It’s hard to think of Michael Jackson without thinking about the massive amount of bizarre behaviour, rumours and accusations that surrounded the latter part of his life.
The greatest achievement of Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Immortal’ is it manages to set aside all that craziness in order to present a tribute to the late singer that focuses solely on his music, his performance style and the message he aimed to communicate.
This show is nowhere near as grand as Cirque Du Soleil’s other extravaganzas, like ‘Ovo’ which visited Perth earlier this year. It does successfully meld the best parts of the Cirque Du Soleil experience of acrobatic back flips, high flying wire work, comedy and spectacle with the best parts of Jackson’s work – great songs, style and messages of unity, peace and humanity. The stage is filled with huge video screens, a live band and an army of talented performers.
The show kicks of with five super fans creating a mural to Jackson, from here we kick off a journey that takes us through the world of Neverland, Jackson’s love of animals, storytelling and dance. The show’s super highlights are in the second half of the program, an army of cybermen styled robots take to the stage during ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ with LED breast plates that communicate a range of messages.
The heart stings are given a huge pull when the curtain drops and a young Michael is projected onto a huge screen singing ‘I’ll Be There’. The power of the young Jackson’s voice is striking. When we hit the disco section of the show featuring The Jackson’s ‘Can You Feel It’ and ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’ it’s almost impossible to not start dancing in your seat with the catchy tunes. When the dancers performing during the tune suddenly turn on LED lights embedded within their costumes it’s a visual spectacular.
The show makes the most of the massive amount of iconography associated with Jackson through life size dancing gloves and giant light up boardwalks. The music is amazing, and you forget that it’s all being played live except for Jackson’s vocals.
Overwhelming though is the feeling that Jackson himself is missing, the bands there, the dancers, the spectacle and the voice, but the missing presence can’t be ignored.
Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Immortal’ is at the Perth Arena from September 18 -22.
