Me and the boyfriend went to the
Norwich Theatre Royal on Monday to see the hit production of Thriller Live; A concert
show celebrating the music and life of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. Adrian
Grant who is the executive director and had the original concept of Thriller
Live names Jackson as the King of Pop and I think there are millions of others
out there who would totally agree with him. The show was developed as a tribute
to Jackson’s work and memory and still entertains thousands of people at the
West End’s Lyric Theatre. Thriller Live involves over two hours of Michael’s
hits with some added verbatim story to his life told by the lead singers. I
felt personally that it would be better just to have the singing and dancing
and less talk, it often felt out of place, but I can see why people want to
celebrate his music. I haven’t got the space to write all of his hits but they
are all there (apart from Ben which we wanted to sing so Ben could get on stage
and say “it’s me, Ben”). The show is not a musical yet better thought of as a
concert stage production. There is no storyline per se so if you are thinking
is this the Mama Mia of Michael Jackson then you will be dissatisfied (wait for
that in a few weeks at NTR), but that is not at all to say that Thriller live
is not worth seeing, it most certainly is.
Britt Quentin heads the line up as
lead vocalist and resident director. Quentin is no stranger to Thriller Live
performing all over the world. He is amazing at what he does. He is the
ultimate Michael Jackson sound-a-like and when he is on stage it is the next
best thing to bringing Jackson back. Joining Quentin on stage is Shaquille Maerice
Hemmans another fantastic vocalist. I regarded Hemmans as the camp quality to
this production of Thriller Live (which is not bad thing). He is great on stage
and great to watch. Rory Taylor is the rock element to the production and he
looks so familiar I have no idea why though; a great solo artist. Sean
Christopher joins these three guys on stage as the Michael dance-a-like,
although he also sings I didn’t realise this as I thought he was only a dancer.
He had some great moves and the theatre auditorium erupted when he moonwalked
across our very own Norfolk stage. The female lead vocalist on stage was Vicky Pasion, teacher turned stage phenomena. She was fantastic and her voice was
beautiful. The remaining cast, classed as dancers, were all very energetic and
put 110% into all their routines, very classy.
We all know I love a band on stage
and although hidden through most of the set they do appear occasionally and the
guitarists come out to say hi at some points. They were absolutely fantastic
and Jackson’s classic pop songs are musically crafted by this great band.
Directed and choreographed by Gary Lloyd he has one difficult job recreating
some of the classic and monumental dance routines made famous by Jackson. And
do not worry you will get your Thriller dance although I hope they chill out
with the smoke machines in future shows as it was difficult to see anything at
one point. I think there was also some Janet Jackson dance routines creeping in
which isn’t a bad thing either. You can tell he has worked very hard to take
Thriller Live on tour and ensure it is just as good as a London performance.
Produced by Paul Walden and Derek Nicol, Jonathan Park creates this set concert
on stage. The set, yet simple and basic, is effective. The only thing I struggled
with was when the main singer is at the side or on the stairs, it can be
difficult to see and you just want to see them sing. I would personally want
the main singer central. The lighting around the stage is very much like a mini
concert, thanks to Nigel Catmur, but sometimes the lighting designs were a bit mystifying,
maybe they were paying homage to Michael’s music videos but the pyramids and
various other scenes created were not always so clear as to why. Costumes in
Thriller Live are fabulous, even if a bit revealing (I had to cover Ben’s eyes
at one point when the males were topless!). Rob Jones and Catherine Teatum from
Shooting Flowers created these outfits, and there were a lot of tight gold
crotches so be warned!
Thriller Live is the perfect night
out for a Michael Jackson fan, but then I guess if you are a massive fan you
would have already seen this show either in London or its previous visit to the
Norwich Theatre Royal. Even if you are not a fan it is a really great,
energetic and fun night out. Even if you are not the biggest Jackson fan I am
sure you will have fun at Thriller Live, we certainly did, one a Jackson fan,
the other not. The best bit for us was getting up and having a boogie with the
cast (not on stage of course, we would most probably have been thrown out).
Twice the audience are encouraged to get up from their seats and dance along to
the Jackson classics. From the young to the more elderly members of the
audience everyone was up and getting fully involved dancing, clapping and a bit
of hip twisting, it was so much fun (Ben even broke into a sweat). It really is
a great night out this week. Thriller Live is at Norwich Theatre Royal every
night this week at 7:30pm (8pm on Friday) with a matinee performance at 2:30pm (currently
sold out) on the Saturday and an early evening showing (5pm) on the Friday.
Tickets are very limited so make sure to get yours while you still can. And yes
I have been trying to moonwalk since Monday with a near-miss yesterday so be
careful if you are going to moonwalk your way down to the Norwich Theatre Royal
this week. Please get in touch on Twitter @AaronBurgess89.
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