michael jackson revival tour

• First National Tour
• New York City

Tour Schedule

St. Louis, MO

May 28 - Jun 9 2024

Buffalo, NY

Jun 11 - Jun 16 2024

Jun 18 - Jul 7 2024

Grand Rapids, MI

Jul 9 - Jul 14 2024

Cleveland, OH

Jul 16 - Aug 11 2024

Washington, DC

Aug 13 - Sep 8 2024

Columbus, OH

Sep 10 - Sep 15 2024

Memphis, TN

Sep 17 - Sep 22 2024

San Antonio, TX

Sep 24 - Sep 29 2024

Oklahoma City, OK

Oct 1 - Oct 6 2024

Oct 8 - Oct 13 2024

Oct 15 - Oct 20 2024

Detroit, MI

Oct 23 - Nov 3 2024

Baltimore, MD

Nov 12 - Nov 17 2024

Pittsburgh, PA

Nov 19 - Dec 1 2024

Schenectady, NY

Dec 3 - Dec 8 2024

Hartford, CT

Dec 10 - Dec 15 2024

Rochester, NY

Dec 17 - Dec 22 2024

Dec 31 - Jan 5 2025

Philadelphia, PA

Jan 8 - Jan 19 2025

Providence, RI

Jan 21 - Jan 26 2025

Richmond, VA

Jan 28 - Feb 2 2025

Norfolk, VA

Feb 4 - Feb 9 2025

East Lansing, MI

Feb 11 - Feb 16 2025

Greensboro, NC

Feb 18 - Feb 23 2025

Feb 25 - Mar 2 2025

Orlando, FL

Mar 4 - Mar 16 2025

Mar 18 - Mar 25 2025

Mar 25 - Mar 30 2025

Fort Myers, FL

Apr 1 - Apr 6 2025

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Apr 8 - Apr 20 2025

Jacksonville, FL

Apr 22 - Apr 27 2025

Nashville, TN

Apr 29 - May 11 2025

Fort Worth, TX

May 13 - May 18 2025

Fayetteville, AR

May 20 - May 25 2025

Milwaukee, WI

May 27 - Jun 1 2025

Appleton, WI

Jun 3 - Jun 8 2025

Jun 10 - Jun 15 2025

Madison, WI

Jun 17 - Jun 22 2025

Jun 24 - Jun 29 2025

Spokane, WA

Jul 8 - Jul 13 2025

Portland, OR

Jul 15 - Jul 20 2025

Jul 22 - Jul 27 2025

San Jose, CA

Jul 29 - Aug 3 2025

Stay tuned as more cities will be announced soon and follow us on social media for tour updates.

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New Michael Jackson Musical Celebrates His Greatness While Mostly Avoiding the Dark Stuff

By David Browne

David Browne

In the first of several such scenes in  MJ , the new Broadway musical about one of the pop’s most explosive and, now, polarizing figures, a fictional MTV reporter tries to get Michael Jackson to open up. Jackson, played by Myles Frost down to the trademark billowy white shirt, curly ponytail, and feathery voice, demurs: “I want to keep this about music.” To which the reporter responds, “Is it possible to separate your life from your music?”

Returning to the topic later in the show, Jackson also tells her, “Listen to my music. It gives you all the answers you need.” Yet that original question hovers throughout the two and half hours of  MJ , finally premiering on Broadway after a lengthy Covid-relayed delay. Bio-musicals have come to be a tourist-friendly tradition on Broadway. But from its equally beloved and debated subject to its often inventive structure, MJ  is far more unconventional — and far more complicated — than previous shows on the sagas of the Four Seasons, Cher or Carole King. You’ll leave the Neil Simon Theatre (where the show opens tonight) both on a giddy high from Jackson’s music but also grappling with what was and wasn’t incorporated.

Produced with the cooperation of Jackson’s estate, MJ makes it clear from the start where it won’t be venturing. As theatergoers are still finding their seats, cast members (portraying backup dancers, musicians and technicians) begin wandering onto the set, which is made to resemble a workaday warehouse space. It’s 1992, a few days before Jackson’s Dangerous tour is scheduled to start, and Jackson and his team are putting the finishing touches on the show. Also mimicking real life, they’re joined on this day by the above mentioned fictional MTV producer and her cameraman, there to make what the camera guy calls a “puff piece” promoting the tour. They’re promised behind-the-scenes access to watch the show come together and interview the notoriously press-shy star, who hasn’t granted an interview in (the show says) in 14 years.

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Written by Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and directed by Christopher Wheeldon, the British choreographer known for his work in the ballet world, MJ  doesn’t completely dispense with the standard bio-musical narrative tradition. The show recreates some of Jackson’s career milestones, at least until 1992: rehearsing with the Jackson 5 in their home, meeting Berry Gordy (who signs them to Motown), collaborating with Quincy Jones on  Off the Wall and Thriller , being handed Grammy after Grammy, reuniting with his brothers for the semi-botched Victory reunion tour.

As we watch Jackson and his team fine-tune the Dangerous show, those moments in time are woven into the story as flashbacks. A quick exchange with the MTV producer (played by Whitney Bashor) or a rehearsal of an older Jackson 5 hit triggers Jackson, pulling him back in time to remember either a happy or painful moment in his life. “It’s not the old songs,” he tells her of his reticence to sing his former group’s hits. “It’s the memories.”

The setup sounds clunky, but most of the transitions between past and present are seamless, thanks to Wheeldon and also to cast members portraying more than one role. As both the Dangerous tour director and Jackson’s overbearing father Joseph, Quentin Earl Darrington (who looks a bit like Dwayne Johnson’s less beefy brother) navigates between those roles in several scenes. A rehearsal of a Jackson 5 medley pulls Jackson back into his childhood: In one, he watches as his childhood self (exquisitely portrayed by Christian Wilson, one of two actors in that early-Michael role) and his mother (played by Anaya George) duet on “I’ll Be There.” The pained look on Frost’s face as he watches is among the show’s most poignant moments. That moment is one of several in which one of Jackson’s hits — like ”Human Nature” and “Stranger in Moscow” — is used astutely as a commentary on his mindset and actions, rather than just as a way to recreate a well-known performance. (That’s the case with “Billie Jean,” presented as if it’s straight out of of the Motown 25 special.) Forced to live up to a commitment to give a press conference to promote the tour, Jackson is surrounded by dark-lit “reporters” who resemble vampires, leading into a performance of “They Don’t Care About Us,” one of his angriest and most defensive songs.

Frost, who has appeared on The Voice and had a small role in the 2019 film All In,  has clearly studied Jackson’s moves. He mimics the moonwalks and body ticks — the way Jackson could shrug each shoulder up and down or flick his wrist while performing. He doesn’t just capture his playfulness and pillow-soft voice but also the flashes of anger and frustration that would sometimes emerge when he spoke. The performance reminds you how much Jackson brought to pop, choreography and celebrity mystique. The show also benefits from the songs, which, like Frost’s performance, are largely note-for-note recreations: from Jackson 5 hits (“I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “Dancing Machine”) up through various songs from Jackson’s own catalog. There are some head-scratchers: During a scene in which Jackson is guilt-tripped into participating in the 1984 “Victory” tour with his brothers, the cast breaks into the O’Jays’ “For the Love of Money,” but one of the key tracks on Dangerous , “Remember the Time,” isn’t heard at all.

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All that said,  MJ  doesn’t tell us anything we don’t know: The narrative is a collection of Jackson’s greatest character-shaping hits. We already know that Joseph Jackson was so driven and so hungry for a piece of fame that he hit or threatened his young son for seeming to disobey him. We know Michael wasn’t thrilled to partake in the “Victory” tour but went along with his father and brothers. We know he became addicted to painkillers thanks to having part of his scalp burned during that horrific 1984 soda commercial filming. We know that, by 1992, he was keeping up on business and was feeling the pressure to compete with hip hop, grunge and more recent pop acts. (“God will give the idea to Prince,” he says with a giggle when he tosses out a new production idea.)

During one of his “interviews,” Jackson lashes out at the press for the “lies,” prompting Rachel, the MTV producer, to respectfully confront him about the way he also works the media and may secretly want all that attention. But by and large, the portrait of Jackson is largely sympathetic. He’s a victim, worn down by the media, his addiction and his own ambitions, and relentlessly haunted by his relationship with his father. (As Rob the tour manager barks at him at one point, “You’re not eating or sleeping!”) We see him come down hard on one of his dancers or toss off so many new ideas for tour staging (a Jetpack!) that a business manager has to repeatedly barge into the rehearsals and tell him he’s spending too much. If Jackson is guilty of anything, MJ says, it’s being too creative and driven for his own good, all In his quest for a level of perfection that has its roots in Joe Jackson (in another flashback) mocking young Michael for his “big fat nose.”

And, of course, setting the story in 1992 allows the creators to completely sidestep the child-molestation accusations and lawsuits that began piling up a year later. (In 2005 Jackson was acquitted of all criminal charges.) That eruption led to the cancellation of the planned last leg of the  Dangerous  tour, since Jackson also claimed he’d become addicted to pills to cope with the stress. The only hint of this pending controversy is the moment when one of the tour executives, complaining about the runaway spending on the show, quickly asks about the “family” that will be accompanying Jackson on the road. The clear-cut villain remains his father. The darkest moment in MJ arrives during a late-show production number in which Jackson is chased around a hellscape set by a demonic figure, again played by Darrington. Is Darrington evoking Joseph Jackson or just one of the horror-movie monsters Jackson himself was drawn to? Either way, Jackson is left looking shell-shocked and traumatized. The closing special effect  — no spoilers — rams home how world-conquering but alone he was.

MJ ends without any updates on Jackson’s life after 1992, which is likely to gratify some and infuriate others. As part of his posthumous rehabilitation effort, MJ wants you to remember all the best things about him and not dwell on what came next. You’d almost think Jackson died right after Dangerous and not 17 years later. And maybe in that way, this equally exhilarating and confounding show really does have it right: Whether you believe the allegations made against him or not, there’s no question that a part of Jackson left the building on those world stages nearly 30 years ago.

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Review: ‘MJ’ musical celebrates Michael Jackson’s genius, but leaves behind questions

The first national tour of the 2022 Broadway jukebox musical plays through Sunday at the San Diego Civic Theatre

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In the visually spectacular “MJ” musical, playing through Sunday at the San Diego Civic Theatre, there are dazzling song and dance performances of more than two dozen Michael Jackson hits, a multitalented 32-member cast and truly eye-popping lighting and projections.

At the show’s center is the ultra-talented “King of Pop” himself, a whispery-voiced and tortured overachiever who lightly narrates his life story during the 2-1/2 hour show while at the same time revealing very little about himself. As entertaining as the show is, particularly in the stronger second act, Jackson remains an enigma to the end.

The musical’s book was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, who set the story in a Los Angeles rehearsal studio a few days before the launch of Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Determined to improve upon his massively successful “Bad” tour from a few years before, Jackson relentlessly pushes himself, his dancers, tour manager and director of finance to the brink for a bigger, fresher and more high-tech stage show (that will ultimately raise $100 million for his Heal the World charity).

Meanwhile, a fictional MTV reporter and cameraman observe rehearsals and interview Jackson, who talks briefly about his family and musical roots. Then the story shifts back in time to 1965 Gary, Ind., where the cruel, physically violent and philandering family patriarch Joe Jackson forms the Jackson 5 from five of his nine children. Charismatic Michael, just 5 at the time, is a star from the start.

In the touring musical production, Michael is played by three actors. On Wednesday night, lanky and sweet-voiced Josiah Benson played Little Michael, Brandon Lee Harris was the teen/young adult Michael and Roman Banks was the adult Michael, billed in the program as MJ. It’s a tribute to Jackson that none of the three can completely measure up to the iconic singer in charisma or vocals, but Banks is an extraordinary dancer and he adds some interesting vocal grit to Jackson’s songs.

In the first act of Wednesday’s performance, the sound mix was off and it was difficult to understand Banks’ wispy voice when he was speaking and, in some cases, singing — particularly when the rock band got going.

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ” re-creates some of Jackson’s iconic dance moves, while bringing newer steps to the mix. The musical also pays much-appreciated tribute to the dancers who heavily influenced Jackson’s dance style, particularly Bob Fosse , Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers and other Black tappers who originated the Moonwalk step decades before Jackson made it famous.

The musical implies that the root of Jackson’s personal and psychological problems were caused by his father, a relentless perfectionist who stole his sons’ childhoods and robbed Michael of his self-esteem. Joe Jackson (menacingly played by Devin Bowles) becomes the zombielike villain in the show-stopping second-act number “Thriller.”

But Joe Jackson is out of the picture by 1992, when Nottage’s script sprinkles a few breadcrumbs that Michael Jackson is headed for disaster. A hinted-at addiction to pain pills will eventually lead to the tour’s premature end. And a line in the script about “a family” joining Jackson on tour may refer to the boy companions that accompanied him on the road. By 1993, the first lawsuits alleging child molestation were filed against the singer.

In “MJ,” Jackson is depicted as a man-child who’s misunderstood, hounded by the press and poisoned by his unhappy childhood. But it also shows Jackson was a unique artist whose writing, singing and dancing talent can never be truly re-created by others.

When: 7:30 p.m. today; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown

Tickets: $65 and up

Online: broadwaysd.com

[email protected]

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After Court Victories, Michael Jackson Estate Eyes Revival

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Michael Jackson’s musical legacy never left, but a kind of comeback is coming.

With a series of court victories that bring the end to serious legal crises, with a Broadway show beginning and a Cirque du Soleil show returning after a long pandemic pause, the Jackson business is on the upswing 12 years after the pop superstar’s death.

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Very recently, things looked grim. The 2019 HBO documentary “  Leaving Neverland  ” raised child molestation allegations anew. The once-dead lawsuits brought by the two men featured in it had been  revived  by changes in the law. And a decision in the estate’s appeal of a $700 million tax bill was taking years to arrive.

“I was always optimistic,” John Branca, the entertainment attorney who worked with Jackson through many of his biggest triumphs and now serves as co-executor of his estate, told The Associated Press in an interview at his Beverly Hills home. “Michael inspired the planet and his music still does. There was never any doubt about that.”

The optimism was warranted. A succession of court decisions came. One accusers’ lawsuit was dismissed in  October . The other was tossed out in  April . In May, a ruling in the  tax case  slashed the bill dramatically. The estate suddenly stands nearly clear of a dozen years of disputes. That means Branca expects that in the next 18 months it can finally be taken out of probate court and turned into a trust for Jackson’s three  children , who are all now adults.

And the focus of the estate can now shift back to presenting Jackson to the world.

The first priority is the revival of the Cirque du Soleil show, “Michael Jackson: One” at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It is slated to reopen Aug. 19 after a coronavirus closure of nearly a year and a half, in time for a major celebration there planned for Jackson’s Aug. 27 birthday.

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The Broadway show, “MJ: The Musical,” will follow quickly on its heels, the first of several planned projects.

Branca said the  delay  of well over a year, as happened for all of Broadway, was “frustrating” but he has renewed excitement about “MJ: The Musical” and shared new details.

“It’s not a chronological depiction of Michael’s life,” he said. “It’s more impressionistic, inspired by Michael’s life and his music. It takes place as Michael is preparing for a tour and MTV wants to get an interview. Michael’s very press shy, and slowly but surely as they develop a relationship begins to talk about different parts of his life that then get enacted in the show.”

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage wrote the show’s book. Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon is directing and choreographing. Broadway newcomer Myles Frost will star as Jackson, after Ephraim Sykes dropped out to shoot a movie. Rehearsals resume in September, and previews begin in December.

Branca said he’s proud of the diversity the show will bring to the stage.

“The cast is obviously largely Black,” Branca said, “In an era where that’s sorely wanted on Broadway.”

Successes aside, Branca feels lingering bitterness about director Dan Reed’s “Leaving Neverland” and what he felt were American media outlets that “don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do the research to figure out what’s true and what’s not true.”

Hence, the estate’s last lingering lawsuit, now in private arbitration, is one that it brought itself, and one Branca very much wanted filed,  against HBO  over the documentary.

“I was very angry at HBO and Dan Reed and I still am because here’s the thing: You can say anything you want about somebody who’s dead. They’re not here to protect themselves,” Branca said.

The two men featured in the documentary are appealing the dismissals of their lawsuits. HBO has defended “Leaving Neverland” as a valid and important piece of documentary journalism.

Ironically, the victory handed to the estate in its tax case came in part because the judge believed the value of Jackson’s image and likeness had been severely diminished by such allegations at the time of his death, despite his acquittal at his 2005 trial for child molestation. It was one aspect of an  all-around victory  for the estate that’s bringing a far smaller bill that’s being calculated now.

Under the guidance of Branca and his more behind-the-scenes co-executor John McClain, the estate has brought in $2.5 billion in revenue in the past 11 years, and Jackson has remained the top earning deceased celebrity every year since his death at age 50 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic  propofol .

But Branca says the way Jackson’s musical legacy echoes through modern artists may be his most impressive legacy.

“Kanye West, Drake, Beyoncé, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande — they all point back to Michael,” Branca said. “His influence is really enormous.”

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‘MJ’ Review: Flashy Michael Jackson Musical Packs in the Hits, but Struggles to Get Behind the Music

By Naveen Kumar

Naveen Kumar

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In answer to the question of whether it’s possible to separate the art from the artist, “ MJ ” performs a slick, crotch-grabbing sidestep. Packed with nearly 40 hits from Michael Jackson ’s irresistible catalogue, the Broadway production from director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon is not so much a biomusical as a high-shine and surface-skimming rehabilitation tour for its late subject, flattening rather than reckoning with his complex legacy.

“With respect, I wanna keep this about my music,” insists Jackson early on, played in the story’s present day by Myles Frost, impressive in perhaps an impossible role. Jackson is speaking to an MTV documentary crew, a journalist (Whitney Bashor) and cameraman (Gabriel Ruiz), observing rehearsals for the 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Flashbacks ensue, dissolving, somewhat claustrophobically, back into the rehearsal room each time. The narrative premise from book writer Lynn Nottage (Pulitzer winner for “Ruined” and “Sweat”) creates a suggestion of scrutiny, though the results are less than revelatory.

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Jackson reluctantly recounts his childhood in the Jackson 5, how his soulful voice dazzled from the start, and especially how his father Joe (Quentin Earl Darrington, who doubles as Jackson’s manager in the present) could be exacting, merciless and abusive. Joe’s cruelty, which easily overshadows loving support from Michael’s mother Katherine (vocal powerhouse Ayana George), is figured as the star’s formative and enduring trauma, an obstacle he wrestles with but struggles to overcome.

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Joe molded Michael into a perfectionist, and nailing every song on his upcoming tour with over-the-top flourish is Michael’s driving intention. That’s how the production delivers one rousing number after another — hits like “Beat It,” “Billy Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” — without yoking their contents to his biography, also following Jackson into the recording studio as he seizes on the unique sound for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”

Songs that are actually linked to the story convey a clear message from an artist who feels both defensive and misunderstood. “Just because you read it in a magazine/ Or see it on a TV screen, don’t make it factual,” Jackson replies to the doc crew, lamenting “The Price of Fame.” Later, at a press conference filled with what the script calls “aggressive reporters,” Jackson defiantly sings “They Don’t Really Care About Us,” drowning out personal questions with broad calls for social justice.

It seems to have been a go-to maneuver; Jackson tells his company that he wants to donate $100 million in tour profits to charity by the end of 1993, the same year allegations first surfaced against him of child sexual abuse. (Since development for “MJ” was announced in 2018, “ Leaving Neverland, ” a documentary released the following year, detailed accounts from two men who allege Jackson abused them as children starting in 1988 and 1990.)

Produced by special arrangement with the Michael Jackson estate, “MJ” narrows in on a troubled time for the artist, apparently for the sake of depicting him as a victim of the tabloid press and presenting an oblique denial of unspecified wrongdoing, referred to only briefly as “recent allegations.” (“MJ” does concede that Jackson took pain pills, though they have no discernible impact on his behavior.)

While Jackson’s songs cry out with desire at high registers, all he seems to want here is success, and more of the fame that’s already devouring him. (The cost of the tour, and whether he’ll be able to execute a grand entrance, are dominant present-day concerns.) And while his father Joe is figured as a predatory womanizer, Jackson is unsexed, childlike and without libido. It’s an uncomfortable deflection that keeps the character’s humanity at a forced remove and hollows out the story’s core.

But maybe it’s the closest to portraiture we can expect of an idol worshiped for his ambiguity and artifice as much as his soul.

Jackson’s music, orchestrated and arranged here by Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, reverberates behind the rib cage and remains undeniable. Vocal performances by Frost, and the actor playing young Michael of the Jackson 5 (Christian Wilson at the performance reviewed), are stunning feats of likeness and skill. Frost makes nimble work of Wheeldon’s choreography, hip pops, neck flicks and flowy footwork (yes, including the Moonwalk) inspired by instantly recognizable moves (several choreographers are credited with special thanks).

“MJ” delivers on its promise of fan service, from costume pieces by Paul Tazewell — that glittery glove and cocked black hat — to nostalgic trips through Soul Train and “Thriller” nights on Derek McLane’s set. But Wheeldon and Nottage make a show of gesturing behind the music only to insist that their contested subject had nothing to hide.

The demons that Jackson battles in “MJ,” his father and the media, are figured as monstrous. But if there was darkness behind the angelic falsetto, a mix of light and shadow that made Michael Jackson a singular artist, “MJ” enacts a sleight of hand, insisting it didn’t belong to him. It’s a renouncement worthy enough of a smooth criminal.

Neil Simon Theatre; 1,387 seats; $159 top. Opened Feb. 1, 2022. Reviewed Jan. 27. Running time: 2 HOURS, 30 MIN.

• Production: A Lia Vollack, John Branca, John McClain, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Roy Furman, Cue to Cue Productions, James L. Nederlander, Kumiko Yoshii, Naoya Kinoshita, Latitude Link, Candy Spelling, Stephen C. Byrd, John Gore Organization, Sandy Robertson, Ed Walson, Peter W. May, CJ ENM, Martin Bandier, Michael Cassel Group, Albert Nocciolino, Playful Productions, Ken Schur, Willette & Manny Klausner and Doug Morris production of a musical in two acts with book by Lynn Nottage and music by Michael Jackson. Produced by Special Arrangement with the Michael Jackson Estate.
• Crew: Directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. Sets, Derek McLane; lights, Natasha Katz; costumes, Paul Tazewell; sound, Gareth Owen; projections, Peter Nigrini; wigs & hair, Charles LaPointe; ​​makeup, Joe Dulude II; music direction, orchestrations, and arrangements, Jason Michael Webb; music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements, David Holcenberg; production stage manager, Julia Jones.
• Cast: Myles Frost, Quentin Earl Darrington, Whitney Bashor, Gabriel Ruiz, Antoine L. Smith, Joey Sorge, John Edwards, Ayana George, Apollo Levine, Tavon Olds-Sample, Lamont Walker II, Zelig Williams, Raymond Baynard, Kali May Grinder, Oyoyo Joi, Carina-Kay Louchiey, Renni Anthony Magee, Aaron James McKenzie, Aramie Payton, Kamille Upshaw, Ryan VanDenBoom, Darius Wright.
• Music By: Michael Jackson.

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StarTribune

'mj the musical' offers a snapshot of michael jackson at top of his reign as king of pop.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage was giddy when she was asked to write the book for a Michael Jackson musical.

Jackson, after all, had provided the soundtrack for much of her life.

"When was last time you went to a wedding or a bar mitzvah or any form of celebration that they didn't break out a Michael Jackson song at some point?" Nottage said. "Michael created music that made people dance, that made them feel joy and have a lot of fun."

Nottage teamed up with British director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon for "MJ the Musical" to bring the artist's story alive onstage. "MJ" won four Tonys, including for sound designer Gareth Owen, who re-created the studio sound of Jackson's albums in a live theatrical setting.

"Once you hear something with great sound, there's no going back," said Owen, who has mixed stadium concerts for the likes of the Who and the Rolling Stones. "I'm used to dealing with big, exacting personalities, what we did with MJ, as with all my work, was match the ideas and dreams of the past with today's technology."

Roman Banks, a 25-year-old Stone Mountain, Ga., native, plays the title character in the Broadway tour of "MJ," which opens a two-week run Tuesday at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre. Banks has a familial connection to Jackson. He has an uncle, Abe Clark, who danced in Jackson's "Bad" video.

"It's the honor of my life to play MJ," Banks said. "And I share a few things with him, including a perfectionism that I'm working on."

The Star Tribune spoke with Nottage about crafting a work around a complicated icon. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: "Man in the Mirror," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" — there are so many song titles that could have been used to title this show?

A: And we toyed with all of them. We ran the gamut. But in the end, people really loved MJ, which is what a lot of fans called him.

Q: As you dived into his life, what did you learn that surprised or shocked you?

A: I wouldn't say that I was shocked or surprised but the thing I really discovered was how intentional he was about everything that he did musically. Michael was a very private person. He wanted control of every aspect of his public image and his perfectionism became one of the more troubling aspects of his creative process.

Q: Why focus on the 1992 Dangerous Tour?

A: It was going to be perhaps the biggest tour ever for any artist and he'd just been dubbed the King of Pop. So, it's a moment when Michael was very much feeling his power but also feeling his fragility. I think that there was real fear on his part that he was not going to be able to top himself and there's a real struggle within him to figure out, "How do I continue to innovate and push the boundaries of the industry and make good music."

Q: The moment was also fraught for pop music, right?

A: The industry was beginning to shift with bands like Nirvana coming in. There was a lot of pushback against pop music. So, I think that he was feeling all of the complexity of what it means to be the King of Pop in the moment when pop music was under siege.

Q: His songs are iconic. What was your approach to using his music in "MJ"?

A: We wanted to use some of the music diegetically — to celebrate Michael Jackson's musicianship but also tell us a story about his life. That's why we came up with the narrative that we did interweaving his past with the present in a way that feels seamless and doesn't feel like we're trying to cover every single beat in his life. One of the things that we really very intentionally wanted to do was deviate from the traditional bio musical tropes of looking at someone's life from the cradle to the grave.

Q: Everyone has their own version, if you will, of Michael Jackson's music. Did you say, OK, I'm going to give the audience 60% of what it knows and rearrange the other 40% of the songs?

A: To be honest we weren't thinking of it that way. We were asking how we could be in dialogue with Michael's music and create something that was representative of who he was as an artist — something that also pushed the audience's understanding of his art. So, some of that meant highlighting lyrics of the songs and some of that meant highlighting the music.

Q: I was particularly interested in how you used some of the songs expressionistically versus as interior dialogue?

A: The songs that exist in the rehearsal room tend to function more traditionally than the songs that exist in Michael's imagination. That's how we played with it. One of the songs that I really love but that we have packaged in a different way is "Thriller." We use it narratively to explore Michael's relationship to his own fears about his career, his father. I guess we were asking what Michael Jackson's nightmare might look like. It asks the audience to hear "Thriller" in a new way that pushes the boundaries of that song and to think about Michael Jackson differently.

'MJ the Musical'

Where : Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.

When : 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends May 26.

Tickets : $50-$199. Hennepintheatretrust.org .

Rohan Preston covers theater for the Star Tribune.

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© 2024 StarTribune. All rights reserved.

After Court Victories, Michael Jackson Estate Eyes Revival

And the focus of the estate can now shift back to presenting jackson to the world, by andrew dalton • published july 30, 2021 • updated on july 30, 2021 at 3:11 pm.

Michael Jackson's musical legacy never left, but a kind of comeback is coming.

With a series of court victories that bring the end to serious legal crises, with a Broadway show beginning and a Cirque du Soleil show returning after a long pandemic pause, the Jackson business is on the upswing 12 years after the pop superstar's death.

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Very recently, things looked grim. The 2019 HBO documentary “ Leaving Neverland ” raised child molestation allegations anew. The once-dead lawsuits brought by the two men featured in it had been revived by changes in the law. And a decision in the estate's appeal of a $700 million tax bill was taking years to arrive.

“I was always optimistic,” John Branca, the entertainment attorney who worked with Jackson through many of his biggest triumphs and now serves as co-executor of his estate, told The Associated Press in an interview at his Beverly Hills home. “Michael inspired the planet and his music still does. There was never any doubt about that.”

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The optimism was warranted. A succession of court decisions came. One accusers' lawsuit was dismissed in October. The other was tossed out in April. In May, a ruling in the tax case slashed the bill dramatically. The estate suddenly stands nearly clear of a dozen years of disputes. That means Branca expects that in the next 18 months it can finally be taken out of probate court and turned into a trust for Jackson's three children, who are all now adults.

And the focus of the estate can now shift back to presenting Jackson to the world.

The first priority is the revival of the Cirque du Soleil show, “Michael Jackson: One” at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It is slated to reopen Aug. 19 after a coronavirus closure of nearly a year and a half, in time for a major celebration there planned for Jackson's Aug. 29 birthday.

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The Broadway show, “MJ: The Musical,” will follow quickly on its heels, the first of several planned projects.

Branca said the delay of well over a year, as happened for all of Broadway, was “frustrating” but he has renewed excitement about “MJ: The Musical” and shared new details.

“It's not a chronological depiction of Michael’s life,” he said. “It’s more impressionistic, inspired by Michael’s life and his music. It takes place as Michael is preparing for a tour and MTV wants to get an interview. Michael’s very press shy, and slowly but surely as they develop a relationship begins to talk about different parts of his life that then get enacted in the show.”

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage wrote the show's book. Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon is directing and choreographing. Broadway newcomer Myles Frost will star as Jackson, after Ephraim Sykes dropped out to shoot a movie. Rehearsals resume in September, and previews begin in December.

Branca said he's proud of the diversity the show will bring to the stage.

“The cast is obviously largely Black,” Branca said, "In an era where that’s sorely wanted on Broadway.”

Successes aside, Branca feels lingering bitterness about director Dan Reed's “Leaving Neverland” and what he felt were American media outlets that “don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do the research to figure out what’s true and what’s not true.”

Hence, the estate's last lingering lawsuit, now in private arbitration, is one that it brought itself, and one Branca very much wanted filed, against HBO over the documentary.

“I was very angry at HBO and Dan Reed and I still am because here’s the thing: You can say anything you want about somebody who’s dead. They’re not here to protect themselves," Branca said.

The two men featured in the documentary are appealing the dismissals of their lawsuits. HBO has defended “Leaving Neverland” as a valid and important piece of documentary journalism.

Ironically, the victory handed to the estate in its tax case came in part because the judge believed the value of Jackson's image and likeness had been severely diminished by such allegations at the time of his death, despite his acquittal at his 2005 trial for child molestation. It was one aspect of an all-around victory for the estate that's bringing a far smaller bill that's being calculated now.

Under the guidance of Branca and his more behind-the-scenes co-executor John McClain, the estate has brought in $2.5 billion in revenue in the past 11 years, and Jackson has remained the top earning deceased celebrity every year since his death at age 50 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.

But Branca says the way Jackson's musical legacy echoes through modern artists may be his most impressive legacy.

“Kanye West, Drake, Beyoncé, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande — they all point back to Michael,” Branca said. “His influence is really enormous.”

This story has been corrected to show Jackson's birthday is Aug. 29, not Aug. 27.

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

Playhouse Square Broadway series includes 'MJ,' launch of 'Back to the Future' tour

Playhouse Square announced its 2023-24 KeyBank Broadway Series on Tuesday, featuring the launch of the North American tour of "Back to the Future," the pre-Broadway tour of "The Wiz" and "MJ," the musical that celebrates the creativity and collaborative spirit of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

The seven-show season was announced on New Day Cleveland on Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.

Craig Hassall, Playhouse Square's new president and CEO, praised the loyalty of Playhouse Square's more than 44,000 annual season theatergoers.

"Your enthusiasm and knowledge rival that of audiences anywhere in the world," he said.

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David Greene, senior vice president of programming, said Playhouse Square has the largest Broadway season ticket community in North America. He promised a season that includes plenty of nostalgia for multiple generations as well as new spins on familiar titles.

The full season Playhouse Square season for 2023-24

● "The Wiz,"  Oct. 3 to 22. Cleveland will be one of the first cities in the country to host a pre-Broadway stop of this musical, which will have a limited Broadway run in spring, 2024. The musical, a groundbreaking twist on "The Wizard of Oz," has an iconic score featuring soul, gospel, rock and funk, including the timeless hit "Ease on Down the Road." This revival infuses ballet, jazz and modern pop for a whole new groove.

●  "Girl From the North Country,"  Oct. 31 to Nov. 19. The Tony Award-winning musical reimagines 20 legendary songs by Bob Dylan to tell the 1934 story of a group of wayward travelers whose lives intersect in 1934 Duluth, Minnesota. Written and directed by Conor McPherson, the show features Tony-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale of Dylan hits including "Forever Young" and "Like a Rolling Stone."

●  "Mrs. Doubtfire,"  Jan. 9 to 28, 2024. Based on the beloved film, the musical tells the story of an out-of-work actor who will do anything for his kids, even pose as a Scottish nanny. The family-friendly comedy is directed by Jerry Zaks.

●  "Funny Girl,"  Feb. 20 to March 10, 2024. Fanny Brice, who has always dreamed of a life on stage, becomes one of the most beloved performers in history, despite everyone telling her she'd never be a star. The musical comedy revival features a score with the classic songs "Don't Rain on My Parade," "I'm the Greatest Star" and "People."

● "Company,"  April 30 to May 19, 2024. The winner of five Tony awards, including best revival of a musical, is a new production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical comedy. In the revival, gender-swapping has lead Bobbie as a 35-year-old single woman, rather than the original male Bobby, whose friends continually ask her why she hasn't settled down and started a family. Other characters have switched genders, including the man Jamie, originally written as a woman Amy. The musical's iconic Sondheim songs include "Side by Side by Side" and "Being Alive."

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●  "Back to the Future: The Musical,"  June 11 to July 7, 2024. Playhouse Square will host the official North American tour opening less than 12 months after the show's Broadway opening in August 2023. The musical, based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, includes hit songs from the movie such as "The Power of Love" and "Back in Time."

●  "MJ," July 16 to Aug. 11, 2024. The Tony Award-winning musical centers around the making of Michael Jackson's 1992 Dangerous World Tour, with direction and Tony-winning choreography by Christopher Wheeldon and a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage. The musical looks at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that made Jackson a pop legend.

Season tickets are available from $160 to $750 per seat at 216-640-8800 or playhousesquare.org/broadway.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or [email protected].

• New York City
• First National Tour

The most spectacular show you’ll see in the West End right now!

Gravity defying dancing and all the megahits!

MJ triumphantly succeeds in recreating a glimpse of a unique and towering talent !

Exhilarating & Dazzling !

Jaw-droppingly talented Myles Frost !

A ravishing spectacle !

• The Best Seats at The Best Prices Check Monday – Thursday performances
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Startin’ Somethin’ in London

He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Now, Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry is thrilling West End audiences night after night at the Prince Edward Theatre, in the multi–Tony Award ® -winning musical MJ .

Centred around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star to offer a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into legendary status.

Created by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and Tony Award ® -winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, this electrifying new musical features some of the most iconic songs in music history, including Billie Jean, Beat It, Man in the Mirror, and Smooth Criminal.

Myles Frost is MJ

Broadway’s original MJ is bringing his Tony Award®-winning performance to London. Don’t miss Myles Frost in MJ !

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Michael Jackson Estate Hopeful for Revival of Cirque du Soleil and New Broadway Show After Court Victories

The Michael Jackson estate has seen a number of legal victories recently, which signals a financial upswing for the business after years of hardship.

Image via Getty/Phil Walter

The Michael Jackson estate is finally looking at a financial boon after a number of legal wins.

The court victories will open the door for the beginning of a Broadway show and the revival of Jackson’s Cirque du Soleil show, which has been halted for nearly 18 months due to the pandemic, according to the Miami Herald .

One legal fight stemmed from the estate’s appeal of a $700 million tax bill, which resulted in a significantly lowered bill in May. The judge apparently thought that the value of Jackson’s image and likeness had declined due to the sexual abuse allegations from around the time he died. Following HBO’s 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland , the two men who alleged abuse took their cases to court, with one getting thrown out in October and the second, in April.

“I was always optimistic,” John Branca, Jackson’s entertainment attorney and now co-executor of his estate, told The Associated Press. “Michael inspired the planet and his music still does. There was never any doubt about that.” With this news, Branca thinks that now he can work towards creating a trust for Jackson’s three adult children.

The singer’s Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson: One is set to return to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Aug. 19, in time for Jackson’s birthday celebration on Aug. 29. The Broadway show, MJ: The Musical will soon follow.

“It’s not a chronological depiction of Michael’s life,” Branca said of the Broadway show. “It’s more impressionistic, inspired by Michael’s life and his music. It takes place as Michael is preparing for a tour and MTV wants to get an interview. Michael’s very press shy, and slowly but surely as they develop a relationship begins to talk about different parts of his life that then get enacted in the show.”

With Branca and co-executor John McClain’s help, the estate has amassed $2.5 billion in revenue over the last 11 years.

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‘The Wiz’ will ease on back to Broadway in 2024. But first, a national tour

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“The Wiz” will ease on down the road back to Broadway in an all-new adaptation set for 2024.

But before its return to New York, the Tony Award-winning musical will kick off a national tour next year in Baltimore, where the original production debuted in 1974.

The “entirely reimagined revival” will be helmed by theater vet and Black Theater United founding member Schele Williams (“Motown the Musical,” “Aida,” “Rent”) in her Broadway directorial debut. It will also feature additional material by Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Key & Peele,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show”).

“I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz…the music, the costumes, the choreography and [original cast member] Stephanie Mills! Seeing that show changed my life,” Williams said in a statement to Broadway World . “It is, in every way, a celebration of Black excellence. I am honored to helm this production and I can’t think of a better time to tell this story.”

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“I’m f— proud as butt💚💚💚,” the “Amber Ruffin Show” host tweeted Thursday upon sharing the news. “I SHOULD TRULY GET A BILLION DOLLARS FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING THIS WHOLE TIME”

Choreographer JaQuel Knight — famous for iconic dances on Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and “Formation” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Body” — will make his Broadway debut with the show too. The new musical will use the classic book by William F. Brown and the Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (with famous songs such as “Ease on Down the Road” and “Home”). Music supervision, orchestrations and music arrangements will be done by Drama Desk Award nominee and Kennedy Center honoree Joseph Joubert.

“It is a dream come true to be a part of what I consider the epitome of Black excellence,” Knight said. “There’s not one piece of art that has had influence on popular culture like ‘The Wiz.’ I’m humbled to not only have the opportunity to leave my own mark on a true work of art, but to continue the storytelling and legacy building on the beauty of blackness through dance, movement & attitude.”

‘The Wiz Live!’ was the blackest thing on television Thursday night — in more ways than one

Dec. 4, 2015

The show, a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” will begin its national tour in fall 2023 at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore and make its way across the country before settling in New York for its limited engagement in spring 2024. Casting will be announced at a later time, and tour cities and scheduling will be announced in January.

‘The Wiz Live!’: Gorgeous, utterly sincere and attitude to spare

So now we know: It’s much easier to successfully stage a famous musical on live television if you cast a group of multi-talented, high-energy and personally kinetic performers who know how to own the spectacle rather than the other way around.

Dec. 3, 2015

The landmark 1975 production of “The Wiz,” which featured an all-Black cast, ran at the Majestic Theatre until 1979. The show received seven Tony Awards, including musical, original score and acting prizes for Ted Ross and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Choreographer George Faison also won a Tony, as did Geoffrey Holder, for direction and costume design.

The musical was revived on Broadway in 1984, re-opening for a month-long run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York and was perhaps most famously adapted into a 1978 film directed by Sidney Lumet that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy and the late Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor, Lena Horne, Ted Ross and Mabel King also starred in the iconic movie.

In 2015, NBC adapted the show for the small screen with “The Wiz Live!” by Matthew Diamond and Kenny Leon. The positively received live TV event starred Oscar winner Common, “Glee” alum Amber Riley, “Orange Is the New Black” star Uzo Aduba, Ne-Yo, David Alan Grier, Mary J. Blige, Elijah Kelley, Shanice Williams, Queen Latifah and original cast member Mills as Auntie Em.

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Wayne Brady and Nichelle Lewis on Striving for Excellence in ‘The Wiz’

The veteran and the newcomer each had their own fears as they joined the Broadway revival of the beloved all-Black musical.

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By Salamishah Tillet

“That show was so Black,” my 8-year-old whispered after we saw “The Wiz” on Broadway. He hadn’t made this observation last fall after seeing a performance of the show in Baltimore, during the national tour that preceded this revival. So I was curious: What had changed, and why was this iteration more culturally resonant for him than even the 1978 movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson or NBC’s 2015 “The Wiz Live!” special that I’d screened for him.

I suspected my son was drawn to this version’s colloquial expressions (“All I got to do is stay Black and die,” Evillene tells Dorothy), choreography ( ranging from Atlanta street dancing to South African amapiano ) and its casting of Wayne Brady as the Wiz, who greets the Scarecrow and the Tinman with a dap. (Brady will depart the production on June 12.)

“The Wiz,” an all-Black incarnation of “The Wizard of Oz,” premiered on Broadway in 1975 with Stephanie Mills as Dorothy. The revival’s creative team — including the director Schele Williams and the comedian Amber Ruffin, who updated the book — have said that they wanted this version to reflect the richness of Black American history and contemporary culture .

The show features a cast of newcomers, including Nichelle Lewis, whose TikTok performance of “Home” helped land her an audition for the role of Dorothy. Brady, who made his Broadway debut 20 years ago in “Chicago,” offers up a charismatic Wiz who will do (almost) anything to leave Oz and, in Wayne’s back story, return to his loved ones.

During a recent interview, Lewis and Brady shared their history with the show, how they overcame their fears of joining this production, and the beauty of staging an all-Black musical on Broadway today. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Wayne, you joined the cast after a national tour, and, Nichelle, this is your Broadway debut. How did you prepare?

NICHELLE LEWIS I’m very nervous all the time. But I think it’s a good thing. Wayne said the other day, “If you weren’t nervous, it’d probably be bad.” For me, having those nerves is humbling. I wouldn’t say that I have all of this confidence, but I feel at peace and at home.

WAYNE BRADY Jumping into a show like this was jumping into a game of double Dutch. My default Wayne will always be the 10-year-old Wayne, who is a loner, plays by himself, listens to musical theater and writes because he doesn’t fit in. So I tell myself, “Oh, I don’t know all these people, and they already like each other.” But these things are always all in our head. Then you go, “Come on now. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t supposed to be here, and this is your thing.” Now, this is my fourth Broadway show, so my job is to be here to support my cast.

“The Wiz” is known for its iconic performances, on the stage and screen. How did your predecessors influence your performance?

LEWIS When I got the call, the first thing I did was watch this YouTube recording of Stephanie Mills doing the show. Every time she sang, it was so soulful that I could feel it through the screen. Then I watched a few clips of Diana Ross. If you watch the video of her singing “Home,” it’s as if she’s talking directly to you. So I wanted to take the genuineness and make sure I put that into this Dorothy.

BRADY As a kid, I didn’t only focus on Richard Pryor [as The Wiz], I just loved the whole thing. Later, once I started performing, I said, “Well, if it ever comes around, I want to be the Tinman or the Scarecrow.” And one time, I was even hired to be the Tinman for Des McAnuff’s [2006] production at La Jolla Playhouse , but I ended up doing another TV show instead.

Given that it is a beloved classic, how did you ensure the uniqueness of this adaptation?

LEWIS My Dorothy is 15, and even though she does have her Aunt Em, she still doesn’t feel like she has someone there for her. It’s kind of a teenager thing. It is important for Dorothy to find all of these different people on her journey who are going through similar things and trying to be comfortable in their skin. My goal was to create this person who is growing, and be able to see that those changes are in her voice, within her body, and just her being.

BRADY When Schele called me to do it, we had long talks about the Wiz. I knew this version would be different because of her and Amber’s approach to Dorothy, and the heroes, and their journey. Dorothy does not meet three older people who guide her. Instead, these characters are all similar in age, so by extension, the Wiz had to be different. Is he scamming them right off the top? Is he being genuine with how effusive he is? We had those talks because I wanted to shape this guy so he wasn’t unrepentant.

After seeing it on Broadway, my 8-year-old commented how culturally Black he thought your show was.

BRADY Mission accomplished! It’s beautiful that he felt that because it’s unapologetically Black. It’s funny to me that there are times when we say unapologetically Black or Black excellence, it’s triggering for some people. Some people ask, “Why can’t it just be excellent?” I dare say we’ve been more than excellent.

LEWIS I wish I had seen a show where I thought that as a kid. I never remember seeing a show and being like, “That was so Black,” and saying it in a positive way before, unfortunately. I grew up in a small town in Virginia and was often asked, “Why does your hair look like that?” That’s a very different tone from: “That’s so Black. I want to be up there, too. Look at them.” I wish that somebody would have made me feel that way.

Critics have also applauded it for how inclusive and queer this version is.

LEWIS That was a big part of Schele’s vision. In “Brand New Day,” she wanted to have all the colors for the L.G.B.T.Q. community. A big message of this production was just to spread love for yourself, no matter who you are or where you come from.

BRADY It’s definitely a vibe. This is a “Wiz” for this time, and it is so open to everybody and everything — that in and of itself makes it beautifully that queer.

What do you think the legacy of your show will be, particularly for African American musicals on Broadway?

BRADY The original “Wiz” was a definitive product of the 1970s in its glam and excess. André De Shields, who played the Wiz, said something to me on opening night. He said, “When we did the original ‘Wiz,’ it was the first time that these people had come to see all these Black faces on the stage, they tried to put us under all of this stuff. So you are lucky because you can just come onstage and be beautiful.” In André De Shields’s version, they worked with furs, leather and lights to claim a place in the world. Ours is of this time: We have this place and can just be. From the queerness onstage to the costumes, the musicality, light and bricks. I think instead of fighting to be seen, this “Wiz” is, “Oh, you see us.”

LEWIS I hope the little Black girls in the audience feel beautiful. I hope they feel they can be whoever they want and be proud of that. If I had seen this show where I see braids, I see Afros, I see all kinds of different hairstyles — I hope she will be proud of her hair and curl texture and will do whatever she wants to do. I just hope that she feels she can do whatever she wants in this world.

Salamishah Tillet is a contributing critic at large for The Times and a professor at Rutgers University. She won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2022, for columns examining race and Black perspectives as the arts and entertainment world responded to the Black Lives Matter moment with new works. More about Salamishah Tillet

Michael Jackson estate 'optimistic' about revival after recent court victories

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Michael Jackson’s musical legacy never left, but a kind of comeback is coming.

With a series of court victories that bring the end to serious legal crises, with a Broadway show beginning and a Cirque du Soleil show returning after a long pandemic pause, the Jackson business is on the upswing 12 years after the pop superstar’s death.

Very recently, things looked grim. The 2019 HBO documentary “ Leaving Neverland ” raised child molestation allegations anew. The once-dead lawsuits brought by the two men featured in it had been revived by changes in the law. And a decision in the estate’s appeal of a $700 million tax bill was taking years to arrive.

“I was always optimistic,” John Branca, the entertainment attorney who worked with Jackson through many of his biggest triumphs and now serves as co-executor of his estate, told The Associated Press in an interview at his Beverly Hills home. “Michael inspired the planet and his music still does. There was never any doubt about that.”

Michael Jackson controversy: We may never resolve our conflicted feelings about Michael Jackson

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The optimism was warranted. A succession of court decisions came. One accusers’ lawsuit was dismissed in October. The other was tossed out in April. In May, a ruling in the tax case  slashed the bill dramatically. The estate suddenly stands nearly clear of a dozen years of disputes. That means Branca expects that in the next 18 months it can finally be taken out of probate court and turned into a trust for Jackson’s three children, who are all now adults.

And the focus of the estate can now shift back to presenting Jackson to the world.

The first priority is the revival of the Cirque du Soleil show, “Michael Jackson: One” at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It is slated to reopen Aug. 19 after a coronavirus closure of nearly a year and a half, in time for a major celebration there planned for Jackson’s Aug. 27 birthday.

More: Michael Jackson's mother, children land major estate tax victory years after his death

The Broadway show, “MJ: The Musical,” will follow quickly on its heels, the first of several planned projects.

Branca said the delay of well over a year, as happened for all of Broadway, was “frustrating” but he has renewed excitement about “MJ: The Musical” and shared new details.

“It’s not a chronological depiction of Michael’s life,” he said. “It’s more impressionistic, inspired by Michael’s life and his music. It takes place as Michael is preparing for a tour and MTV wants to get an interview. Michael’s very press shy, and slowly but surely as they develop a relationship begins to talk about different parts of his life that then get enacted in the show.”

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage wrote the show’s book. Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon is directing and choreographing. Broadway newcomer Myles Frost will star as Jackson, after Ephraim Sykes dropped out to shoot a movie. Rehearsals resume in September, and previews begin in December.

Branca said he’s proud of the diversity the show will bring to the stage.

“The cast is obviously largely Black,” Branca said, “In an era where that’s sorely wanted on Broadway.”

'Leaving Neverland': Michael Jackson estate slams 'Leaving Neverland'; here's what we learned from watching

Successes aside, Branca feels lingering bitterness about director Dan Reed’s “Leaving Neverland” and what he felt were American media outlets that “don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do the research to figure out what’s true and what’s not true.”

Hence, the estate’s last lingering lawsuit, now in private arbitration, is one that it brought itself, and one Branca very much wanted filed, against HBO over the documentary.

“I was very angry at HBO and Dan Reed and I still am because here’s the thing: You can say anything you want about somebody who’s dead. They’re not here to protect themselves,” Branca said.

The two men featured in the documentary are appealing the dismissals of their lawsuits. HBO has defended “Leaving Neverland” as a valid and important piece of documentary journalism.

Ironically, the victory handed to the estate in its tax case came in part because the judge believed the value of Jackson’s image and likeness had been severely diminished by such allegations at the time of his death, despite his acquittal at his 2005 trial for child molestation. It was one aspect of an all-around victory for the estate that’s bringing a far smaller bill that’s being calculated now.

Under the guidance of Branca and his more behind-the-scenes co-executor John McClain, the estate has brought in $2.5 billion in revenue in the past 11 years, and Jackson has remained the top earning deceased celebrity every year since his death at age 50 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.

But Branca says the way Jackson’s musical legacy echoes through modern artists may be his most impressive legacy.

“Kanye West, Drake, Beyoncé, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande — they all point back to Michael,” Branca said. “His influence is really enormous.”

'I never saw him do anything': Macaulay Culkin defends Michael Jackson in new interview

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Alan Jackson Is Touring Again With Last Call: One More for the Road Tour

"I'm going to give [fans] the best show I can," he said in a statement.

By Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson

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Alan Jackson

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Jackson continues to live with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a chronic neuropathy condition he first revealed in 2021. The condition impacts one’s balance and ability to stand or walk without difficulty.

Tickets for all cities will go on sale Friday, June 7. VIP experiences will be offered (including a pre-show party presented by AJ’s Good Time Bar). One dollar from every ticket sold for the tour will be donated to CMT Research Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) that funds research, with each dollar being matched by a group of CMTRF donors.

See the full list of tour dates for Jackson’s Last Call: One More For the Road Tour below:

• Aug. 2: Boston, MA (TD Garden)
• Aug. 24: Grand Rapids, MI (Van Andel Arena)
• Sept. 28: Fayetteville, AR (Bud Walton Arena)
• Oct. 26: Kansas City, MO (T-Mobile Center)
• Nov. 16: Salt Lake City, UT (Delta Center)
• Jan. 18: Oklahoma City, OK (Paycom Center)
• Feb. 15: Fort Worth, TX (Dickies Arena)
• March 7: Orland, FL (Kia Center)
• April 26: Tampa, FL (Amalie Arena)
• May 17: Milwaukee, WI (Fiserv Forum)

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