Even if you’re a Michael Jackson fan, it’s fair to say that his life was rather peculiar by the time he was about to depart this Earth. You could argue that he was one of the world’s great eccentrics. You could also argue that he’d completely lost his mind.
And now, we’ll be able to see a cartoon version of his world as Cirque du Soleil are taking Neverland Ranch on the road.
That’s right – the acrobatic troupe are planning some Michael Jackson themed shows which will be set in a version of the singer’s famed Californian home, under the banner of ‘Michael Jackson, THE IMMORTAL World Tour.’ Not hyperbolic at all, eh?
One of the many things that grinds the gear of non-MJ fans… hell… even people who kinda are fans… is the huge levels of fawning horseshit that has surrounded Jackson for many, many years. IMMORTAL this and GREATEST EVER that! Seriously. Take it down a notch, eh?
The man behind the show, who goes by the name of King, says:
“It is really about a central character or characters who get transported into this world of Neverland where they learn everything there is to know about Michael.”
Of course, being transported to Neverland could easily mean standing on your own in a deserted theme park covered in cobwebs, feeling for all the world like you’re stuck in the middle of a Scooby Doo episode, being watched by a man in a black face mask and trilby.
Although it’s fair to assume that this tour will be a bit more celebratory than that. Like Dracula in a party hat.
The tour kicks off in Montreal next October and travels to 30 cities including New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It will probably travel outside of North America too, so don’t worry Eurofans.
So who will play Michael?
“Michael Jackson is throughout the entire show, but in no way am I going to use a stand-in.”
Peter Andre must be devastated. There will, however, be a gigantic tree overseeing the proceedings, apparently, where MJ used to sleep.
“It made sense that that would be the perfect environment for us to create this world of magic, fairy tale, because Neverland for Michael Jackson was his kind of his peace and his serenity. … So after going to Neverland and really experiencing and feeling the beauty and the energy that was there, I had no choice but to create an environment that reflected that.”
Cirque said “Immortal” would be its most expensive touring show ever, with a budget of $57 million and a select number of tickets are being sold to fan clubs of Michael Jackson and Cirque Du Soleil starting Wednesday.
It’s gonna be weird, that’s for certain.
How apt.
Matt says
How easy it is for the uninformed to throw stones at a man they never knew?
Michael Jackson was extorted by a known brutalist in 1993, and in 2005, by a family of barely literate jackals. In fact he was never out of the courts, 98% of those cases for false paternity and songwriting claims were thrown out.
My point is without the vested irrationality of ex-DA Tom Sneddon
Cookie Monster says
I’ll simply point-out a couple of things about your comment (aside from pointing-out that it had fuck-all to do with this, sure to be wonderfully disturbing, Cirque show – bring the kids!).
Celebrities of a certain stature often keep lawyers on retainer to deal with the day-to-day bullshit. Hangers-on, leeches, false accusations; all are nothing new. Tom Jones likely has had to deal with a few paternity suits; Robert Plant; Jimmi Hendrix; the list goes on. Other bullshit suits, of the assault variety, are commonplace. Hell, Justin Beever was threatened with one just last week-ish. I myself have an active maternity suit against Miss Piggy. The DNA test on the BLT, which I love and care for at great expense, is ongoing.
That MJ got a raw deal in the tabloid press is not unexpected. This is the man who courted the tabloids (hardly the fourth estate; Heckler presents itself as anything but) at every turn, before, and well into, the time that the weirdness started. That they would then turn that sensationalism back on MJ is entirely unexpected. He made that bed, and so he had to sleep in it (not alone, ahem).
It cannot be denied that the man was odd. An entertainment genius; certainly. An utter flake who’s behaviour became more erratic over time; absolutely. And so, we create a divide between his work and the man himself. Neverland, near-nowhere, with a zoo, amusement park, hidden second bedroom off-of MJ’s first bedroom, admitted sleeping (literraly, sleeping, as far as has been confirmed) with young boys (girls didn’t seem to factor into it), was strange. Strange in a way that is, at present, exceeding the Charlie Sheen scale. Forget cheerleaders, hookers, and coke. Here we have a grown, and amazingly rich and famous, man having sleep-overs with young boys. That there were silly lawsuits against MJ does not lead to the consclusion that everything negative that was said, and will continue to be said, about him must be wrong.
So far as “Anyone with any understanding of the law and due process knows”, followed by the assertion that “Michael Jackson was innocent, and he was proved to be so”, I would remind you that in our system of law (and it is shared across many Western societies) one is not ever found ‘innocent’, but rather, ‘not guilty’. A passing understanding of the legal system is something that I favour, especially to guard against the likes of your inverse logic.
Have a cookie.