‘MJ the Musical’ thru Broadway in Chicago; ‘The SpongeBob Musical’ thru Kokandy Productions; and ‘The Producers’ thru Music Theatre Works
Roman Banks and The Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
The musical biography of Michael Jackson—once known as Don't Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, now known as what else but MJ the Musical—was going to play a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago in that long-ago pre-pandemic year of 2019. Unfortunately for the producers, the initial press announcement uncomfortably coincided with both the peak of #MeToo and the release of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, both of which put back up front the allegations against Jackson for sexual impropriety with children. Lacking firm criminal conviction, those had somewhat receded in the rearview since his unexpected death in 2009.
So the producers ended up gambling on opening cold on Broadway, which it did in February 2022. And it’s been raking it in. It’s recouped, even. Copped a few Tonys, too. And now it’s here in Chicago to kickstart a national tour. And on press night, it killed. Multiple mid-show standing ovations, killed.
For good or ill, for all that the argument on separating the art from the artist has thrived in the public sphere for the last few years, I’ve never been invested in it vis-a-vis Jackson, mostly because—full disclosure—I didn’t really grow up with him, “Thriller” every Halloween notwithstanding. Born in the early Nineties and raised in a predominantly white suburb, I haven’t lived a cognizant day that he wasn’t at the very least an easy punchline.
But I’m here to tell you that if you want a primer or recap on why people go to bat for the guy, come hell or high water, having seen MJ the Musical, I think I get it.
Set in 1992 during final rehearsals for his Dangerous tour, the King of Pop is here seemingly unable to settle for anything that doesn’t top what he’s done before. Which, considering the creative, financial, and racial barriers he did manage to smash through up to this point, is quite the statement. He’s no tyrant about it, either; indeed, in the lead, Roman Banks’s uncanny softspokenness keeps you wondering if this speeding train will jump the tracks in front of us.
Bookwriter Lynn Nottage has taken some knocks for not delving particularly deeply into Jackson, and while she certainly wasn’t allowed to go that deep down (and 1992 is as far forward as she can go before the first allegations were made public), I think, in sheer text and build, she manages to deliver a complex portrait all the same. From her pen, the phrase “I’m a perfectionist” is no cop-out. And her having hem-and-haw tour director Rob double as Jackson’s actual tyrant of a father goes to show that, sometimes, an obvious choice and a smart choice are the same thing. (Devin Bowles’s flipping between the two is as seamless as it is terrifying.)
For his part, director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has access to Jackson’s whole bag of tricks as well as those of his influences, and, with probably the tightest corps of dancers in town right now, hits the marks and then some and even manages some impressive staging sleight of hand.
Visually and sonically arresting, MJ the Musical can’t be ignored, so why not grapple with it?
MJ the Musical plays through September 2nd at the Nederlander Theatre, 24 W Randolph St.) For tickets or more information, please call (800) 775-2000 or visit either broadwayinchicago.com or mjthemusical.com.
The Company. Photo by Evan Hanover.
In the interests of disclosure, Quinn Rigg, who plays a supporting role in The SpongeBob Musical, is a contributor to this site.
A common thread to the criticism surrounding the musical based on the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants is that you are either already on board with these characters or you’re left adrift. It’s certainly valid, but it was never going to be an issue for me when I first saw its long-ago Chicago tryout. Like any kid would be for an aggressively promoted new cartoon circa 2000, I was there from the jump. And, nearly twenty-five years out, even the Squidward-iest among us would be hard-pressed to say SpongeBob didn’t live up to its promise and then some.
In another homecoming of sorts, Kokandy’s go at The SpongeBob Musical is very much a by-the-fans, for-the fans affair, but, beneath the cartoon sheen, it still has plenty to say about us in the here-and-now.
It’s a decidedly extraordinary day in the world of Bikini Bottom, as a looming underwater volcano is threatening to blow its top and make Krakatoa look like Coke-and-Mentos. Naturally, it’s up to SpongeBob (Frankie Leo Bennett, inevitably if happily in the role), and best friends Patrick the starfish (Isabela Cecilia García) and Sandy the squirrel (Sarah Patin) to try to save the day. Meanwhile, everyone else, with catastrophe staring them in the face, asks the undying question: “How do I make this about me?” Whether that means one last stab at the spotlight (Squidward, played by Quinn Rigg and his lower lip) or preying on fear (Parker Guidry playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter as Plankton, essentially), without our heroes to mediate, the citizenry loses the plot for a bit.
If a tad long for a nominally family-oriented show, I attribute that to its farming out songs to a raft of A and B-list pop songwriters wanting in on the SpongeBob business—a good business to be in, to be sure. Bookwriter Kyle Jarrow subsequently has to pull more than his share of the weight, but his humanistic and optimistic message more than compensates for any lag.
At the very least, the movie Don’t Look Up, which shares thematic overlap, didn’t have a live Foley artist like Ele Matelan, this production’s real secret ingredient.
Hop aboard before the good sponge sails away.
The SpongeBob Musical runs through September 3rd at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W Division St. For tickets or more information, please visit kokandyproductions.com.
The Company. Photo by Brett Beiner.
At this point, I think of Mel Brooks’s The Producers as an old friend, so, given its final tag is an exhortation of tell everyone that a production was a good one, I’m not just following orders in saying a trip to Music Theater Works’s go-around is in order.
Indeed, the scam that is Springtime for Hitler has come to Skokie, and if only these Nazis—enabled, as always, by those no-goodniks Bialystock and Bloom—could hang around. Alas, it only runs another weekend.
But whether it’s your first or fiftieth Producers, it’s still hilariously evergreen. L. Walter Stearns, who directed it years ago at the jewel-box Mercury Theater, telescopes out well in the North Shore Center’s more commodious hall, and he honors its old-school musical comedy milieu, drop-cloth scenery and all, just as much as he sprinkles in some knowing modern-day zest. (He also brought Eugene Dizon back along to music direct, and his pit’s got pep.)
Solid casting across the board, too, but if there any stand-outs: Thomas M. Shea’s Max Bialystock is particularly regal in his (unwarranted?) self-importance; Steve McDonagh could probably do Roger de Bris-as-Hitler-as-Judy at the Palace in his sleep and still score, but here, he’s wide awake and a scream; and our Ulla Inga Hansen Benson Yansen Tallen Hallen Svaden Swansson, Kelsey MacDonald, coming in from the East Coast, will hopefully find her name in lights on local marquees for a good long while to come…and no one will worry about running out of bulbs.
The Producers runs August 20th at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, IL. For tickets or more information, please call (847) 673-6300 or visit musictheaterworks.com.
For more reviews on these or other shows, please visit theatreinchicago.com.