Review by Elis Doyle
Thriller ÔÇô Live chronicles the incredibly journey of Michael Jackson from eleven year old musical prot├®g├® of The Jackson Five, to his rise as the world renowned ‘King of Pop’.
Frankly speaking, I had never listened to Michael Jackson’s music that frequently until his untimely death on June 25th 2009. It’s one of life’s cruel ironies that I never got to enjoy his music whilst he was still alive, but thankfully through this tremendous ensemble performance, people can still experience the magic.
With a staggering 34 songs ranging from his ‘Off The Wall’ years to ‘Dangerous’, the pool of variety is endless. Being a huge fan of Jackson’s disco and motown years, the early portion of the show was incredibly fun to watch for me, but I can understand that the bright colours, and at times repetitive dancing choreography can grate others. Whereas Jackson’s later work is less appealing to me, I found the choreography to be more varied and explosive, particularly impressive is ‘Smooth Criminal’s’ work with the dancers and SFX integrating seamlessly. The SFX is also a high point, with each song having it’s own individual colour scheme and props, although I noticed some glitches at times. On that note, the dancing is at times a bit out of synch, especially in the early portion of the show, but otherwise is at a very high standard, they nail a lot of trademark moves including the ‘Moonwalk’ and the ‘Lean’.
The vocal talent of all five leads throughout are not only incredibly strong, but an excellent homage to Jackson himself. Sean Christopher in the titular role as Jackson himself dazzles whenever he is on stage, but is subject to a severe underuse in my opinion.
All in all however, whether you’re a huge fan of Michael Jackson or simply Broadway in general this show is tantalising to the senses.