In 1988, Adrian Grant started up a British Fan Club for the controversial musical megastar Michael Jackson. In just three years, membership of Grant’s club had increased to 25,000. The success of his fan club saw Grant become friends with Jackson, who subsequently invited him over to Los Angeles in 1990, while the pop megastar was recording the album Dangerous; so started a long friendship that would culminate in Grant coming up with the concept for the Thriller Live show, which is proving a popular draw on the West End stage.
The genesis of the idea for the show came as far back as 1991 when Grant quickly realised that his 25,000 members were keen to experience a taste of Michael Jackson in any way possible. It was at this time that Grant devised the inaugural Michael Jackson tribute show. These shows would attract between 1,000 and 3,000 people and quickly became the next best thing to seeing the superstar in the flesh.
Fans of the singer would receive a special treat at the 10th anniversary of the first event in 2001, as Grant, who had by this time, and with Michael Jackson’s approval, written three books about the singer, persuaded Michael Jackson to attend the event.
Such was the wide appeal of Grant’s tribute show, that Grant soon became ambitious to give the show a more professional outlook. Calling in assistance from Kerys Nathan, who directed and choreographed elements of the first show, along with additional choreography by MTV Video Music Award winner LaVelle Smith Jnr, Grant developed the Thriller Live show in 2006 and after three successful tours of theatres across the UK and Europe, took up residence in the West End.
Producing such a show as Thriller Live, about someone so revered in pop music as Michael Jackson, must have been a terrifying prospect for Grant and the creative force behind the show is quick to point out that his new creation has evolved markedly from its early days.
“It’s definitely not a tribute show in the sense that we have one lookalike, or we’re trying to impersonate Michael Jackson,” explained Grant. “I think that would look cheap because there is only one Michael Jackson. So, we have divided Michael Jackson’s personality and persona into five different singers.”
The result is a show that is perhaps unlike any other currently running on the West End stage. Thriller Live is not a musical at all, in the same way that Mamma Mia, or We Will Rock You tells a story of musicians using the music of its chosen artist. Instead, Grant’s tribute to Michael Jackson does not aim to tell any story; instead, it showcases the life of Michael Jackson at different periods of his career. The focus is most definitely on the music of the man, rather than the man behind the music.
Given a West End setting and a bigger budget to work within, Grant’s creative talents have gone into overdrive producing the latest version of the show. Now directed by the award-winning Gary Lloyd, who boasts Leona Lewis, Will Young, Robbie Williams and Girls Aloud as satisfied clients, the 2010 variant of the show boasts a jaw-dropping range of spectacular set pieces, fireworks, visual effects and multimedia enhancements that bring to life the various stages of Jackson’s career. Grant made a particularly smart move early in the show’s development by also ensuring that the creative influence of LaVelle Smith Jnr has been retained into its existing run.
It is important to note also that here that Thriller Live is not just smoke and mirrors. Behind the glitzy set-piece presentations, multimedia enhancements, noise and clatter of fireworks and dazzling light displays, there are performances from both singers and dancers that would have enthralled the man himself, let alone his legions of fans.
Throughout the show, the development of Michael Jackson from a child prodigy, playing with his brothers as a member of the Jackson Five, to his teenage years when he first began to develop his distinctive dance style alongside his mesmerising vocal ability through to his adult years is meticulously chronicled through the majesty of his songs alone.
Thereafter, the hits keep coming for two and a half hours, through the incredible success of the Thriller album, after which the show is named, into the era of Bad, Dangerous and beyond. Indeed, what makes the show truly special is that a group of talented individual performers, such as Tyler McLean, John Moabi, Ricko Baird, and Pop Idol star Zoe Birkett, sing some of the most instantly recognisable of Jackson’s songs with as much enthusiasm, respect and love, as they do talent.
As impressive as the vocalists are, they are only half of the true Michael Jackson experience. Fortunately, they are supported by outstanding choreography from a team of dancers, who enhance the overall experience immensely. Particularly praiseworthy during the show is Ricko Baird, a native of St Louis, who is utterly mesmerising as Michael Jackson when performing the star's trademark moonwalk during his Thriller and Bad eras. Resplendent in his silver suit, hat and sequinned glove, what is particularly impressive about Baird is that he does not just dance like Michael Jackson, it is almost as if for those moments he becomes Jackson’s dancing doppelganger. While the portrayal of Jackson’s dance moves are undeniably brilliant, it is how startling Baird resembles Jackson at this stage of his life that is particularly uncanny, from physically resembling the singer, to all the tiny mannerisms. If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, then the singer would undeniably be touched by the reverence shown.
Adrian Grant’s achievement with his presentation should not be understated; this was an immense project and a terrifying one. The repercussions he faced if the show had not performed well would have been costly. Instead, Thriller Live is a fitting tribute to the musical genius of Michael Jackson and a sure-fire hit for anyone seeking something to do on a weekend in London.