An extraordinary Michael Jackson is the centerpiece of a so-so 'MJ' musical

David Lyman
·3 min read
Roman Banks (Michael Jackson) and the “tour dancers” in “MJ,” playing at the Aronoff Center through Sept. 17 as part of the Broadway in Cincinnati series.
Roman Banks (Michael Jackson) and the “tour dancers” in “MJ,” playing at the Aronoff Center through Sept. 17 as part of the Broadway in Cincinnati series.
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“MJ” is almost everything you might expect from a musical about Michael Jackson. It is visually spectacular, filled with brash projections and sizzling streaks of light that explode across the stage. It has some of the flashiest and most demanding dancing you’re likely to see on the Aronoff Center stage this season. And, of course, it has Roman Banks’ remarkable performance as Michael Jackson himself.

The show is set during the final two days of rehearsals before Jackson’s 1992 “Dangerous World Tour.” It bobs back and forth in time so that we get to experience snippets of more than 20 songs associated with Jackson and the Jackson 5, in which he performed with his brothers.

What little exposition there is comes from an MTV reporter/videographer team recording the rehearsals for a documentary about the tour. It’s every bit as clunky a device as it sounds.

I never saw the real Jackson live. I wish I had. But what Banks brings to the stage conjures up every aspect of what I imagine a Jackson performance might have been like, if I am to believe what I saw on so, so many films and videos. And I’m not just talking about the physical appearance, though it is astonishing. It’s all there – the eccentric ringlets of his hair, the puffy white socks, the skinny legs and the face peeping out from under the black fedora.

When Banks starts to move, though, that’s when the magic starts. You get to see the Jackson that lives in our minds. The way he slithers across the stage, pausing occasionally with popping hips and spins that come out of nowhere. The movements are so angular, so seductive, so mesmerizing. But if you ever saw a Michael Jackson video, you already know what I’m talking about. Banks’ performance is extraordinary. And it is, in every way, the centerpiece of what is, in the end, a so-so musical.

Don’t get me wrong. “MJ” is a fine entertainment. And Jackson fans will gobble it up. But the MJ in this show, who talks incessantly of striving to make every moment on the stage perfect, would have demanded something better than this, something less muddled.

First, though, let’s talk about the parts of the show that make it worth seeing. Besides Banks, there are a few other top-notch performances, particularly Devin Bowles, who doubles in the roles of Rob – Jackson’s supportive manager – and Joe Jackson, the tyrannical father whose heavy-handed version of love shaped his children into one of the world’s most memorable and profitable musical juggernauts. Never mind what damage he may have exacted on their psyches.

Devin Bowles (left) is seen here as Rob, the beleaguered manager of Michael Jackson, played by Roman Banks in “MJ,” at the Aronoff Center through Sept. 17. Bowles is also seen as Joe Jackson, the young singer’s ferocious and domineering father.
Devin Bowles (left) is seen here as Rob, the beleaguered manager of Michael Jackson, played by Roman Banks in “MJ,” at the Aronoff Center through Sept. 17. Bowles is also seen as Joe Jackson, the young singer’s ferocious and domineering father.

Just as memorable are the “tour dancers,” the seven performers who provide a near-constant intensity and depth to the staging. The Broadway version of director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s dances won a Tony Award. These seven performers show us why. They are Malcolm Miles Young, Kellie Drobnick, Janayé McAlpine, Chelsea Mitchell-Bonsu, Matteo Maretta, Croix Diienno and Kyle Dupree.

So what is it that doesn’t work? Mostly, it is the script, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. It bobs back and forth in time so that we see Jackson’s earliest years, as the talented kid grew into a megastar. And it touches on some of the issues that came to plague Jackson’s later life, particularly his problems with painkillers.

But Nottage’s script is flimsy, at best. Just as the pace of the show takes off, the script brings things to a halt. It’s deadly. Better to lavish more time on Banks and the dancers and what it was that made Michael Jackson into such a global celebrity.

“MJ The Musical”

When: Now through Sept. 17.

Where: Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown.

Tickets: $40-$149 plus service fees.

Information: 513-621-2787; www.cincinnatiarts.org.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'MJ' review: All eyes on Michael Jackson in so-so Broadway musical