THEATRE REVIEW: Michael Thriller
- Posted on May 23, 2008 3:35 PM
- 1 comment
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Hammersmith Apollo
16 May 2008
Review By Tim Kernutt
Ask anyone aged under forty to provide a soundtrack to their lives, and it will undoubtedly include a song by Michael Jackson. The man is a living legend, mostly - it has to be said – for the right reasons.
So a West-End production on the musical life of Michael Jackson is hard to say no to for anyone born in the 1970s or 1980s. Luckily I fall into the latter category. However, it appears I am showing my immaturity through lack of intelligence as I did not realise that a West-End production could be held in Hammersmith. Call me crazy, but I believed that the West-End stretches to Leicester Square, not Hammersmith.
It was lucky for the promoters of the night that the Hammersmith Apollo was chosen as a venue, as it can hold quite some crowd. And that crowd was as diverse as the various festivals over UK's summer, the stage as glitzy as Vegas, the atmosphere positively charged, the stage set for Wacko Jacko to show-off his full repertoire of songs, and the audience filled with screaming girls shouting, "We love you Michael, we love you Michael!". The small hitch being, of course, that Michael Jackson was no-where to be seen. This was a night for Michael Jackson without Michael Jackson, and the screaming girls could have screamed until their voice-boxes collapsed and still not heard even a whimper in response from the man who is an icon of the late twentieth century.
I must confess I was expecting a lot more from a night called, “Thriller”. The confusion was in the name of the show. “Thriller” suggests that it was going to be a live performance on the album and video that arguably cemented Michael Jackson’s name into the history books as one of the most successful music-makers of modern times. However, there was just something missing on this night at the Hammersmith Apollo. Although undoubtedly entertaining, the production team of “Thriller” may have been struggling for creative inspiration as the evening ended up being more akin to a glorified tribute band performance of Michael Jackson’s hits from over the years.
This is not to suggest it was not an entertaining evening from a talented cast and band. Any night featuring Michael Jackson’s back-catalogue of songs is going to please even the most resolutely non-commercial music lover. The dancing was at times awe-inspiring, providing a believable take on Michael Jackson‘s own style which formed a huge part of any of his live-performances and music videos in his hay-day. Some of the songs were replicated to stunning-effect, and in particular the performance from the young Michael Jackson (in the Jackson-Five days) carbon-copied the main-man’s voice.
There was no doubt that this was an evening for the fans, who in particular went a little silly in response to the rendition of “Smooth Criminal”, which in the defence of the said fans definitely had the best dance-routine of the evening.
However, in total “Thriller” was an odd evening’s entertainment. Caught half-way between a tribute night for Michael Jackson and a more meaty West-End production, “Thriller” ended up coming across more as a discography of Michael Jackson’s hits. Nothing wrong with that of course, but next time I may just go and buy a “Best-Of” collection
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Comments (1)
Freckle
I saw this production in Glasgow last night.The singing was top class,in particular the young'Michael Jackson' from the Jackson five days,but i have to say if youre going to impersonate Michael jackson on a stage in front of 300 people you should really think about getting some dancing lessons first.I found it lacklustre out of time and many of the dancers seemed to need time to recover from one dance move to the next.Very dissapointing
Posted on May 28, 2008 12:34 PM
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