Thriller Live kicked off here in Perth on Thursday night and I was lucky enough to attend the preview show at Crown Perth Theatre.
I should start with the positives but that’s not exactly how the show started. What was billed as a spectacular, high-octane show specially created to celebrate the life and music of Michael Jackson, certainly highlighted the fact there is no one quite like MJ and he definitely still is the King of Pop.
I wasn’t sure if it was preview night nerves and glitches but even still there was a little too much amiss, especially considering this has been a hit stage show for 6 years.
Samantha Johnson was definitely the stand out singer followed closely by Alex Buchanan but even they, in my opinion, struggled to find their voices until the second half of the show.
The show itself started out slow, there was more momentum and audience participation in the second half but even this was disjointed. While performances overall were good and dancers were amazing in their own right, there were a lot of times when I felt the show just didn’t come together.
Rose Wild the dance captain seemed to come into her own with Dirty Diana but appeared out of sync and style with the rest of the crew and was a real distraction for me for most of the show. The singers themselves, who were up front and centre for the majority of the show failed to keep up in the dance stakes.
The band was amazing, the show definitely had some highlights but for the most part I felt like we were watching a high school musical production with an impressive pyrotechnics and effects budget. My plus one for the night, my 15 year old daughter, who has only ever attended high school style shows loved it. Me? Well as the blog post title says, I was less than thrilled and on that note I’m moon walking my way out of here.
Are you a MJ fan? Did you attend preview or opening night? How did you find the show?
I did see Michael Jackson live when I was in my teens, and you’re right, there’s only one Michael Jackson. It’s coming to Sydney too, but I think I’ll be giving it a miss…
I’ve heard from a few people that attended opening night and they thought it was pretty awesome.
Considering I don’t even like MJ, I quite enjoyed it. You’re right that it started a little slow and the audience participation lacked, well, oomph. I think it’s for the die hard fans.
I’m not a die hard fan of MJ but it wasn’t just the starting slow. I would be keen to see it again before it finishes in Perth to see if they got their act together. I’m choosing to believe it was just preview night glitches.
hi raychael, yes only one mj!
disappointing when you make the effort to go!
probably wouldn’t choose that show anyway!
my sister and I used to do dance routine aerobics back then when he was at his best!
we were movers and groovers and we loved his music!
we still always dance when we get together!
hope you are well! love m:)X
Don’t get me wrong it was still a good night. I just expected more.
Well that’s disappointing for you. Hard when you have heard good reviews and have certain expectations and they are not met! The last love show I saw was Strictly Ballroom in Sydney in July and it was awesome!!!!!
Don’t get me wrong it was still a great night (in parts). I’m no die hard fan but I did expect a bit more.