Thriller Live

Thriller Live opened while The King Of Pop was still with us.

The show runs for over two hours, kicking off in the Jackson 5 days before moonwalking through the artist’s 45-year musical history. It’s ‘edutaining’ when members of the international cast impart Jackson chart facts and we’re regularly coaxed to our feet for left-versus-right audience participation/rivalry. 

The impressive choreography doesn’t let up for a millisecond, but dancing is such an essential part of Jackson’s legacy that we wouldn’t we expect it to. A couple of the dancers haven’t exactly got it down: it’s not enough to simply execute the steps (and mistakes are witnessed). The male dancers let their cheeky personalities shine through and manage to show up the female contingent. The Dangerous musical arrangement is phenomenal as is the Beat It guitar solo during which an axeman struts out to claim the spotlight.  

All vocalists are impressive, but Samantha Johnson’s joyful energy constantly pulls focus. The killer trifecta of Man In The Mirror, They Don’t Care About Us and Earth Song leaves us emotionally spent. Attention to detail stretches right down to white bandaids on the various Jacksons’ fingertips and this show truly celebrates the artist’s legacy. Who wouldn’t wanna be reminded of MJ’s spectacular catalogue? Jackson songs remain on high rotation in this scribe’s internal jukebox.   

Festival Theatre, Adelaide, 3 Jan

Thriller Live also runs:

QLD: 14 – 25 Jan , Concert Hall, QPAC.
NSW: 26 Feb – 16 Mar, Sydney Lyric.
VIC: 28 Jan – 8 Feb, State Theatre.