Elephant Medley is pretty spectacular, Satine’s room spinning to reveal a starlit night sky, the Eiffel tower being rolled on by eight extra dancers, and quick sparkling costume changes for both leads as they climb the miniature landmark. Two aerialists spin elegantly from the ceiling as Satine and Christian sing the last high notes together, “How wonderful life is now you’re in the world”, and the chorus stares lovingly on. It’s just so ridiculously excessive, I love it.

I think this would make a really fun proper knees-up sing-along if that’s the direction they wanted to go in; a great night out with the girls, belting ‘Baby you’re a firework’ and ‘Single Ladies’.

Alternatively, it could do what it looks like it should and be properly debaucherous and depraved, and the subject handled with a lot more grit and seriousness. I don’t want to hear Satine saying “I can’t go back to the streets!” and Christian responding with a fatuous “Then come with me to the stars!” Dude, she’s talking about a life of prostitution and homelessness. What are you talking about??

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MJ THE MUSICAL

★★★

Prince Edward Theatre

MJ THE MUSICAL

Prince Edward Theatre

★★★

“a stellar cast and jaw-dropping technical wizardry”