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Jamaal Fields-Green in the touring production of "MJ: The Musical."
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In its Pittsburgh debut, 'MJ: The Musical' shows Michael Jackson at Dangerous crossroads

Matthew Murphy

In its Pittsburgh debut, 'MJ: The Musical' shows Michael Jackson at Dangerous crossroads

There are any number of entry points into the complicated and ever-mysterious life of Michael Jackson.

“MJ: the Musical,” which arrives at the Benedum Center today on a national tour that’s part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series, targets June 25, 1992, two days before the King of Pop is set to open his Dangerous Tour in Munich, Germany.

Jackson is in final rehearsals for his second solo tour, one with no U.S. dates, and one he designed to raise funds for his Heal the World Foundation. By this point, Jackson wasn't at his “Thriller” peak, but still popular, and still untainted by the allegations of sexual misconduct that would come one year later.

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As writer Lynn Nottage frames it, an MTV camera crew is on site, providing the device for Jackson to reflect on his rise to stardom.

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“You see a funny Michael, a frustrated Michael, you see the full spectrum of humanity from him,” says Devin Bowles.

At 6-foot-3 and built like a linebacker, Bowles, an actor from Nashville who previously appeared in an off-Broadway production of “Kinky Boots,” was not a candidate to play the waifish Michael. Instead, he handles the dual roles of Rob, a choreographer/manager, and Joe Jackson, the domineering patriarch of the Jackson clan.

The production is set a few years after Jackson cut ties with cigar-chomping Pittsburgh native Frank DiLeo, who managed him during the “Thriller” and “Bad” eras until 1989.

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“Rob is sort of based off a real person named Travis Payne,” Bowles says. “He wasn't necessarily labeled as a director of choreography, but he was always there with Michael in rehearsals, pitching ideas to him, receiving ideas from him. Rob is a made-up character created to fit the Dangerous Tour and MTV and all the variables of the story we built.”

The tension in the story is that Jackson is at yet another emotional crossroads while about to embark on perhaps the most elaborate tour to date, beginning with him being catapulted onstage like he’s popping out of a toaster.

“Michael was dealing with [the tour], dealing with a lot of his charities, dealing with a lot of the residue of detaching from his family,” Bowles says. “We see his emotions, what sparks his ideas, his creativity. We see instances of him being sad, being happy, expressing every human emotion you can. The Dangerous Tour was a very big thing for Michael, and he’s singing some ‘Thriller’ catalog, some ‘Bad’ catalog, singing all these things in this tour that was very important to him.”

Bowles, like Quentin Earl Darrington in the cast of the Tony-winning Broadway production, has the task of playing characters on opposite sides of the spectrum. Joe Jackson, Michael would allege in his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, would whip his sons with a belt or switch if they made a mistake in rehearsal. (Several of his brothers later denied the claim that their father was abusive.)

“Rob is a contrast to Joe Jackson,” Bowles says, “although they have the similarities of both having influence on Michael's decision-making and both wanting the best for him. Rob is very empathetic. Joe has done some things that, unfortunately, we may not agree with in the upbringing of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 and his relationship with Katherine.”

“In this show, the powerful thing that we do with Joe is, we give you the why. We tell you why he acted the way he did, what influenced his decision making in raising his kids. Like we do Michael, we show the humanity of Joe Jackson. Yeah, he is the antagonist in the show, but we really dive into that, which is really special.”

Bowles, who was born after the events of the musical took place, moved to the Big Apple in January 2022 and “MJ,” which opened a month later, was the first show for which he purchased a ticket as a New Yorker.

“The fandom of the show, the fandom of Michael Jackson started there,” he says. “I didn't grow up a lot with Michael, to be honest with you.

“I was a big Motown guy, but not necessarily Jackson 5. I was Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, those type of artists. When he died in 2009, I was old enough to know how much of an icon he was, obviously, but I wasn't a diehard Michael Jackson fan. Obviously, with this show, and being able to tell this story, I've grown such a respect for his work ethic, just being really touched how much of an artist he was through and through, on and off stage.”

“MJ: The Musical” runs through Dec. 1. Showtimes this week are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $49; trustarts.org.

First Published: November 19, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: November 20, 2024, 1:12 p.m.

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Jamaal Fields-Green in the touring production of "MJ: The Musical."  (Matthew Murphy)
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