Michael Jackson is known worldwide as the King of Pop, second only to The Beatles as the greatest-selling artist of all time, and a legend who will never be forgotten.
MJ THE MUSICAL, the multi-Tony Award®-winning new show centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, runs through August 11 at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre. The show tells his story as well as anybody ever has. Endorsed by Jackson’s estate, the show is on the road for the first time as a nationally touring production after opening on Broadway in 2022. It’s a spectacle worthy of the sell-out crowds in Cleveland thus far
Speaking with CleveRock during the first week of the show’s run in town, Swing/Dance Captain Kyle Dupree shed some light on the show as well as his role in the production.
“I feel like we’re being very true to Michael’s experience,” Dupree said. “Lynn Nottage wrote the script and also had a lot of knowledge about Michael and his life, and we’re also very fortunate to work with [choregrophers] the Talauegas, Rich and Tone. They danced with Michael, so they help us out with a lot of the choreography, just giving us an insight of what it was like to really be in the space with him. I feel like a lot of the story that we’re telling is really authentic and really giving people an insight as to what it was like for Michael to be an artist as opposed to just being this megastar that we always see him being.”
Dupree works overtime in this production of MJ THE MUSICAL, serving as the Dance Captain and male Swing.
“I’m the Dance Captain, Fight Captain, and Male Swing for the show. Basically Male Swing just means that I understudy the ensemble tracks in the show, the dancers, and some of the singers as well. And we bring to Cleveland, we’re bringing the fire, we’re bringing that certain energy. The show is really fun. It’s a good time,” he said of his roles. “And I also love the show. It’s a little bit different than any other musical I’ve been a part of in terms of the way that the story is being told. It’s a lot more like a documentary rather than a play atmosphere. And I think that’s really cool, especially in this time of 2024 that we’re living in where everything is very Netflix based, but documentary style. So I feel like it’s really easy for the audience to digest. I love being a Swing. I love that I get to not only give my insight of the show from an outside perspective, but I’m happy that I’m able to be in the show with the actors and give my insight perspective as well. And I love performing the show. It’s really gratifying. It’s a lot of hard work, but at the end of it, I feel I’ve accomplished something.”
“This is our first national tour of MJ,” he added. “I was originally a part of the Broadway company and was selected to be the Dance Captain of the tour. So through that process, it was a month long process of teaching the show to the cast, which I had a big hand in teaching a lot of the choreography. And then while I’m out here on the road, it’s my job to make sure that the choreography is being maintained; make sure that what we established in the studio in New York City is being maintained on the road. Luckily, the cast is absolutely amazing, so it’s very few notes that I have to dish out. If anything, it’s very specific things.If you are coming, you’ll see a number line on the front of the stage, and that’s basically just to help us with spacing of the numbers. So for example, simple note that I could be giving is like, ‘oh, I need you to be on four instead of being on two,’ so that I’m able to see you in the window and things of that nature.”
Having already seen the show [check out my review], one noticeable thing is that the show focused on not only Jackson as a performer but also as a human being. It exposes a side that many casual and hardcore fans alike never considered.
“I think that’s the beauty of the show: getting to see him as a human,” Dupree agreed.
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Music makes a musical (although, in this case, the choreography is equally important in making the success that it is). And, what better music for ANY musical than that of Michael Jackson?
“All the music in the show is originally Michael’s, so I feel so fortunate that we’re able to groove that music every night. It’s so inspiring. It’s so beautiful. And that was his ultimate message; he wanted his legacy to be about his music,” Dupree said. “So I’m happy that we’re able to bring that to Cleveland and the show. I know for me, I’m very inspired by Michael. He was the reason why I wanted to be an entertainer. So being able to have moments in the show where his choreography, his own original choreography is exhibited, for example, ‘Billie Jean,’ that’s all original movements, but a lot of the choreography in the show is inspired by the music videos or inspired by Michael’s movements. So when you come to see the show, it’s just an interpretation of what you have already seen. But I think it’s really enhanced. It’s really cool. I’m happy that we get to bring that to Cleveland.”
Without giving away too many spoilers, one of the most intriguing parts of the show is the way that it transitions from scene to scene. Some actors even play multiple roles! Pulling this off is not easy!
“That also has a lot to do with the lighting. Natasha Katz, Tony Award winner, she did the lighting for the production,” Dupree said. “In those scenes, when the ensemble actors become Michael’s family members, like I said, the lighting changes on the stage. The music starts to shift as well, so you really are taking the time warp almost, which is really cool. It’s really playing with that context of us being in the rehearsal space and it really being moments in Michael’s mind that we’re being taken back to as an audience. So for us as players in the ensemble, we are just doing everyday things like going over choreography, getting ready for the Dangerous world tour, and those flashback moments are really just meant to be pauses in time in Michael’s mind.”
MJ was known equally for his daning (moonwalking, anyone?) as he was for his hit songs. His moves are iconic!
“There’s a section in the show where we do the original thriller choreography as well. I think what we wanted to do was just bring an interpretation, our own vision for Michael and kind of bring everything that he was doing in the ‘eighties’80s and the ‘nineties’90s and bring it into the now,” Dupree said. “I think that’s why a lot of the choreography can be a modified version of what you’ve seen. For example, ‘Smooth Criminal’ is not necessarily us in the suit and tie; it was in the music video. We’re in these moments with Fedora hats. So it’s just an interpretation of what you already know and also trying to bring Michael and his creative work to the Broadway stage or to the stage and seeing what that adaptation is as well.”
“Something that Rich and Tone Talauega instilled in us is that Michael always wanted to perfect perfection, and he always wanted to be the best. So I think even when casting the show, people are really looking for people that are at the top of their game that are willing to give their all. And like I said, this cast is absolutely amazing, absolutely incredible. And they deliver that eight times a week.”
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