Thriller Live – 4000 performances in the West End.

When I was asked if I wanted to attend the gala performance for Thriller Live in order to celebrate 4000 shows in the West End and help raise money for the Princes Trust at the same time I jumped at the chance. I have seen the show on tour and was impressed with what I saw then but I hadn’t seen it in the West End.

Luckily it lived up to the tour and more. The show is essentially a collection of Michael Jackson songs with a small amount of facts thrown in. There is no story but this simply does not matter – it is a celebration of MJ’s music.

The thing that leaps out at you is the talent of everyone on stage from the vocalists to the dancers. Vivenne Ekwulugo is the Queen of the show and just brings stunning vocals and utter sass to the stage. Lucky the male vocalists she is surrounded by keep up. Each of the male vocalists are very different and don’t try to impersonate Michael Jackson which I liked. However Kieran Alleyne is in a class of his own and goes beyond impersonation. It simply looks as if MJ is performing for you. He has the moves, the voice and all the quirks about his performance to make him utterly convincing.

The dancers in Thriller Live are not to be forgotten and they certainty wouldn’t let you! The choreography by Gary Lloyd is wonderfully suited to every individual song although every number has in common one thing, the huge amount of energy that they bring to the stage. The boys perform break dancing trick and flip in quick succession and the girls ooze sex appeal is numerous numbers.

I must also mention Xhanti Mbonzongwana who performs many of the young Michael Jackson songs. At one point he joined Alleyne to dance to Billie Jean wowing the audience with his own moves.

This was however to be no ordinary performance of Thriller Live, included in the show was performances from Peter Andre and Russell Kane and Jon Culshaw stepped in to introduce the night and some of the numbers. Peter Andre is a self confessed Michael Jackson fan and he seemed at home singing many of these numbers, especially the ballads. The spine tingling moment however was when there was a mid song ovation for him during Man in the Mirror.

Whilst you may not be able to see Peter Andre perform Man in The Mirror the real stars of the show are the cast that graft night in and night out. I can therefore wholeheartedly say that if you want a night of energy, top notch songs and delivery plus fun and varied choreography then Thriller Live is the show to see.

If you like this review you might also like my review for Six, Book of Mormon and the article on Thriller Live’s birthday celebrations for MJ. .