Cirque's Michael Jackson show aims to be a thriller

Cirque's Michael Jackson show aims to be a thriller PITTSBURGH -- If anyone's life befits celebration with a circus, it's Michael Jackson's. Obviously, the show targets Jackson's enormous fan base. You've never seen moon-walking or crotch-grabbing like this. "We're getting great feedback," Cirque du Soleil publicist Maxime Charbonneau said last week hours before the first of three Madison Square Garden dates. "We hope to be able to share all of Michael's messages about love, peace and unity," Charbonneau said. Props include an 8-foot-long model of Jackson's penny loafers and a 6-foot-tall version of his signature sequined glove, both operated by dancers. To recreate Jackson's iconic dance moves, Cirque performers were guided by "Immortal" director Jamie King and choreographer Travis Payne. "Ben," "Beat It," "I'll Be There," "Man in the Mirror" and a mega-medley of other Jackson hits also are put to motion on a stage that extends into the audience, equipped with a conveyor belt. After a performance today on Long Island, and two this week in Philadelphia, "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" will beat it to Pittsburgh for shows Friday through April 15 at the Petersen Events Center. A Variety magazine review of a January show in Los Angeles said fans were moved by the experience, "but there's something deeply creepy about the ghostlike Jackson seeming to speak from beyond the grave. An international cast of 60 entertainers fuse dance, music, visuals and surreal stunts, all driven by Jackson's voice. Sony Music and Jackson's estate gave Cirque access to the singer's master recordings. That's the beauty of Michael Jackson's music, it touches everybody; young, old, black, white. "This is different than our big-top shows or arena shows," Charbonneau said. In another scene dancers and acrobats in tribal costumes "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," and they do, with a high-flying routine. Performers duplicate Jackson's famous leaning motion as seen in the "Smooth Criminal" video, later stomping and stalking around a graveyard dressed like mummies during "Thriller. The "Immortal" storyline aims to offer passage to Jackson's inner world influenced by a love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the delicate beauty of nature. Cirque's Michael Jackson show aims to be a thriller Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 09/04/2012