Michael Jackson musical to debut in Chicago before Broadway
A new stage musical inspired by the life of Michael Jackson is one step closer to Broadway.
The Michael Jackson Estate and Columbia Live Stage announced on Wednesday that the production, now named “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” will debut on Oct. 29 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. It will run through Dec. 1 before heading to Broadway in spring 2020.
The new show will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon, the New York City Ballet alum who was last on Broadway with the musical adaptation of “An American in Paris.”
Lynn Nottage, who most recently won her second Pulitzer Prize for the timely play “Sweat,” is penning the book of the musical, set to feature Jackson’s hit-packed discography.
Though Jackson’s music has previously been featured in two Cirque du Soleil shows, “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” will be the first bio-musical about the legendary but controversial singer.
According to the Chicago Tribune, it will be set against the making of his iconic Dangerous World Tour, the 17-month endeavor that featured groundbreaking video technology and costly costumes at 70 stadium gigs, all while raising money for Jackson’s Heal the World charity.
The tour, which also included an HBO taping and a Super Bowl XXVII halftime appearance, ended abruptly once Jackson declared exhaustion, shortly after a civil lawsuit alleging inappropriate behavior with a 13-year-old boy.
Nottage and Wheeldon both told the Chicago Tribune that the show will zoom in on Jackson’s genius as a musician, but won’t shy away from the darker parts of his legacy.
“We want it to be a portrait of the artist, a man of contradictions that contained so much beauty,” said Wheeldon. “A life like Michael’s was so rich, dense and troubled. But there were these moments of great lightness. We are interested in celebrating Michael, and in breaking down his songs and really listening to them.”
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