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THRILLER Live
The New Alexandra Theatre
**** IF ever a show
delivered exactly what it says on the tin, or in this case, the posters
and the programme, it is
THRILLER Live. There are no
revelations, no drama set around Michael Jackson’s controversial life,
not even a hint of a biog, apart from giving some timeline to
songs, just his music and lots of it – 30 or so tracks in all. And that is what people had come for, a
celebration of the late pop star’s music, a tribute show, no more, no
less, although perhaps someone should have mentioned to the women
sitting in the row in front, joining in every song and shouting for
Michael at regular intervals, that Jackson is not actually with us any
longer. To be fair though she lived and loved every
minute and was not the only one in an enthusiastic audience, for behind
all the hyperbole, and there has been shedloads since Jackson’s drug
induced death in 2009, he was an impor The format is simple,
start with Motown and the Jackson Five and work your way through to
Thriller
and Bad
with five lead singers, including a Michael Jackson look alike, Sean
Christopher, who had all the moves off pat. Particularly impressive
were Rory Taylor who produced a moving
She’s Out of My Life – cue tears from
woman in front – and Cleopatra Higgins who has a stunning voice which at
full power could probably crack anvils. Add a superb group of 10 dancers, five men and
five women, throw in a quality six piece band, spectacular choreography
from director Gary Lloyd and a set from Jonathan Park, full of pop art
video images from Colin Rozee, and you have an all action, full blast,
high energy, non-stop show. Trust me, nobody puts weight on in the cast
of Thriller! Lead singers Shaquille Hemmans and Michael Kavuma added to the mix with pantopop. We have all been to pantos, oh yes we have, when the audience is split for a contest to see who can sing/shout loudest. Well Hemmans and Kyuma managed it for a pop song
and even managed to get everyone, or nearly everyone, on their feet in
the process. The first half, from the early years, was lively
and fast paced with the cast full of enthusiasm but somehow there seemed
to be a vital spark missing. Something was not quite clicking. Whatever it was, the cast found it and more,
cranking it up a couple more notches after the break with some quite
stunning routines to tracks from Thriller and Bad. Lloyd has regularly added new elements to the
show since it opened in the West End in 2009 and has recently brought in
enhanced production values and state of the art new video displays to
keep the show fresh and exciting. You won’t know any more about Jackson at the end
of the show than you did at the start, nut that was never the intention,
instead you will have enjoyed two and a half hours of pretty well
non-stop music celebrating his legacy, and you will end it on your
feet.. To 12-03-16. Roger Clarke 07-03-16
Terrific cast with amazing routines
**** THIS isn’t a musical telling the life
story of the legendary Michael Jackson, but it is feast of his massive
hits for fans packing the theatre for the week-long run. So while there is no interesting story to follow,
the quality of singing and dancing is a bonus and underlines why the
super star became such a global sensation. Very few words are spoken, apart from the
occasional tribute to MJ, but after a slightly bumpy start on opening
night, when the sound was rather muffled, the action became, at times,
breathtaking. Gary Lloyd’s choreography is stunning, featuring
some amazing routines, and the Thriller scene, with the walking dead, is
particularly effective. The five lead vocalists – Sean Christopher,
Shaquille Hemmans, Cleopatra Higgins, Michael Kavuma and Rory Taylor are
excellent throughout this thriller of a show which generates huge
audience participation, and one middle aged woman near me repeatedly
mopped away tears of emotion. The terrific cast go through more than 30
numbers, with the LED lighting adding to the excitement, and the
six-piece on-stage band are superb. The pulling power of this concert is shown by the
fact that very few tickets are still available. Thriller continues to thrill until 12.03.16 Paul Marston
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tant
and influential figure in the history of pop and he did have a big back
catalogue for the Thriller producers to play with.