MJ: THE MUSICAL ★★★★
Prince Edward Theatre until December. Tickets: 0344 482 5151
There is a sharp intake of breath when Broadway star Myles Frost first slinks onstage in black fedora, untucked white shirt and black trousers. The breath turns to a roar as the chords of Beat It ring out and Frost snaps into the mercurial embodiment of Michael Jackson.
The opening number is a mission statement: this is elevated entertainment. With a book by double Pulitzer prizewinner Lynn Nottage and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon it was always going to be a class act.
Pivoting around the preparations and rehearsals for the Dangerous World Tour, it presents Jackson as a man who was a victim of his own supernatural drive for perfection. The covering device of an MTV journalist who exceeds her brief to observe his creative process by attempting to penetrate his elusive personality provides a narrative blueprint that is steadily erased in the dazzling celebration of his greatest hits.
Flashbacks to his youth reveal the young boy of the Jackson Five (Dylan Trigger as Mini Michael on press night) being pushed to extremes by his bitter and demanding father, Joseph (Ashley Zhangazha), the teenage Jackson (Mitchell Zhangazha) finding his individual voice and talent, and the man/child megastar who was beloved by millions.
If Frost leads the charge as the later MJ, capturing the star’s gestures and signature moves with practiced ease, his two younger selves quit themselves almost as well.
Starting in a huge rehearsal studio it moves swiftly into other eras and shows, including an amusing recreation of Soul Train with the Jacksons in full dandyish regalia and a stunning, neon-drenched sequence for Smooth Criminal. Wheeldon’s re-imagining of the Thriller video as a voodoo carnival with a diabolical ringmaster and zombie dancers is enough to blow fuses in your brain. The King of Pop is dead. Long live the King of Pop.
POWER OF SAIL ★★★★ Menier Chocolate Factory until May 12. Tickets: 020 7378 1713
Cancel Culture is under the microscope in Paul Grellong’s subtle and diverting play. When blinkered and complacent Harvard professor Charles Nichols (Julian Ovenden) attempts to raise his profile by inviting an infamous white nationalist to his annual symposium, he detonates a series of events he cannot control.
As colleagues and students try to persuade him to disinvite the notorious guest, everyone’s motives come under scrutiny and many are found wanting. Internecine jealousies, academic narcissism and knee-jerk ideological reactions fly around like shrapnel. Nichols’ mantra “the answer to hate speech is more speech,” becomes increasingly suspect as hypocrisy rears its head on all sides.
Dominick Dromgoole keeps the dialogue and action on a tight rein and the panelled walls of Paul Farnsworth’s set roll smoothly from academic den – complete with model yacht – to local bar and train platform.
The cast, including Giles Terera, Tanya Franks and Kate Bersnstein revel in Grellong’s witty and articulate anger.
The play delivers a dramatic wallop midway before rewinding to reveal what actually occurred.
Ultimately, it comes across as a series of juicily dramatic scenes in search of a play strong enough to contain them.