Golders Green Hippodrome, London
****
 |
| CJ |
Man In The Mirror is a highly polished tribute act created around Michael Jackson’s greatest hits. Leading the show is CJ, a man whose vocals and dance work is impeccable and who effortlessly captures Jackson’s high tenor genius. Visually CJ is equally stunning, with his moonwalk and perfectly nuanced interpretation of Jackson’s signature dance moves, breathtaking in their poise and accuracy.
All the big songs are there with CJ brilliantly supported by his 4 piece band of Nic Southwood, Doug Jenkinson, Lewis Wheeler and Chris Davies. Similarly the choreography is pinpoint precision with Holly Harrison (CJ’s offstage wife) having drilled her three fellow dancers Becky Holden, Harriet Johnstone and Laura Summers into an evening of gorgeous routines.
More of a gig than a stage-show, with so many of the audience being word-perfect with the King of Pop’s lyrics there’s much impromptu audience contribution that only added to the fun factor for the packed crowd in the Golders Green Hippodrome. It says something for Jackson’s body of work that the Hippodrome audience was fabulously diverse spanning the spectra of age, race and sexualities – Michael Jackson would have been proud.
The acoustics were great with the sound perfectly balanced. On a show that is built for the road, lighting will always prove a challenge and it was a small frustration that for much of the show the dancers were not lit as well as they deserved. Clever CGI projections formed the show’s backdrop – but the filmed zombies as the visual accompaniment to Thriller were repetitive and clunky. The dancers’ hijabs in the final number also offered a brief bias to the evening that slightly jarred.
Man In The Mirror is a slick interpretation of Michael Jackson with CJ delivering an outstanding turn and his company proving equally talented. If you love the music you’ll adore the show.
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