THRILLER Live could have been more thrilling

So, I am very passionate about certain things or people (as everyone clearly knows by now) and Michael Jackson is one of them. I basically grew up with Michael Jackson’s music, dancing to The Way You Make Me Feel with my girlfriends at the 6^th grade talent show, watching my junior high boyfriend perform the moonwalk for me (he later turned out to be gay, but that is neither here nor there), and watching YouTube clips of his incredible 1995 MTV VMA’s performance. I love everything ‘pop’, so I am naturally attracted to Michael Jackson, who was the undisputed King of Pop. On the second day we were in London, we took a coach tour and I saw the flashy billboard for Michael Jackson’s Thriller Live. Immediately excited, I knew I would have to go see the production. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found anyone who shares my love of all things MJ, so, being a highly dedicated fan, I ventured out to see this performance by myself.

I wasn’t quite sure what the format of this production would be, but I did expect to see plenty of Michael Jackson impersonators. I wanted the actors to sing and dance exactly like Michael and even mimic his lightening skin tone throughout the years. This is probably where I set myself up for disappointment. Basically, the show was a concert and featured singers/dancers who chronologically featured Michael’s songs from the Jackson 5, through the disco era and Off the Wall album, all the way to the Thriller album when MJ was a worldwide sensation. The performance was interjected with an MC noting the important accomplishments of Michael’s life and interacting with the audience. It was certainly an interesting format and I thought parts of it worked well. The performers were all highly talented, but it seemed that they each had certain strengths and were not multi-faceted. For example, during the Smooth Criminal number, a Michael Jackson lookalike was in Michael’s classic white suit performing Michael’s recognizable dance moves, but he wasn’t actually singing. The singer was standing on the side of the stage not moving at all. This happened in a lot of songs, where the main performer would be either singing or dancing, but not both. It made me realize how talented Michael really was and that the King of Pop will never be duplicated in any performance.

I was impressed with the singing during the performance, I felt that all of the performers were very talented and some of the men sounded exactly like Michael himself. However, I wish they looked more like MJ. If I closed my eyes during the whole thing, I would probably believe that it really was him on stage. But some of the people singing didn’t really fit Michael’s ‘look’ at all. One of them had a more burly build, one was a woman, and another was bald. I personally think that I would have been more emotionally attached to the performance had the singers and dancers resembled Michael a little more. Then again, the brochure does remind patrons that they aren’t trying to impersonate Michael himself, so perhaps I should have read the brochure before the performance.

I don’t want to make it sound like the entire show was a disappointment, which it certainly was not. I really liked the costumes aspect of the show, because many of them were quite accurate. The Jackson 5’s bellbottom and plaid ensembles were hilarious and authentic, and Michael’s famous red leather jacket and pants from the Thriller music video were duplicated as well. I really liked this because it gave the show a genuine feel. The outfit that Michael wore during Billie Jean was also historically accurate – black pants with white stripes up the sides, sparkly jacket, and of course, the infamous sparkly glove. Billie Jean was probably my favorite number because the actor playing Michael looked like him, was wearing the appropriate outfit, and did the exact same moves that Michael used to do in Billie Jean live performances. I really enjoyed the songs that stayed true to Michael’s own videos and performances.

Overall, the show had a lot of energy and the audience was enthusiastic and on their feet by the end of the performance. However, I think my expectations were too high because I felt that these performers paled in comparison to MJ himself – obviously, it’s incredibly difficult to imitate exactly the King of Pop. The show had great audience appeal as it is enjoyable for all generations, but I just felt it was missing an air of authenticity to it. The LED screens and cheesy backup dancers overshadowed the more impressive qualities of the performance, in my opinion. I almost felt that this performance was designed simply to capitalize upon Michael Jackson’s death, and was hastily put together without much thought going into the tiny details, such as costume accuracy on backup dancers. It was a fun performance, but it lacked the depth I had been hoping for.

Rest in Paradise MJ <3

-Tanya Joseph