Thursday, January 29, 2009

Thriller on Broadway: Bad Idea

Remember this cartoon?



I know right!!! Totally brings me back too. Well this new idea, as approved by the woman masquerading as Michael Jackson, reminds me of that cartoon.

Jacko has approved the rights for a group to make his Thriller video into a musical for the stage.

This is by no means the first time a major music star will take their iconic songs to the world of theater - but I still get the feeling this could be an extra special affair. Oh sure, Billy Joel was plagued by depression, but his songs helped make Movin' Out a success. Elton John's just kind of crazy, but he's done the music for a variety of Broadway shows including Billy Elliot and The Lion King. In fact, many musicals come from pop artists; just off the top of my head, I know of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons re-imagined in Jersey Boys, and heck, the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!

But Michael Jackson's Thriller - that just seems different, and knowing he's involved in the project makes it all the more fascinating. This might not just be bad, this could be epically bad.

Even if you disagree, you have to admit it can't be any more amazing than this, which I think we can agree should be filed under Good Idea:



The kicker is that Michael Jackson may not actually have all the rights to his REAL Thriller video. And now he's being sued. I think I'm disappointed, because I secretly want this to happen... out of morbid curiosity.

MORE INFO:
NYTIMES
PITCHFORK
POPEATER

3 comments:

Alex said...

omg, I saw a clip about this on NY1 yesterday! It has to be more fun to than watching the little mermaid glide around the stage on those stupid shoe/ skate things. Too bad Broadway is apparently incapable of originality.

Ozkirbas said...

Idea: Jailbird Theater. Writers, under the guise of former and current convicts, write complex shock-and-awe works as if their character wrote them.

Anonymous said...

it looks like the "woman" in that video is really a man in drag. you can imagine his disappointment when he got the one short straw among the 2000 long straws in that prison.