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How do you stage a Michael Jackson show without Michael Jackson? With high energy dancing and acrobatics, plenty of razzle dazzle, tons of ingenuity and lots of carefully selected clips of Jackson himself.
That seems to be more or less the recipe adhered to by the Cirque du Soleil in creating Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, which had its world premiere at the Bell Centre Sunday night. It played there again Monday night before moving on to Ottawa, then to about 60 other North American cities.
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This $60 million arena show, which sold $40 million worth of tickets within 24 hours when it was first announced, is not like anything the Cirque has done before, although its genre is similar to that of Viva Elvis and Love (the Beatles show) in Las Vegas.
Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour has circus acts, but it's not a circus. Nor is it exactly a rock concert or dance show, either. Insofar as people are expecting any one of the above, they may feel a bit shortchanged. But if they go with the multimedia performance art flow of it all, they are not likely to be bored.
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This is a dazzling, fast-paced spectacle for people with short attention spans, flitting from one song to the next, seldom settling down with one for a complete number. All is deftly rearranged, using live music and Jackson's recorded voice. Musical director/keyboardist Greg Phillinganes and musical designer Kevin Antunes reinvent, sample, do mashups, yet respect the material, and, above all, the voice. MJ sings again, touching the heart as only he knew how to do.
The audience is overwhelmed with images, some of them on screens, others created through manipulation of quirky props (by Michael Curry), like a mega-sized white glove, a huge Jackson hat that conceals several dancers or a pair of giant shoes and socks, with dancers inside. The music carries a thunderstorm of percussion, while lights flash from all directions.
Mark Fisher's golden Tree of Life set is at its best when an image of Jackson flickers, then disappears into its trunk.
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There's no real attempt to tell Jackson's life story, but it all begins with a five-clown band, evoking the Jackson Five. (Not the most successful idea in the show, given their moves aren't nearly as slick as the originals and their bad afro wigs don't become them well.) But it's great to hear the J5 songs and see Michael on the screen as a child.
The show offers a fairly comprehensive sampling of Jackson's better-known songs. Early on, there's a poignant rendition of Have You Seen My Childhood? Some songs, like Dancing Machine and Black or White (done with international flag-waving, so we get the point), get more of a workout than others. Fantasies of Neverland come alive, one after another, sometimes at very high volume. There's quiet time, too, with Jackson speaking his own lyrics.
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A solo dancer/acrobat (Sala Benlemqawanssa) in sparkling white does mime shtick that reminds us where the moonwalk came from. He returns again and again throughout the show, at one point doing a series of startling backwards cartwheels. Do not try this at home. He's got the moves.
Aerial acts are used frequently to conquer the cavernous space of the Bell Centre. The sky-high pas de deux for I Just Can't Stop Loving You is exquisite. And the human constellations sparkling for Human Nature mesmerize. The song Ben (Who but Jackson would write a song for a rat?) starts out in a puzzling way with dancing elephants but ends beautifully with a sketch of a rat appearing on kite-like screens held by the dancers.
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A single contortionist worms her way out of a giant storybook, in another cleverly choreographed (by Debra Brown) blend of circus and dance.
With 10 choreographers credited, there's a certain confusion of movement style. But that makes for plenty of surprises. Costume designer Zaldy Goco's costume tricks include robots with flashing hearts.
Unlike most Cirque shows, this one, directed by Jamie King, is prepared to do a couple of encores. And on Sunday night it was clear that about 13,000 people wanted more. And more.
Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour returns to the Bell Centre March 20, 21 and 22 and July 6-7, 2012. Tickets range from $50 to $250 and are available via Evenko at www.evenko.ca or 514-790-2525 or 1-877-668-8269.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Jackson+tribute+dazzling+energetic+spectacle/5497492/story.html#ixzz1Zp8wZoI8