Tag: Lynn Nottage

 ‘MJ the Musical’ sizzles in return Chicago engagement

Entertainment, Musical, Theater, Uncategorized

By Guest Blogger Eloise Marie Valadez

Magical moves and a stellar collection of songs are taking the spotlight on stage at Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre.

“MJ the Musical” has returned to The Windy City on the First National Tour and is energetically relaying the life story and career of the iconic entertainer Michael Jackson. The show runs through Aug. 24.

Jordan Markus stars as Michael Jackson in “MJ the Musical.” Photo by Matthew Murphy.

In this production, which is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon with book by Lynn Nottage, Jackson is seen preparing for his massive 1992 Dangerous tour, which had immense risks and stresses as it was mounted. While he’s rehearsing for the tour, a cameraman and reporter are allowed in to document the making of the tour and to interview Jackson about his work, the inspirations for his music and thoughts about his fame and career.

As the show goes on, the audience journeys to all stages of Jackson’s career from his days as a youngster with the Jackson 5 to his various solo work as well as his relationship with his family and his domineering father.

Pictured is a scene from “MJ the Musical,” currently in Chicago. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Jordan Markus stars as MJ. The dancer/singer proves he’s perfect for the role as he slides artistically across the stage interpreting Jackson’s moves smoothly. Markus’ vocals are dynamic and he definitely does justice to Jackson’s tunes.

Kudos also to Devin Bowles for his strong performance as Joseph Jackson. Bowles also performs as tour director Rob. Among other performers starring in “MJ” are Melvin Gray Jr., Quentin Blanton Jr., Bryce A. Holmes, Erik Hamilton, Brandon Lee Harris, Kristin Stokes, Kevin Cruz, J. Daughtry and others.

Outstanding musical numbers include “Billie Jean,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Dancing Machine,” “Thriller,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” and “I Want You Back.”

“MJ” is truly the celebration of the music of an entertainment genius.

FYI: “MJ the Musical” continues to Aug.24 at James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Tickets range from $49-$153. Visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

Top photo: Jordan Markus with “MJ” in the first national tour of “MJ.” Photo by Matthew Murphy.

About Eloise Marie Valadez

Guest blogger Eloise Marie Valadez, a frequent contributor to Travel/Food, is a professional journalist/writer and editor with four decades of experience covering the arts, entertainment, and culinary industries. A native of Chicago, she has a passion for the written word.

Summer in the City: Chicago’s Theater & Performing Arts

Entertainment, Theater, Uncategorized

Broadway In Chicago is proud to produce the following shows as part of its summer roster: 

  • Haestown (playing June 20 – 25, 2023, at the CIBC Theatre), winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best New Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, is an acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — HADESTOWN invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. 
  • MJ (playing August 1 – September 2, 2023, at the James M. Nederlander Theatre), is the multi Tony Award®-winning new musical centered around the making of Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Created by Tony Award®-winning Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Michael Jackson into legendary status.
  • To Kill A Mockingbird (playing August 8 – 13, 2023, at the CIBC Theatre), Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s new play directed by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher and based on Harper Lee’s classic novel, will come back to Chicago as part of a multi-year national tour across North America. Set in Alabama in 1934, Harper Lee’s enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence centers on one of the most venerated characters in American literature, small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater will present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (July 13 – August 20, 2023) at the Courtyard Theater this summer, based on the Academy Award® -winning Disney film and featuring such  dazzling production numbers as the beloved title song and “Be Our Guest.”

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra continues its 2023 season with the following standout events: 

  • Concert for Chicago (June 27, 2023) – Celebrate Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti’s remarkable tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at this free concert in Millennium Park. Enjoy performances of the heartfelt Andante moderato, written by longtime Chicago resident Florence Price, and Tchaikovsky’s exhilarating Fifth Symphony as the CSO closes the 2022/23 Season in style.

The Tony Award-winning Goodman Theatre concludes its 2022-2023 season with:

  • The Who’s Tommy (June 13 – July 23, 2023): Myth and spectacle combine in a fresh reinvention of The Who’s exhilarating 1969 rock concept album, Tommy—including the unforgettable anthems “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Sensation,” and “Pinball Wizard.” After witnessing his father shoot his rival, the young Tommy Walker is lost in the universe, endlessly and obsessively staring into the mirror. An innate knack for pinball catapults him from reticent adolescent to celebrity savior. Tony Award-winning composer Pete Townshend and Tony Award-winning original director Des McAnuff find powerful resonance reexamining this classic story for today.

The Joffrey Ballet is pleased to announce an evening of free public performances on June 25, 2023, in the heart of downtown Chicago at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Created as a gift to all Chicagoans, and the first event of its kind, The Joffrey Ballet’s “Joffrey for All Celebration” will feature dance workshops in the lawn and performances by Joffrey Company Artists, the Joffrey Academy of Dance, and students from the Joffrey Community Engagement programs.

Lookingglass Theatre welcomes Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon (May 24 – July 16, 2023), which tracks a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way. Fresh from his Broadway debut in “Almost Famous The Musical”, Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee’s world premiere musical romp gives a nod to America’s past, takes tally of its present, and blows its future wide open.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company concludes its 2022/2023 season with: 

  • Another Marriage (June 15 – July 23, 2023): Another Marriage is an intimate and beautifully rendered portrait of an ever-evolving relationship that may never be quite finished. Ensemble member Kate Arrington’s playwriting debut upends time and the typical romantic comedy to explore the liabilities of falling in and out of love.
  • No Man’s Land (July 13 – August 20, 2023): In the drawing room of his stately Hampstead mansion, the wealthy, aging Hirst hosts his newfound acquaintance, the enigmatic Spooner, for an evening of endless beer, scotch, and vodka. The night winds on, the drinks keep pouring, and the ground keeps shifting—until two sinister younger men arrive and interrupt the bacchanal. Steppenwolf returns to Harold Pinter’s modern masterpiece: a generational power struggle, a tug of war between expert wordsmiths, a maze of murky meaning. Or perhaps it’s just two old English sots waxing nostalgic and waiting for the sun to rise. In No Man’s Land, you can never be certain, and nothing is as it seems.