Review: MAN IN THE MIRROR, Golders Green Hippodrome

With fifteen years experience as a Michael Jackson impersonator and spending two hours in the make-up chair every night getting ready, you can’t fault CJ (Craig Harrison) for commitment.

Taking on the mantle of famous performers is no small thing, especially one as era-defining as Jackson. Many in the audience have dressed up for the occasion even though they look too young to have been around during his Eighties heyday and some of the kids dancing around in black suits and hats were still just glints in their parents’ eyes when the Thriller singer died in 2009. There’s a feeling throughout that, both when creating and delivering this two-hour event, there was a singular thought ringing around CJ’s head: "be careful of what you do, don't go around breaking young fans' hearts." 

The Man In The Mirror show is travelling around the UK and is part of The Entertainers’ catalogue of tribute events. Mining nostalgia for all its worth, those attending sibling productions can spend a night with an ersatz Elvis, a Freddy Mercury mimic or a replica Rocket Man. Other productions have more of a broader appeal, including the Cirque: The Greatest Show (which we saw last year and returns “re-imagined” in 2025) and An Evening Of Burlesque CaThere are definitebaret.

It’s inevitable that any evening of this kind will raise questions from the off. Will the numbers be sung in a chronological fashion or organised into themed sections? How close will the experience be to Jackson’s own live shows? Will the singing be a carbon copy of the famous voice or more of an interpretation? For Man In The Mirror, additional posers are necessarily thrown into the mix: will this, like MJ: The Musical, be more of a blinkered hagiography than a critical look at a complicated figure? And how many times will we hear the high-pitched “hoo-ha” sounds?

CJ hasn’t gone for any particular order, beginning with the bumping new jack swing of 1992’s “Jam”, ending with the show’s title song from 1988 and rolling out an overlong tribute-within-a-tribute to the Jackson 5 halfway through. It is not easy to tell exactly when he is singing or lip synching but anyone who can pull off sharp moves and rap at the same time is doing something right. The leg flips, the 45-degree lean, the hat-tips and the signature moonwalk slides are reminders that it wasn’t all about the falsetto vocals, the many hits, the outfits and the controversies; even in silhouette, when Jackson danced, everyone from Sydney to Sydenham recognised this unique performer.

Should the white dancers have worn massive afros when bopping around to “Blame It On The Boogie”? Probably not, but considering that their outfits were sometimes far more coordinated than their choreography, that’s maybe not their only concern. The problematic side of Jackson is never touched on and CJ very much sees the man he has imitated from the age of four as being on the side of the angels: if we only take one thing away from tonight, he tells us, it is that the singer wrote tracks like “Earth Song” because he cared about humanity and the planet. 

Backing singers are sorely missed here: they would have added volume and allowed CJ to deliver a few of the classic duets like “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (with Siedah Garrett) or “Say, Say , Say” and “The Girl Is Mine” (both with Paul MacCartney). The use of a video backdrop gives numbers like “I’ll Be There” emotional depth and punch. The band helps cover that CJ, for all his effusive talent, doesn’t quite have Jackson’s range. The venue acoustics are still a work in progress and affect the quality of the early songs of both halves. Having said that, the show does well to overcome those niggles and as a tribute, there’s plenty to enjoy here. 

Man In The Mirror continues on tour until May 2026.

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