On March 30, 2024, my family and I went to see the Broadway performance, MJ: The Musical, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The musical is based on the life of the great King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Specifically, the musical was about Jackson’s preparations for his Dangerous World Tour. Between his Dangerous album tracks, such as “Black or White,” he’s getting ready to perform his biggest hits from the last thirty years of his career. As he practices, he makes things up as he goes along, modifying the set list and the choreography to suit his needs. To the occasional displeasure of his tour director and business manager, he is constantly striving to make the tour flawless. Additionally, the musical covered Michael Jackson’s rise to stardom in Jackson 5 with Motown Records and breaking away from his brothers to become a solo artist.

This musical was utterly AMAZING! I have been to multiple Broadway musicals, such as Wicked, the Lion King, Chicago, Moulin Rouge, and Hairspray. None of these were like the MJ Musical, as it was based on the real-life story of one of the most iconic performers of our time. 

I would like to explore some of the songs I exceptionally enjoyed.

The composition I liked best was “Thriller,” composed by Rod Temperton. There was sufficient energy to bring across the music, as there was a recreation of the “Thriller” music video with the zombie dance routine. The performers were singing extremely in tune and the audience was eating up every minute of the performance. The performers seemed very comfortable with the technical demands “Thriller” brought. Additionally, they sounded very well rehearsed and prepared, hitting all the high notes with ease. There was very good communication among the performers, as they danced in sync with each other.

Overall, I 100% would recommend the musical to others and I had an amazing experience!

-Sophia B.