Another great review!
A Review and More of MJ One at the Mandalay Bay
This weekend, I was able to see the first dress rehearsal of Cirque du Soleil’s MJ One at the Mandalay Bay, along with several other fan community leaders, thanks to the MJ Estate. Not only did we get to see the show before anyone else, but we were treated to several other surprises that truly made for an amazing and eye opening weekend.
Before I get to the show and the spoilers (which I will give fair warning about, fear not), I will say that Cirque du Soleil and the MJ Estate have achieved something truly amazing with this one. Throughout this entire weekend, the love, respect, and admiration that they feel towards Michael (and the fans) was obvious. I can’t imagine how hard this entire team worked to make this happen in such a short amount of time, but I deeply admire and appreciate them all the more for it.
We were flown from all over the world to Las Vegas and put up at The Mandalay Bay, which is by far the nicest hotel I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. (To be fair, it is probably the ONLY nice hotel I have ever had thee pleasure of staying in.) The view from my room was amazing. See for yourself.
The hotel was massive. I literally did not leave it once between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon, and I never even saw the whole thing. It was also gorgeous with some amazing restaurants and shops,. (I got a really great gift for our wonderful GlitterySocks, but I’ll let her tell you about that when she gets it.) And as some of us on PosMike were wondering, yes, it is connected to the Luxor. The MJ <nobr>
slot machine</nobr> may have turned me into a <nobr>
gambling</nobr> addict. I won enough to break even, which I considered a huge success.
We all got together for an amazing seafood lunch on Saturday. The highlight of that lunch was not the amazing food, however, but getting to personally meet John Branca, Jamie King, and Welby Atidor. All were incredibly kind, gracious, and unbelievably passionate and enthusiastic about this project. You could feel the MJ love and admiration throughout the room. On that note, you could feel it all over the hotel. The MJ Slots were always occupied and there was ALWAYS somebody buying MJ One tickets in the box office.
Later that afternoon, we were given a tour of the theatre, including backstage. We saw first hand how they do this stuff, and I still can’t even fathom it. We couldn’t take pictures inside the theatre, but we could take pictures inside the lobby!
This is the entrance to the lobby, right next to the gift shop.
They were playing the Liberian Girl video, not just randomly featuring Carl Weathers. I just happened to snap the photo at that moment.
And this grand ballroom, in Michael’s favorite colors, is the lobby for MJ One.
Already, we were amazed by the attention to detail. Our excitement to see the show was palpable. If this was only the lobby, then I’m sure you can all imagine how incredible the theatre looked from the inside. I will say that we were blessed to run into Kevin Antunes and hear some first hand insight into the brilliance of this sound design. I’m a bit of a production nerd, and while I won’t spoil anything here, I will say that nothing like this has ever been done before. It’s totally innovative, just like it should be.
After that, we got to be the first to enter and buy anything from the MJ One gift shop. It wasn’t yet complete, but what they had was awesome. There are some unbelievable tee shirts in that store! While a lot of it was pretty pricey, there were plenty of affordable tokens in there. Wonderful key-chains, magnets, shirts, water bottles, etc etc etc. I can’t even remember all of what was there. If anybody reading this happens to be incredibly rich, we were told that lots of the signed memorabilia up on the walls will be for sale, and there is another store in the shops that’s got lots of amazing and rare MJ memorabilia. Even if you’re not buying, it’s really fun to look. Now have a couple of teasers to get you pumped for that gift shop:
Then there was another break in our schedule, filled with gambling, exploring, and excitement. But we were told to be sure to be back no later than 6:25 for a very special surprise, and oh, was it special.
We were led backstage to an awning above the space where all the performers were warming up. We were told we’d get to be flies on the wall to witness their pre-show ritual, but when it came time, we were actually, to our surprise and excitement, invited to join in. Jamie King gave an unbelievable speech about how he came to know Michael, how much he and the entire cast love Michael, and how excited he was to see all of their hard work play out on stage. Then, just as you all would recognize from This Is It, we joined hands, closed our eyes, and passed some energy around. It was truly inspiring and I am still shocked and amazed that I got to be a part of something so special, but then it was time for the show.
Before I get to the spoilers, I will just say that the show was amazing. I don’t think there was a single moment when I didn’t have a huge smile on my face or tears in my eyes. It was unbelievably ambitious, and even though it was a little incomplete (as we were warned), it showcased Michael like nothing I’ve ever seen. And if you’re worried about it being just like The Immortal, it is nothing like it. It is an entirely new show made specifically for this theatre. We had unbelievable seats, but I honestly doubt that there is a bad seat in the house. To add to that, every single seat has a speaker system built into the head rest. They obviously worked very hard to make sure that the entire audience felt involved and enthralled, and judging by how the audience was reacting, they succeeded.
Now, for spoilers. If you don’t want to know specifics about this show, stop reading and scroll on down to the last couple of paragraphs for a general review and summary. I’ll try to be at least a little general even in the spoilers so that everyone is still surprised when they see it, but I know that not everyone reading is the type to wait.
The show opens with, or I should say is lead in by, Privacy. Not just privacy, but a brilliant new mix of Privacy. While that’s going on, members of the cast are crawling around the theatre with cameras photographing unsuspecting members of the audience as they all get to their seats. Not just photographing, but REALLY getting up in everyone’s space. We were the victims of the paps multiple times, and let me say, it’s incredibly uncomfortable and invasive. If this was just a fake scenario, I can’t imagine how Michael and other celebs deal with this in their daily lives when it is real and a million times more intense. Still, it’s fun! It manages to convey a really serious message without ruining the experience. They take the issue of the press and lies in the press and they tackle it all head on. Then, the show begins.
The basic plot follows four kids who discover some of Michael’s most special possessions: things like the sequin glove and fedora, and then really discover the magic of Michael throughout the show. It involves lots of number one hits, but it also has some awesome songs for the fans. I already mentioned Privacy, but Speechless is in there, Stranger in Moscow, and perhaps one of the coolest numbers in the show which I know fans will be excited about – Another Part of Me.
Unlike The Immortal, there were fewer mash ups and more full songs. Although there were few mash ups, the ones that are included in the show are AMAZING. They are so, so powerful. That is something I will not spoil. I want fans to be surprised, but one of them was definitely an audience favorite and something Kevin Antunes should be extremely, extremely proud of.
The first number that I recall really getting everyone pumped up was Smooth Criminal. The costumes and acrobatics were unbelievable. It stayed true to the Smooth Criminal brand while also bringing some new and incredible elements to the table. And as you’d expect, the audience went wild when the lean happened.
Other songs that I remember being audience favorites were Human Nature, The Way You Make Me Feel (an unbelievable showcase of the unbelievable girls of Cirque), Billie Jean (remember this one in The Immortal? This is 10000x better), Workin’ Day and Night (filled with fun slapstick and very Chaplin-y elements), and the big, big, big one, Man In The Mirror.
Now, this is a spoiler. This is a big big spoiler. But I know that fans will all be waiting to hear about it.
Man In the Mirror was my favorite performance. It also involved (drumroll) THE HOLOGRAM! I’ll talk more about the hologram on the site so as not to ruin things for the general public, but the concept of Man in the Mirror was so beautiful, and so unbelievably Michael that it was the most Mike-like performance of the night (for myself, of course). Again, I want everyone to be surprised and I will not say too much about specifics of how the hologram worked with the performers or the concept of the show. But it is not just a hologram dancing on stage. It’s more than that. It was magical. I think that term is corny and almost always and overstatement, but IT. WAS. MAGICAL. I had chills up my spine. I had tears in my eyes. Writing this is making me emotional. The second it ended I was ready to run out and donate, volunteer, and heal the whole world. I felt Michael in that room. I don’t say this lightly. I’m not the type to say Michael was there. But to me, Michael was in that room. I cannot wait for people to see that part of the show. I can’t wait to see it again.
And then the finale – a massive, huge celebration. Another mash up and then, much to everyone’s pleasant surprise, Another Part of Me. The audience was on their feet and dancing, and I hear that the ending is going to get even bigger and better.
Some of my personal favorites of the night were Jam, Scream (which was not yet finished, but was such a cool concept to me that just the anticipation of seeing it in September makes it a favorite.), Human Nature, Workin’ Day and Night, Billie Jean, and Man in the Mirror.
Oh, and did I mention that all of the usher’s have MJ stripes on their pants? I’m telling you guys, this show is THE show.
End of spoilers – back to the real review.
I would recommend that everyone who can get to Vegas and see this show once it opens do so. I am so moved by the love and dedication from Cirque and the Estate, not just for Michael, but for the fans. This entire team has outdone themselves. Really, really outdone themselves. They obviously worked immensely hard to make this happen, and if any of them are reading this, thank you for that. In my opinion, this is so worthy of everything Michael was and still is. I can’t even imagine how many new fans he will gain from this show, especially young fans. It is the most fitting addition to Michael’s legacy I could have hoped for, and it’s going to get even better in the next couple of months.
To close out this story, I took a little Michaeling trip to the Regis Galerie with Mel from Michael Jackson Fans of New York. I couldn’t take pictures inside, but outside they were playing clips of Michael in the store from the Bashir documentary with a really touching quote that sort of lapped Bashir in the face – here is the photo to prove it.
That quote was all over the store. Photos of Michael were everywhere. So was some of what I thought to be the gaudiest, tackiest, most over the top décor I have ever seen. I can’t imagine ever wanting 97% of it in my home, much less spending more than a few bucks for it. It was so endearing. Love you Mike. <3
source:
http://positivelymichael.com/wp/?p=1985