BWW Reviews: THRILLER LIVE, Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, October 24 2013

I grew up with Michael Jackson - I laughed along with the cartoons, danced around to Off The Wall, tuned in eagerly for the premiere of the Thriller video, watched the hideous trial and then F5ed the updates on his equally hideous demise. I've now lived almost as long - if not quite as much - as he did, and the soundtrack to that life is all there in Michael's songs. And that body of work, when everything else is stripped away - hard (no, impossible) though that is to do - stands up remarkably well. And I was there for the 1000th edition of Thriller Live and now I'm back for the 2000th.

The show has moved on - it's less Stars In Their Eyes (though there's a few of MJ's signature shapes thrown and some of his more garish outfits worn again) and more a celebration of the man and his music, with the emphasis on the music. All the way from loon pants and ABC through to white suits and Smooth Criminal, the hits keep coming, with the only real ebb in the torrent of Number Ones a preachy interlude centred on Man In The Mirror. The big finish is Thriller (of course) with the zombies in full flow!

In this show, MJ is The King Of Pop and a recordbreaking entertainer, who happened to be much misunderstood after a diffcult and unique childhood. But that's OK - nobody is expecting a Martin Bashir interview. There's plenty of glitz and glamour to go with the hits and hammer of bass and drum, with a Vegas feel to the staging, costumes and dancing. And you don't get 2000 shows on Shaftesbury Avenue without giving the public what it wants: and, as I looked around at an audience that exemplified MJ's "Black or White", it's clear that Thriller Live gives the public exactly what it wants.

Don't be surprised to read a review of the 3000th show sometime in 2016.

Thriller Live continues at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue.