Thriller Live
When a London show claims to pay homage to one of the greatest music artists ever, you expect it to be as legendary as the man itself.
Sadly Thriller Live fails miserably and is more like an X-Factor special than a tribute to Michael Jackson.
It begins with the songs of the Jackson 5 and the audience start to get warmed up, clapping and singing along. Unfortunately this is short-lived and the show then launches into a host of songs that are less well-known and there is no more joining in.
Cleopatra Higgins is an amazing singer and has a strong stage presence, although she doesn’t do much in the way of dancing. However, with her voice and outfits, she totally owns the show.
The costumes of the backing dancers on the other hand are quite brash and really do not flatter the dancers. While their gymnastic displays are impressive, they seem to struggle with being in the background and this is quite distracting and badly planned.
Act I is barely even worth a mention, with the exception of She’s Out of My Life which although isn’t Jackson’s best song, is done justice by Jesse Smith. Daniel Odejinmi is very cute although struggles a bit with I’ll Be There.
Act II however does have some redeeming features. Unusually Heal The World is replaced by Earthsong (my favourite Michael Jackson song) and this is performed beautifully by the leads, although the backing dancers are unnecessary.
They Don’t Care About Us is also excellent, sung with drums and drama and a real ‘angry’ feel. Thriller itself comes late and the zombies no longer run through the audience but remain on stage. It’s still done quite well, but the audience engagement was a nice touch.
Celebrating its 6th birthday with a show that is tired and actually quite boring, the producers need to make some drastic changes, or just call it quits.
Considering that Michael Jackson was – and indeed is – such a huge artist, the tribute to him is poor and the talent barely good enough for a reality TV show.
2*
My Stage is the World 
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