I fancy myself a writer but boy, is it difficult to put my feelings into words right now!
If you know me at all, you know how much MJ has always meant to me. My life’s dream has always been to meet him, to see him perform live in concert. In my long forgotten youth, you probably couldn’t be my friend if you also were not a fan. My relationship to MJ, what his mere existence did for mine, is something I will go into at length in my quasi-memoire, Year One.
I’d been looking forward to the MJ Musical for years. I had tickets for August 2020 but then the world got sick and we all stayed home my money back is all I got (just like back in 2008, when This Is It didn’t happen.). Of course, ever since Broadway came back this winter, I’ve been meaning to go and finally see it. I’d been putting it off, however. Covid and all. This past Saturday, however, as the war in Ukraine weighed (and continues to weigh) heavy on my heart, as I was loading my car with humanitarian supplies to deliver to the collection center on Monday, I suddenly felt that I just had to drop everything and go see it. NOW. The pull was strong and urgent. I’m not that spontaneous, usually, but I guess I needed MJ more than I realized. It makes sense—he’s always been there for me when things are hard. So I bought tickets at 11pm for the 3pm matinee the next day.
Now…granted, you may label me biased but the musical is a work of true dramatic art. To say it didn’t disappoint is to say nothing at all. It surpassed all my expectations. It could’ve easily fallen into some nostalgia, jukebox situation but instead, it masterfully managed to strike just the right balance between celebrating MJ’s astronomical achievements and timeless music while delving deeper inside the man we all pretended to know. The creativity and ingenuity of the production are like nothing I’d seen before. Truly. MJ’s hand was certainly guiding this. My God, I cried during that Thriller number, that’s how raw and real the drama (and trauma) was staged. Phenomenal work. Thank you to the entire production, and the Michael Jackson estate, for this. Please go see this if you want to feel something beautiful and real. We need art more than ever in dark times. MJ understood that well. Highly recommend. Oh, and the Smooth Criminal cocktail is delicious!