MJ the Musical

MJ the Musical is a jukebox musical based on the life of the American entertainer Michael Jackson. It features Jackson's music, with a book by Lynn Nottage, and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon.

MJ was scheduled to premiere on Broadway in mid-2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. In November 2019, Ephraim Sykes was cast as Jackson, but in June 2021 it was announced that he had been replaced by Myles Frost. The production opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on February 1, 2022, with previews beginning in December 6. It opened in the London West End in 2024.

MJ received mixed reviews, but has been a success at the box office. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, with the musical winning four awards, including Best Actor in a Musical for Frost, as well as Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. The original cast recording was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. By June 25, 2024 it has grossed over 200 million dollars and is one of the highest grossing musical theater productions of all time.

Act I
The cast members are preparing for rehearsals for Michael Jackson's upcoming Dangerous World Tour; the first show is in two days. Rob, their manager, tells them to get into their places and warm up. Michael arrives and watches the process, which leads to the opening number ("Beat It").

As Michael shares his newest ideas with Rob, Rachel arrives with her cameraman, Alejandro, in hopes of getting an interview with Michael. Michael sits with Rachel and recounts some of the terrors he suffered as a child and some of the memorable times when Berry Gordy played his family's hits on his Motown label. Michael also discusses his collaboration with Quincy Jones and recording his albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad with Jones.

Rob and Nick escort Michael to a press conference downtown, where he presents his tour and hopes to raise funds for his Heal the World Foundation by Christmas 1993 ("Earth Song" / "They Don’t Care About Us").

Act II
Michael proposes new ideas for the tour ("Billie Jean"/"Smooth Criminal"), which Rob and Dave tell him are impractical and that they cannot afford it. Michael recounts the horrific accident when a spark ignited his hair in the making of an advertisement for Pepsi. After listening to Rob's negative feedback, Michael reminds him of something Quincy Jones said to him, "Keep the faith. Don't let nobody take you down".

As the rehearsal continues, Michael tells Rachel how the songs open up to him. During a break, a commotion breaks out. Rob tries to keep Rachel away from Michael and doesn't want her near him, but Michael manages to find her by disguising himself as a cleaner. He explains to her that the disguise is the only way he can be seen in public, which leads to him singing "Human Nature". After the rehearsal, Michael explains to Rachel how emotional he feels about being loved by fans and about being teased in the newspapers. He tries to blame everything sad and weird about himself on others (especially the press), but takes sole credit for his good deeds and success.

As Rob comes to check up on him, Michael recalls when he played the Apollo Theater with the Jackson 5 and how he wasn't nervous. Rob tells Michael that everything they created would be remembered for decades, but the singer replies by asking "Is it perfect"? ("Man in the Mirror"). Michael appears on stage, ready to start the first show of the Dangerous World Tour ("Jam" (reprise), "Black or White" / "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (reprise).

Broadway (2021-)

 * Michael Jackson: Elijah Johnson

Musical numbers

 * Act I
 * "Beat It" – MJ, Company, and Orchestra
 * "Tabloid Junkie" / "Price of Fame" – MJ and Rachel
 * "Shout" / "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" / "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" – Ensemble
 * "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" – Little Michael
 * "The Love You Save" / "I Want You Back" / "ABC" – Little Michael, Little Marlon, Jermaine, Tito, Jackie
 * "I'll Be There" – Katherine, Little Michael, MJ
 * "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" / "Blame It on the Boogie" / "Dancing Machine" – MJ, Teenage Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Company
 * "Stranger in Moscow" – MJ
 * "You Can't Win" – Berry Gordy and Teenage Michael
 * "I Can't Help It" – Quincy Jones and Young Adult Michael
 * "Keep the Faith" – Quincy Jones and Young Adult Michael
 * "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" – Young Adult Michael, MJ, and Ensemble
 * "Earth Song" / "They Don't Care About Us" – MJ and Ensemble


 * Act II
 * "Billie Jean" – MJ
 * "Smooth Criminal" – MJ and Ensemble
 * "For the Love of Money" / "Can You Feel It" – Joseph Jackson, Young Adult Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Orchestra
 * "Money" – Joseph Jackson
 * "Keep the Faith (Reprise)" – Rob, MJ, and Ensemble
 * "She's Out of My Life" – MJ and Young Adult Michael
 * "Jam" – MJ, Ensemble, and Orchestra
 * "Human Nature" – MJ and Rachel
 * "Bad" / "2 Bad" – MJ, Company and Orchestra
 * "Price of Fame (Reprise)" – MJ
 * "Thriller" – Little Michael, MJ, Joseph Jackson and Ensemble
 * "Man in the Mirror" – Company
 * "Jam (Reprise)" / "Black or White" / "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (Reprise)" – Company
 * "Working Day and Night" – Orchestra

Recordings
Recording for the original Broadway cast album took place on February 7 and 8, 2022. The original Broadway cast recording was released on July 15, 2022. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Development
The musical was announced in June 2018. Wheeldon spoke about the musical, stating, "The show is very much anchored in one particular moment in time. I always bring up the fabulous movie that Spielberg made about Lincoln: You take one key moment, I suppose, in the history of someone's life and then sort of use that as an anchor point for past storytelling and, perhaps, some kind of prophecy of what's to come. We'll be doing that with this story." Asked about the dance and choreography, he said he "intend[s] to put quite a lot of Michael's work in the show".

Broadway (2021-present)
MJ was originally scheduled to premiere in Chicago in 2019, at the Nederlander Theatre. The Michael Jackson estate canceled the Chicago tryout due to "scheduling difficulties" brought about by an Actors' Equity Association strike.

The musical was scheduled to debut on Broadway in mid-2020 but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, and it features a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage. Scenery for the production is designed by Derek McLane with costuming by Paul Tazewell. Natasha Katz and Peter Nigrini are collaborating on lighting and projection designs respectively. Gareth Owen designed sound production, with hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe. Elijah Johnson took over as Jackson in March 2023.

A national tour began in Chicago at the Nederlander Theatre on August 1, 2023 and is scheduled to run through August 3, 2025. The musical opened in the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre, with previews beginning March 6, 2024 and an official opening night on March 27. Frost reprised his role as Jackson. A German production is expected to play the Stage Theater an der Elbe. Dialogue will be in German with the musical numbers remaining in English. Performances are scheduled to begin on December 4, 2024. An Australian production is scheduled to open in Sydney, Australia at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in February 2025.

Box office
Ticket sales have averaged more than a million dollars per week on Broadway. Following the Tony Awards, the weekly gross jumped to $1,661,000, with sold-out shows and brisk advance sales; it received the biggest box office jump that week on Broadway and recorded a new high for the show's sales. By September 4, 2022, it broke the Neil Simon Theater's box office record five times with a total cumulative gross of $49.4 million. As of July 2024, MJ the Musical on Broadway had grossed around $203.7 million with a total attendance of 1,388,341 after 1013 performances.

Critical response
MJ has overall been well-received, with some notable exceptions. Charles Isherwood of Broadway News criticized Lynn Nottage's book, in particular, writing, "where MJ loses its fleet footing is in the bland, exposition-heavy and often trite dialogue supplied by Nottage ... Clichés, preachy speeches, and baldly obvious dialogue abound." Adam Feldman of Time Out wrote, "'Listen to my music,' says Michael to his interviewer. 'It answers any questions you might have.' Does it? I left the theater entertained, but not convinced I had seen the man in the smoke and mirrors." Maya Phillips of The New York Times wrote, "The musical is inherently hollow; the opacity of Michael Jackson and his life of traumas and controversies make it difficult to find material compelling and cohesive enough to tell a story onstage". Reviewing the West End show in 2024, Anya Ryan of the Guardian wrote that Jackson's music had "an otherworldly magic", but found the show "sterilised" and was troubled by the allegations of sexual abuse against Jackson. She concluded: "Some might be able to separate Jackson's art from the artist. But as Frost took his final bow and the audience leaped to their feet, I felt queasy – bad, even."

The Deadline reporter Greg Evans said the musical was "visually and sonically ravishing", while the Chicago Tribune called the show's scenery gorgeous and the show "beautiful to experience throughout, which one almost never can say about jukebox musicals". Peter Marks of The Washington Post also praised the show and the cast, especially the "utterly persuasive" Frost, and called MJ "a riveting, adrenaline rush of a show". Linda Armstrong of Amsterdam News called the production "spectacular", "stunning" and "off-the-charts". Joe Westerfield of Newsweek said, "In many ways MJ is a living, breathing, even breathless, music video, but with that touch of inspiration, drive and art that only Michael Jackson can provide."