Thriller Live

Musicals

West End

Lyric Theatre

Until Sun Mar 16 2014

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Time Out says

Tue Jun 7 2011

Current cast includes Trenyce Cobbins, Haydon Eshun, MiG Ayesa, Wayne Anthony Cole, Joanna Jones, Britt Quentin, Oggie Iwo, Maria Akpan, Laurie Kay Hue, Asleigh Wadforth Frost, Cassie MacMillan and Libby Hall

Step inside the Lyric foyer and you'll be greeted by a gleaming Michael Jackson memorial. Enter the auditorium and you'll find another in 'Thriller', a shining homage to The King of Pop. This is a sparkling, singing and shimmying conveyor belt of more than 30 of Jackson's greatest hits. It's a bit like watching an extended episode of 'The X Factor' – except the performers are actually very good and they've all picked Jacko.

What really hits home in this jubilant jukebox show, which recently celebrated its thousandth performance, is the range of repertoire available. 'Thriller' is a reminder of Michael Jackson's versatility and the unique gloss he lent to pop, rock, dance and even the ballad. 'Heal the World' is crooned by a throng of suitably seraphic kids, 'Beat It' is blasted into the gods and a silver-gloved groover glides majestically through 'Smooth Criminal'.

The show, held together by the loosest of narratives, begins with a selection of Jackson 5 numbers. These earlier songs are among the best of the night: pure, funky, relatively simple and uniformly upbeat. Salient facts are flashed furiously across the screens (750 million records sold worldwide!) and the show segues into Jackson's solo career.

Some of these later songs are terrifyingly idiosyncratic – made and moulded for the man himself – and the lead vocalists struggle with the quirkier numbers, such as 'Jam' and 'Dirty Diana'. But it is the dancing that dazzles, no more so than Michael Duke's confident and witty take on 'Thriller' and 'Smooth Criminal'. He slides his way through the tough choreography with bolshy ease, drawing huge cheers for the inevitable but inspirational moonwalk.

It is one small step, at least, towards remembering the man who ventured into uncharted musical terrain.

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Venue details

MAP

Name:
Lyric Theatre
Address:
Lyric Theatre 29 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
W1D 7ES

Phone:
0844 544 3830
Website:
www.nimaxtheatres.com
Transport:
Piccadilly Circus tube
Map
1. Lyric Theatre
  - 29 Shaftesbury Avenue
    London
    W1D 7ES
  - 0844 544 3830
  - www.nimaxtheatres.com
  - 51.511239,-0.133897

Event phone:
0844 544 3830
Event website:
www.nimaxtheatres.com

Categories:
Theatre. West End. Musicals
Type of event:
Plays and shows

Thriller Live 2013 - 2014

Date Time Price information
Thu May 23

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets
Fri May 24

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets
Sat May 25

16:00

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets

20:00
Sun May 26

15:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets

19:30
Tue May 28

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets
Wed May 29

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets
Thu May 30

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets
Fri May 31

19:30

£27.50-£85. Runs 2hrs 30mins
Buy tickets

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Comments & ratings

(20 ratings)

We've been to this show twice... second time was the day we were supposed to see the King of Pop in flesh at the O2 Arena. So, of course it's not a big production, it's not MJ etc... but it is very nice to watch and certainly entertaining. If you're a MJ fan, you'll enjoy it, 100%.

Quentin Dewez Mon Feb 18
Rated as: 4/5
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We took our two sons to the show and I was initially sceptical, awaiting a poor storyline to which the songs were attached. I was very pleasantly surprised and realised there were several of MJ hits I had not heard for a while. What was good was that the songs were about 3-4 minutes and followed MJs recording career. The singing is good but the dancing is what really lifted this show. The dancers were very good and the choreography was well adapted to the stage where props were wheeled in and out. Expect to hear the greatest hits without a phoney story line and great dancing.

Richard Thu Dec 13 2012
Rated as: 4/5
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I would not recommend this musical. I am very disappointed by the bad performance of the actors, in terms of dancing and singing. Some of the singers did not even hit the right note and sang wrong. There is no real story in the musical, no emotions involved. It appears to be just a patchwork of some fragments of Jackson songs, some of them even played on playback. I personally rather recommend to watch the Billy Elliot Musical, that one is really good.

John Thu Dec 22 2011
Rated as: 1/5
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I saw the show today... Very disapointing. The dancers despite being individually good are not togher, the singers sing wrong...Would not recommend it personnaly.

fauch Mon May 16 2011
Rated as: 1/5
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This was fantastic - the MJ dancers were brilliant, a couple of the singers had voices similar to his, and the back up dancers were awesome. At the end I wanted to walk out and come straight back in for another show!

Paul Sun Sep 19 2010
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Thriller Live

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Thriller Live 2013 - 2014

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