Sydney Reviews

MJ is the latest of the ‘jukebox musicals’ to hit Sydney, capitalising on the immense commercial success of Michael Jackson’s incredible career and portfolio of hits. It’s certainly spectacular and should appeal to the die-hard fans who still venerate his immense talent. Several were sitting next to this reviewer and they sighed and gasped as every familiar song appeared and had to visibly restrain themselves from singing along.

Yes, there is an elephant in the room and yes, we all know what it is. This story chooses to anchor itself on the premise that you should never believe everything you see in the media, and thus delicately draws a screen in front of said elephant, choosing to focus instead on Michael Jackson’s immense musical talent, particularly homing in on his single-minded perfectionism and attention to detail as he rehearses his final world tour. Depending on your own view of events you may find this either justified or distasteful. A camera crew is reluctantly admitted into the rehearsal room and Jackson’s struggle with private versus public persona is very superficially explored, through a series of flashbacks and real time crises. The musical has been approved by the Estate of Michael Jackson so you know it’s only going to reinforce the positive aspects of his legacy.

And so, to ignore the elephant and focus on this production, it is impressive and has some dazzling staging particularly in the second act which is markedly stronger than the first. ‘Thriller’ is only teased in the first half, then gorgeously revisited in the second. The major success of the evening has to be the spectacular dancing – it’s every bit as slick and exciting as you’d expect and a fitting tribute to Jackson’s smooth style. The ensemble is really the strength of this production, their energy and tightly drilled moves a pure delight to watch. They are definitely the highlight, and it’s not until the curtain call that you understand that we have only glimpsed a small portion of their immense talents despite that portion being incredible in itself.

It must certainly be a daunting challenge to find a performer able to fill the white socked shoes of the 90’s King of Pop, and for the most part import Roman Banks rises to the challenge convincingly. Soft voiced, lean and charismatic, he has the moves and the style down pat after playing the role for some time in the USA touring production. He is particularly strong in the ballads, and the lower range vocal moments such as ‘She’s out of my life’ are his best. But he is curiously under energised for many of the musical numbers and rarely connects out to the audience. Perhaps too much of Michael’s soft-spoken private persona crept into the songs and it was only rarely that Banks’ energy lifted palpably to match that of the ensemble. The opening of Act 2 and the finale were his best. This reviewer was there a week after opening night and perhaps Banks is conserving his strength, because when he chose to fire to fire it was exciting – just rare.

The supporting leads each shone in their small moments, the best of these being Derrick Davis combining the tricky double role of Jackson’s father Joseph and Tour director Rob. He shape-shifts wonderfully between the two characters and backs up the skilful acting with a great voice. Liam Damons in his professional debut has great charisma as the younger Michael and looks like he will get even better as his confidence grows. The kids are charming though still a little vocally nervous in moments, and the guys do a really solid rendition of the Jackson Five’s early numbers. It’s fun to see those flashbacks. This production’s music direction under Michael Azzopardi is really tight and zings along.

So in short, if you are looking for a fun night out celebrating the music of one of the legends of pop, then this show is for you. It’s upbeat, flashy, visually impressive and has great moves. However, those looking for a little more meat to the backstory may be disappointed. This is a celebratory musical not an expose, and as such remains as ambiguous as the man it chooses to honour.