Pulitzer and Tony-Award winner Lynn Nottage’s Book captures drama behind 1992 Dangerous World Tour

Photo: Myles Frost and the Broadway Company of MJ-Credit: Matthew Murphy

By Dwight Casimere

Playwright Lynn Nottage is well known to Chicago audiences through her work at Goodman Theatre. In 2008, the Goodman commissioned and premiered her play Ruined, which later made her the second African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (the first was Chicago’s Gwendolyn Brooks in 1950 for her book Annie Allen). In addition to Ruined, the Goodman has produced two of her other plays, including Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006) and By the Way, Meet Vera Starks (2013). She became the first African American woman to win a second Pulitzer Prize for her play Sweat that was featured in Goodman’s 2019 season. Her rousing play Clyde was the centerpiece of Goodman’s 2022 season.

Now comes her MJ: The Musical! At Broadway’s Neil Simon theatre. The explosive musical with Book by Lynn Nottage stars Myles Frost, who won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Michael Jackson. TV audiences will recall him from NBC’s The Voice and Netflix’s Family Reunion.

MJ explodes on stage from start to finish. It recounts the early days of the Jackson Five in Gary, Indiana and their first appearance in a grade-school talent show. Under the tough-unlove tutelage of father Joe Jackson (an imperial Apollo Levine subbing for Quentin Earl Darrington), the Jackson Five quickly became the darlings of pop culture with Michael gaining the eye of talent promoter Rob, also played by Levine.

The musical follows the dramatic machinations behind the singer’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Created by Tony Award- winner Christopher Wheeldon along with Nottage, the musical pulls back the curtain on the legendary pop icon’s rare genius and his personal demons of deep-seated insecurity and his self-destructive penchant for deadly opioids.

Going straight to the musical jugular of Michael’s overwhelming hits, his songs drive the play’s narrative. Lyrics for songs such as I’ll Be There, Keep The Faith and Money, among others, are seamlessly woven into the book by Nottage to define significant plot points. Ayana George’s singing of I’ll Be There as MJ’s mother Katherine Jones in Act One is especially poignant in the role normally sung by Carole Denise Jones.

Christian Wilson as Little Michael is a marvel to behold.

Significant figures in MJ’s career are brought to life, Suzanna de Passe (Carina-Kay Louchey), who honed the nascent Jackson Five into a finely tuned entertainment machine (not Diana Ross, as is popular myth), and Berry Gordy (a sarcastic Ramone Nelson).

The musical also plays homage to the entertainment icons and musical influences that preceded MJ and the Jackson Five, James Brown (John Edwards, vocal) and his Fabulous Flames, Jackie Wilson (Raymond Baynard), The Isley Brothers, and dancer/singers Fred Astaire (a fluid Kyle R. Robinson), the Nicholas Brothers, and Broadway legend Bob Fosse (Henry Gendron). There’s also a cameo of Chicago legend Don Cornelius (Antoine L. Smith) and a recreation of TVs Soul Train, which featured MJ and the Jacksons at various stages of their careers. To say that the dance production numbers accompanying each of these segments was astounding is an understatement.

Thriller is given its proper place as the centerpiece of this powerful musical with imaginative directing, staging and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, Musical Supervision by David Holcenberg and Music Direction by Jason Michael Webb.

Scenic Design by Derek McLane sets the framework for this superb production, which is further driven by the pulsating Electronic Music from Billy Jay Stein, Lighting Design from Natasha Katz and imaginative Costumes from Paul Tazewell and thunderous Sound Design from Gareth Owen. Projection Designer Peter Nigrini is to be especially commended for the stark visuals that transport the audience throughout the production. Rich and Tone Talauega bring their legendary experience working with Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Usher, among others, to re-imagine Michael Jackson’s Movement in this mesmerizing production.

The Oscar and Grammy-winning music producer and composer Quincy Jones, ‘Q’ (Wonza Johnson), who was recently honored by Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Company at the Auditorium Theatre, was also featured in the musical. He was a pivotal force in MJ’s career with the production of the landmark album and video Thriller and the We Are The World campaign. Both are given their place of honor and history in MJ.

Michael’s dogged determination to achieve perfection extended even to the point of endangering the existence of his beloved sanctuary Neverland, against the advice of his business manager, Dave (Joey Sorge), whom I knew in real life as David Guest, former husband to Liza Minnelli.

MJ’s penchant toward dangerous drugs is a recurring theme. Balancing that negative was his insistence that there be a focus on his charity work.

MJ: The Musical also gives the audience a glimpse inside the creative process. Reference is made to the fact that he is constantly creating beats and songs inside his head, even while he’s discussing business with his manager. His body is in constant motion as is his furtive mind. (This was something I personally experienced as a news reporter in California in the 80s and 90s. Jackson’s hands and feet were in constant motion while sitting for an interview and he would break out in song midway through a thought without any provocation.)

For all of its emphasis on MJs phenomenal achievements as a performer, the musical also points to his many flaws. In spite of them, one thing is clear, his is a genius dominated by a clear vision. He demands perfection from himself and from those around him. In one scene, he drives his dancers like a 20 mule team, demanding that they continue to rehearse to perfection, in spite of their reaching the limits of exhaustion. It is no less than the standard he applies to himself, with his father’s admonitions echoing inside his head.

He is also jealously protective of his own genius, striving to realize increasingly bizarre ideas for over-the-top pyrotechnics and stunts that test the bounds of safety and reality. “If I don’t do it, Prince will!” he says wryly. Among his obsessions was use of a ‘pancake’ lift followed by a jetpack to fly around the stadium. Commonplace in today’s performance world, these props were considered visionary and extremely risky at the time.

There’s little mention of the troubling sleepovers that brought on his undertow of legal troubles and negative media coverage. It’s just as well; it would have thrown cold water on an otherwise celebratory effort.

The story of MJ is like that of the mythical Icarus who donned wings and flew too close to the sun only to extinguish in the brilliance of his own flame. MJ is a shooting star that continues to blaze across the stage in MJ: The Musical!, now on Broadway, and which makes its North American Tour Premiere at Chicago’s Nederlander Theatre in August 2023. For more, visit broadwayinchicago.com.