THRILLER

THRILLER – all I can say is wow. *****

The Michael Jackson show

What more can I say about Thriller? I have reviewed it five times already and it just goes on getting better. I started out thinking ‘Oh it’s Thriller AGAIN’ and I was looking forward to taking a new person to the show, that was to be my treat – and yet I was as enraptured by it as if it was my first time. It is constantly kept fresh. Change of cast, change of scenery and lighting, change of numbers. Gary Lloyd, Director and Choreographer just won’t let it lie. He is working just as hard after nine years and now it is the fifteenth ever longest running musical in the West End.  This is what the show I attended last week was all about.  It was a celebration and there was new stuff.  In addition to all the glitter and streamers that turn up everywhere even in the audience, there were surprising plumes of smoke or sparkling lights arising from the stage like fountains.

Michel Jackson may have died young, but he has left a huge body of work – enough to fill three or four productions. There are some that stay, like numbers from Thriller and Bad, but there are enough songs to keep changing, and there are mash ups of several tunes in some of the items.

 The Jackson story would not be correct without the Jackson Five and there are six young people who take it in turns to play the young Michael. On the Celebration night, it was Marcelllus Virgo Smith to entertain us and he did brilliantly.

Singing ‘She’s Out of my Life’ – one of Jacksons most heartrending ballads is Reece Bahia – a young man who has been following Thriller since he was nine and is now one of the principal vocalists.  He has a beautiful lyrical voice and can sing pretty, as well as belting up a storm. He gets an enormous round of applause at the end.

Dajiow does a long stunning solo turn impersonating Michael Jackson, a perfect lookalike using all his hero’s own idiosyncratic dance moves.

The female socialist singer is the very sexy and delightful Cleo Higgins lead singer from the band Cleopatra. Here is a real star of musical theatre appearing in practically every item in different costumes that become more spectacular as the evening progresses. She is a versatile singer who can also wallop along with the best.

It is mainly a dance and spectacular show and Lloyd has a difficult job in finding new dance moves. Luckily, he has an imagination and talent to discover/invent something different for each item.

The show is backed up by John Maher and his magnificent rock orchestra which is usually hidden upstage behind a blind, but occasionally the blind rises, and we get a chance to see them as they play the pulsating rhythms of Jackson’s music. 

The settings are sensational – all colours patterns and shapes, thrilling lighting effects. – a wondrous combination of talents. Jonathan Park as designer and lighting by Nigel Catmur

Everybody can enjoy a show like this. It is pure escapism even to traces of pantomime and a little gentle audience participation which everybody is eager to join in.

I was happy that my classically trained friend was just as eager as I was to stand up and jig about with the guys.

You don’t have to be a Jackson fan to get a kick out of this show. It is a Terrific production. Great family entertainment