I have been entering the MJ lottery for agesssss. AGES! MJ The Musical – aka a bio-musical about Michael Jackson – is a show I’ve heard many good things about but it was never top of my list to see, so I figured I’d see it when the lottery said it was time.
I’m going to try and be as honest and open in my reviews as I can. Please note these are my personal opinions and I’m always open to discussions!
Show Name: MJ
Show Type: Musical
Location: Neil Simon, NYC
Date Seen: Monday, October 31, 2022
Apparently Halloween night was time for a lottery win!
I never realized that certain shows do extra special performances on Halloween – MJ being one of them. I saw the show post about a “thrilling finale” on Halloween night. I had a feeling I knew what it would be, more on that later…
Since it was Halloween, I dressed up OF COURSE. I was standing in line next to a guy dressed as MJ which was pretty cool! The cameras were filming anyone in costume and I’m pleased to say I did make their social media video in the very beginning! SO FUN!
Our lottery seats were 3rd row from the back of the mezzanine. Not the greatest, but hey, for $40 I’ll take it! And I had my trusty binoculars. Since it was Halloween, our playbill also had a special sticker on it with the date and, “You know it’s thriller, thriller night!”
I’m really glad I finally saw this show. While I’m not a huge MJ fan, I can appreciate his music and all but that’s about it, I will say this show was incredibly well done. The choreography, the singing, the staging – everything about this production is top notch! The entire cast is fantastic in what they do.
Myles Frost won the 2022 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical and I can tell you, he completely deserved that Tony. Myles personifies Michael Jackson – its incredible how well he does it. I was blown away by his performance.
I wasn’t aware of the plot before going into this show, so I’ll give you a brief summary of what this show is about. It’s set in 1992 and MJ is getting ready for the biggest world tour yet. The backup dancers are all rehearsing with him. However, the big boss says this tour will not be financially possible with all that MJ wants. Throughout the story there are flashbacks to him as a child in the Jackson Five – and the actor playing Little Michael, played by Christian Wilson, was also incredible! There are other flashbacks to Michael as a young adult, played by Tavon Olds-Sample. Then we have the “present” MJ, played by Myles Frost, dealing with prescription drug addiction.
The performance of Thriller during Act 2 was probably my favorite of the entire night. The staging for this, the theatrics and costumes, were just incredible to see. I wish I could have recorded it all with my eyes alone, but that scene stole the show for me.
After bows, Myles spoke up and said they had an extra performance for us – which was of course Thriller with the entire cast! I’m so glad I was able to be there and experience it in person, but I also recorded it to share! (Filming of bows/afterwards is usually allowed!) It was truly a thrilling night and I’m glad I finally saw this show.
Some shows do stage door in this COVID age while others don’t, but thankfully MJ is a show that does stage door! A bunch of the cast came out to sign playbills.
Myles Frost came out last, but not before the security told everyone they needed to wear a mask to take a photo with Myles and if they saw anyone pull their mask down, the night would be over and they’d bring Myles back inside. They were serious about this and I’m glad for it!
They had kids line up first to get their playbills signed and take photos, which I thought was really nice. Myles only signed for kids, but took photos with everyone. I found that interesting but understandable, and I’m glad these kids could meet someone they just saw on stage! I took a photo with Myles too and he was very nice.
MJ the Musical is an incredible production and if you can see Myles Frost as MJ, I highly recommend it.
Are you a fan of Michael Jackson’s music?
Would you go see this show if you could?
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