MJ the Musical: An enjoyable, if biased, tribute to the king of pop

Michael Jackson is a figure that needs no introduction. From his beginnings as the soulful voice of the Jackson 5, to culture-defining pop records such as thriller, it wouldn’t be a stretch to name him the definitive household name. Even after a series of badly received albums in the 1990s and 2000s, and his tragic death in 2009, practically everyone and their dog knows of Michael Jackson. 

MJ the Musical first premiered on Broadway in 2022, but finally came to Vancouver in late November of 2025. As of this December, it has grossed over $300 million, which makes it the 16th most successful musical of all time, above titans like Dear Evan Hanson and Hairspray, while also being the most recently debuted entry in Wikipedia’s top 25 most successful musicals. With all this hype, I was very excited to finally experience it, and after the fact, I was very impressed. 

This is one of the most modern-sounding musicals I’ve ever listened to, despite being set in the early 1990s. The songs are mixed with very heavy bass emphasis, and despite the presence of a pit band, most of the instrumentation came from a band playing in the background of the set. Of course, all the songs were fantastic, but since they all came from Michael or other’s real discographies, I can’t really count that as a mark towards them. The performance of the songs, though, was perhaps as energetic as it must have been to see Jackson perform live. I can quite honestly say that I have no issues with the technical aspects of the show. 

 However, MJ the Musical is far from a perfect experience. 

The biggest issue with MJ the Musical is their refusal to really mention or engage with the controversy that surrounded Jackson. The musical paints him as a paragon, whose biggest issues were high ambition and an over reliance on pills. While the musical does show in some scenes the abuse Jackson and his brothers suffered in childhood, these scenes fail to make a lasting impression in my eyes. Additionally, there were other problems Jackson was known for that were barely even mentioned. As is well known, Jackson was accused in 1993 by screenwriter, Evan Chandler, for sexual abuse of his 13-year-old son, Jordan. This lawsuit ended up causing the cancellation of the Dangerous tour which happens to be the focus of this very musical. The story later resulted in Jackson losing his Pepsi sponsorship. While this and other allegations have all gone unproven, it still feels notable enough considering the timeframe the musical sets itself in, that one might want to include it, but the only mention is a question posed by a reporter to Jackson, which he doesn’t answer.  

Another issue with the musical is the choice to have certain actors play multiple major roles. In the musical, Jackson’s dad is played by the same actor as his tour manager, and several other actors also have similar double roles. While this works for the most part, there were times on occasion where I wasn’t sure if one character or another was in the scene. For example, one actor plays both producer, Quincy Jones, and one of the Jackson 5. There was a scene where the Jackson 5 were all on scene, but as Quincy had been in the previous scene, it took me a good minute to realize his role had shifted.  

Finally, I feel as though the musical numbers outshine the acting-centered elements nearly 100% of the time. The non-musical scenes are rather dully written. I found myself just waiting for the next musical number rather than enjoying the piece as a whole. This is an issue that often plagues musicals, to the point that some musicals, such as Hamilton, choose to make the entire play musical with no breaks. While I don’t think that’s the solution, it’s better than being bored between numbers, and that’s exactly what my experience with MJ the Musical was.  

But despite these flaws, MJ the Musical is still a fantastic time. The musical numbers are a delight all the way through, and the issues I’ve brought up are not major enough to ruin the experience. As long as you don’t mind obvious bias in favour of its subject, and have a respect for his music, you will enjoy this musical quite a bit.  

image credit: BwayAmerica