BWW Reviews: THRILLER LIVE Is a Sensational Tribute to the Music of Michael Jackson

Reviewed by Christine Pyman, Wednesday 31st December 2014

Thriller Live is a show that grew from a concept of Adrian Grant, who, in 1991, started The Annual Michael Jackson Celebration, at the Hammersmith Palais. This celebration expanded from the original 1000 attendees, to a one night live show in 2005, to a UK wide tour in 2007, six years in London's West end, and the rest, as they say, is history.

This is a tribute show, bursting with international talent, born of inspiration, and continued through love and a great honouring of the genius that was Michael Jackson.

The show starts with songs from the early part of Jackson's career, songs such as The Jackson Five's ABC, and I Want You Back, and continues through to the blockbuster chart topping hits of the album, Thriller, which still continues to sell millions yearly.

This is different from many other tribute shows, in that it showcases the talents of not one, but seven lead singers, all of whom were not just talented mimics, but great vocalists in their own right. The ability to mimic the sound of Jackson is an important qualification for the role as far as the fans are concerned, and these seven vocalists did not disappoint. In fact, I think I have never seen such enthusiasm and excitement from an audience as I witnessed at this show, so from that alone, it must be judged a huge success.

The Australian singer, Prinny Stevens, opened the show, singing the main vocals as a younger Jackson, then in joined vocalists MiG Ayesha, Alex Buchanan, Sean Christopher, Samantha Johnson, J. Rome, and Wayne Robinson, taking turn and turn about throughout the show. Sean Christopher was outstanding in the Thriller scenes, musically as well as visually. Moonwalks and crotch grabbing abounded, accompanied by screams from the audience.

The show built up pace, much like Jackson's career, from the early songs featuring that angelic voiced baby with the cute synchronised dance moves, to the phenomenon that was his later musical life, still featuring synchronised dance moves, but with a much larger budget.

A Michael Jackson show wouldn't be complete without fabulous dancing, and there were twelve very experienced dancers making an important part of the spectacle. Leah Hill simply stole the stage with her presence, moves and acting, and was a joy to behold. Individually the other dancers were very good to great, but unfortunately somehow managed not to dance in concert with each other, with some almost awkward moments in between moves where they seemed to have accidentally wandered onto stage, and were waiting for instruction as to what to do next. Whether this was an intentional part of the choreography or not, I am not sure. Maybe it was a harking back to film clips, where random passers by become amazing dancers.

One other gripe was that, during the second half, the wonderful voices of the singers were drowned out by the equally wonderful band and, although the band was brilliant, particularly the featured guitarists, the vocalists were actually really great, and should have been the stars of the show. In spite of these couple of problems, the entire event combined managed to transport us to the excitement of a Michael Jackson extravaganza, and was appreciated as such.

From a seemingly simplistic set design, with echoes of the cabaret greats, (by the famous and talented Jonathan Park), burst enchanting LED imagery, which built up, as did the rest of the show, to a crescendo of excitement, following not only the complexity of the music development, but also indicated the development of technology and music visuals from the 1960s to the 1990s. Jackson himself was included in these visuals, which added poignancy to the show. Jackson led a very different life to most, and his lyrics echo that searching of a child who does not quite understand the adult world, but his music spoke to all, and Thriller Live is bringing that music to new generations for them to experience too.

If you are a fan, or want to experience for yourself the music that millions appreciate, do not miss this show.

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