Show: MJ The Musical
Date Attended: Wednesday, July 17, 2025 – 7:00 PM
Venue: Neil Simon Theatre, NYC, 250 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019
Seats: Center Orchestra, 7th row
Price: About $270 per ticket for 7th row center orchestra
First Impressions: Sweat, Standing, and Sore Knees
Let’s just start with the not so smooth criminal part of the night. Doors were scheduled to open at 6:15 PM for the 7:00 PM show, so my husband, aunt, grandfather, and I arrived a little after 6. What actually happened? The doors didn’t open until almost 7. That left us standing in the July heat and thick NYC humidity for 45 minutes. My grandfather is in his eighties and has a bad leg, so standing that long on concrete was rough. No explanation, no shade, no chairs. Just a long, uncomfortable wait to get inside.
Once we were finally seated, seventh row, center orchestra, I quickly realized that the view wasn’t going to be ideal for me. I had four very tall men directly in front of me, making it hard to see the stage clearly. The rest of my group had great visibility, but for me, it was a lot of seat shifting and head bobbing to catch the action.
The intermission bathroom experience wasn’t much better. The women’s restroom was down a flight of stairs, which isn’t ideal for anyone with knee issues or accessibility needs. I didn’t see any wheelchair accessible restrooms upstairs. The line was long and wrapped around toward the stairs, but the attendant kept things moving. Even so, I barely made it back before Act II began.
Now Playing: The King of Pop (Ish)
The show opens in what looks like a studio rehearsal space. Dancers warming up. Musicians tuning. At first I thought the set was unfinished or forgotten. Then I realized, this was the set. The whole show is framed around Michael Jackson preparing for his 1992 Dangerous World Tour. It’s supposed to feel raw, stripped back, and behind the scenes.
Act I takes us through his early years. We see young Michael with the Jackson 5, his complex and painful relationship with his father Joe Jackson, and his rise into solo stardom. The show touches briefly on tabloid moments like the hyperbaric chamber rumor and Pepsi pyrotechnics incident, but stops well before any of the real controversies. The timeline ends in 1992, deliberately and noticeably.
First off, mad kudos to Sasha Allen who plays Katherine Jackson… Just, WOW! The young actor playing little Michael? Fantastic. The actor playing middle Michael? Outstanding. He embodied that spark, the physical rhythm, the charisma. Elijah Rhea Johnson, who plays adult Michael, held his own. His vocals were strong and his voice matched Michael’s soft, gentle tone. But as someone who has adored MJ since I was five years old, and whose very first concert was the Bad World Tour in 1988 in Denver, I couldn’t help but feel something was missing.
The Critique You Knew Was Coming (Because I’m That Fan)
Let’s be real. Michael Jackson wasn’t just a performer. He was a force of nature. Every move, every breath, every note was soaked in precision, passion, and presence. And while Elijah’s performance was technically sound, it felt held back. Especially the dancing. Michael danced like it was part of his DNA. You could feel it in your bones. That energy didn’t fully translate in this portrayal.
If you’re going to play Michael, then just like Michael himself said, “You gotta really feel it!” You’ve got to get inside his head, understand the why behind every move, and believe it. You have to let it breathe, let it simmer. Elijah had moments that flirted with that intensity, but too often it felt like he was playing a role instead of living it.
His speaking performance also left me confused. Yes, Michael spoke softly, but the pauses and hesitations felt less like character and more like missed beats. It pulled me out of the moment.
And then there was the heartbreak: the blue shirt… The unmistakable, iconic blue shirt that Michael wore in “The Way You Make Me Feel”. They put Elijah in it. They started the opening bars. My heart leapt. And then… they skipped the song entirely. For any lifelong MJ fan, that is a moment. That song is a staple. An MJ cornerstone. Skipping it was like skipping air. I was genuinely upset.
To make it even more confusing, they included “They Don’t Care About Us” , which didn’t come out until 1996. That jump outside the 1992 timeline, while skipping TWYMMF, only adds fuel to the fire that this show deliberately avoids the more complicated years.
Act II: Redemption and Revelations
But then Act II arrived. And let me tell you, the energy shifted. The set design, lighting, and choreography leveled up fast. When the stage transformed and I saw the set drop down for “Thriller” , I turned to my husband, (his first musical ever), excitedly tapped his leg and whispered, “This is about to be so good.” And y’all… it was.
Act II is where the visual magic happened. Everything finally clicked. The storytelling became more layered, the music choices tighter, the staging more impactful. The emotional depth hit its peak. I loved the subtle but powerful comparison between Joe Jackson’s harsh discipline and the “monster” in Thriller. That parallel was smart and hit hard.
The dancers were on point. The musicians killed it. The ensemble brought their A-game. And I’ll give credit where it’s due, Elijah delivered a stronger second act.
Final Verdict: Bittersweet Brilliance
This show was never going to be all of Michael. How could it be? He was too complex, too iconic, too extraordinary. As a lifelong fan, I knew I’d be more critical than most. But even with its flaws, MJ The Musical is absolutely worth seeing. Especially if you never got to experience him live. It’s a tribute that, at its best, gives you a small piece of the magic we lost when we lost Michael.
Would I go again? Yes. Would I hope for a more fearless lead performance next time? Definitely. Because Michael didn’t hold back. He gave everything. Every time. And if you’re going to play Michael, you have to feel it. You have to let it simmer. You have to believe it in your soul.
This wasn’t perfect. But it was moving. It was a reminder. It was, in its own way, a love letter.
We’ll never see another like him. And this show, for all its choices and omissions, reminds you why he mattered so much. He wasn’t just the King of Pop. He was the soundtrack to so many of our lives.
If you’re a fan, go see it. At least once. Just know, nothing and no one will ever come close to the real thing.
🫶🏼 – Ali
Love this!