[image]
[title]When it comes to Broadway shows that stop you in your tracks, MJ the Musical delivers a singular kind of electricity. Named one of our top picks for the season by Time Out theater editor Adam Feldman, this production brings the unmistakable magic of Michael Jackson that hits on all fronts: music, movement and style.
From the very first beat, the show pulls you into Jackson’s orbit with hit after hit—“Beat It,” “Bad,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Man in the Mirror”—songs you know by heart and maybe a few forgotten loves. But this isn’t just a concert disguised as theater. The story uses the 1992 Dangerous World Tour rehearsals as its frame, flashing back through Jackson’s childhood and career to explore the moments that shaped his artistry and ambition. It’s structured less like a linear biography and more like a dynamic memory sequence, one that’s constantly in motion.
That movement is no accident. The choreography, created by Christopher Wheeldon, who also directs the show, includes many of Jackson’s original steps and sequences. Wheeldon—best known for An American in Paris—goes beyond imitation. He preserves Jackson’s signature style while enhancing it through the language of Broadway, creating a vocabulary that combines theatrical finesse with emotional and physical rigor. The result is choreography that feels both rooted in legacy and freshly alive.
You’ll see the toe stand, the glove pop and, of course, the moonwalk. But you’ll also see explosive ensemble numbers and transitions that balance quiet reflection with full-scale musical showpieces. The cast doesn’t just execute the moves; they live in them. Every pop, spin and hit feels charged, as if passed down from a legacy and reinterpreted live, in real time.
Then there are the costumes, which are a show unto themselves. Designed by Paul Tazewell (Tony-winner for Hamilton and Oscar-winner for Wicked), the wardrobe is a masterclass in visual storytelling. Tazewell recreated some of Jackson’s most iconic looks with extraordinary accuracy—like the red leather, the glittering military jackets, the Jackson 5-era suits—and also designed new pieces that feel authentic to Jackson’s aesthetic. Each look is sculpted to serve both form and function, allowing for full-out dance sequences while echoing his era-defining fashion sense. The wardrobe doesn’t just reflect the timeline, it becomes part of the choreography, moving in tandem with the music and lighting to create seamless, high-impact visuals.
The production design follows suit. Transitions are fluid, moving between backstage realism and surreal performance space without missing a beat. Lighting, video projections and set pieces shift the energy in an instant, heightening the drama without slowing the pace. It’s a show that knows exactly when to go big and when to focus in.
And yet, for all its scale and sensory charge, MJ the Musical is never just spectacle. The show doesn’t try to reinvent the artist. It simply pulls us closer to the creative engine that drove him. It focuses on Jackson’s craft, his discipline and the artistic boundaries he pushed, not to justify or explain, but to spotlight the depth of work behind the icon. If you’re coming for the dancing, the staging, the hits, you’ll get those in spades. But you’ll also walk away with a better sense of the ambition behind the artistry.
Still, you don’t have to be a lifelong fan to appreciate the impact. Whether you grew up on “Thriller” or only vaguely know the moonwalk from YouTube clips (but really?), the show has a way of pulling you in. It’s tightly built, expertly performed and made for a crowd that wants to be wowed.
Whether you're bringing your kids, your partner, your parents or flying solo, MJ the Musical makes good on the promise of live theater. It’s big, it’s precise and it sweeps you up. It celebrates not just the hits, but the labor behind them.
And if you're calendaring for the summer, this is one to remember. The performances are sharp, the design is immersive and the story doesn’t shy away from complexity, but moves through it, choreographs it and makes it feel alive.
Follow @mjthemusical for behind-the-scenes moments. And, get your tickets now because, whether it’s your first time or your third, it still hits like a thrill.