A medley of the King Of Pop’s hits can’t help but get the faithful on their feet, and they were out in force at Thriller Live’s opening night at the Lyric.
As a theatrical experience, a Michael Jackson tribute show is a recipe for both guaranteed success as well as inevitable disappointment. The great man’s moves are as well known as his music, and even when they’re wheeled out in a slick, talent-packed show like this, it feels as second-hand as it is.
Which is, of course, unfair. That a covers show isn’t a bastion of originality is hardly cause to hold the front page. And the choreography and outfits of Jackson’s videos are so indelibly associated with his songs that no doubt the fans would feel shortchanged if either were jettisoned. So Thriller Live is strictly canonical; we get the red jacket of the titular hit single, the ‘Smooth Criminal’ prohibition threads, and a succession of gravity-defying leans, moonwalks and pelvic thrusts. It’s a YouTube deep dive come to life.
The show is mercifully fleet with the biographical stitching, narrated throughout, and proceedings only get bogged down with a late injection of worthiness. A montage of JFK, MLK and, er, deforestation is projected behind the performers, while we’re told that Michael believed in human betterment, world peace, loving one another and we should too, et cetera et cetera.
Beauty pageant moral exhortations aside, however, this show moves. It might be formless as all hell but Jackson’s songs are irresistible. The performers onstage – a hodgepodge of Brits, Americans and Aussies – work their hearts out, but Jackson’s stature is such that impersonation precludes interpretation. There’s something old and ageless here, but nothing new.
2.5/5 stars
Thriller Live is playing at the Sydney Lyric until Monday March 16.
