Michael Jackson's Own Choreographers Shaped the Dancing in Broadway's MJ
Over 25 Michael Jackson songs staged at the Neil Simon, with his longtime choreographers credited for the movement.
Two sets of hands built the dancing in this show, and the program lists them separately.
Christopher Wheeldon directs and choreographs. He trained at The Royal Ballet School, joined New York City Ballet in 1993, was named its first resident choreographer in 2001, and took the 2015 Tony for choreographing An American in Paris. Rich and Tone Talauega carry a second credit, Michael Jackson Movement. The brothers choreographed for Jackson himself from the mid-1990s onward, including the You Rock My World short film. Lynn Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer winner, wrote the book around a look inside his creative process.
Four Tony Awards came out of the first season, choreography among them. The Outer Critics Circle that spring gave its choreography award to Wheeldon and the Talauega brothers together.
MJ opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on West 52nd Street on February 1, 2022, and it has played there ever since. The theatre assigns your exact seats at the time of purchase, and they are printed on the ticket itself.
A standard week holds eight performances: Tuesday through Friday at 7:00pm, a 1:00pm matinee on Wednesday, Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday at 3:00pm. Mondays have no performance in a normal week. Holiday weeks shift. Read the date and time on the calendar before you pay.
MJ The Musical on Broadway TicketMobile ticket with all taxes, fees, and handling charges included. Seating tier is selected at checkout.www.viator.comWhere You Sit Changes What You See
This is a dance show first, and the floor patterns are part of the design. From the front of the orchestra you read faces and footwork. From the mezzanine you read formations, the moment eight dancers land on the same line.
The listing sells by seating tier: mid orchestra, front mezzanine, rear mezzanine, and the side sections, among others. The zone you buy is the one seating decision you actually control. Everything inside that zone is assigned by the theatre when the order goes through.
Twenty-Five Songs and a Room Built for Them
More than 25 Jackson songs run through the evening, rebuilt for a theatre orchestra. David Holcenberg and Jason Michael Webb share the orchestration and arrangement credits. Billy Jay Stein and Hiro Iida handle the electronic music design that carries the later material.
The show runs two hours and thirty minutes with one fifteen-minute intermission. Numbers arrive inside the story, and the applause lands on scenes as often as on songs.
What the Theatre Asks of You
Doors open 45 minutes before curtain. The production asks you to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Miss the start and the house holds you roughly 22 minutes into Act I, about 10 minutes into Act II. You wait in the promenade or the upper lobby and watch on a monitor until the hold lifts.
A few rules are firm:
- Photography, video, and sound recording are prohibited during the performance
- Phone use during the show is prohibited
- Everyone entering the theatre needs a ticket, including children
- Bags are screened at the door, and anything over 20 by 14 by 9 inches cannot come inside
- The Viator listing asks guests 18 and over for a government-issued photo ID. The theatre's published policies list no such rule, so carry one and you are covered either way
- Children under 5 are not permitted, and the show is recommended for ages 8 and up
Headsets, Loops, and Five Languages
Infrared headsets for sound augmentation are available at the theatre at no charge, with photo identification held as a deposit. The house carries an induction loop; a tele coil device should be set to T.
Translations run in Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, French, and German through Galapro. The seller asks that accessible seating be arranged by phone on 888-651-9785 before the booking is completed. Guide dogs and service animals are welcome, and the theatre is wheelchair accessible.
All ticket sales are final. The theatre's own policy reads the same way as the listing, and the date you pick is the date you go.
📍 The Neil Simon sits on West 52nd between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Cross Eighth after the curtain call and Hell's Kitchen's late tables are one block away.