Sarah Cecilia Bukowski

Broadway’s MJ paints Michael Jackson’s life in broad strokes while delivering the biggest hits of his career. Along the way, the hit show explores the many influences that contributed to Jackson’s signature style and his groundbreaking innovations in music, dance and performance—an artistic legacy that has shaped generations of performers, from Soul Train to MTV to TikTok, and sparked dance trends that are cemented into our cultural imaginations. Elijah Rhea Johnson, who has been playing the King of Pop since last April, sums it up simply: “Michael is the king of dance.” In his Broadway debut, Johnson delivers a virtuosic performance as the adult Michael—two other performers play younger versions of the star—by channeling the pop icon’s seamless marriage of scintillating vocals and electrifying moves. His nuanced portrayal reproduces Jackson’s idiosyncratic mannerisms and speech inflections but transcends impersonation to give shape and dimension to the star’s human complexities.  RECOMMENDED: Rhythm of the City: Fall into step with the best dance in NYC Johnson credits Jackson as the reason he began performing as a child in Detroit. When Johnson’s father noticed young Elijah admiring Chris Brown’s dance moves, he pointed his son to YouTube videos of Michael Jackson. This nudge opened up a whole world of appreciation for dance lineage. “You gotta learn the roots of it all,” Johnson tells Time Out New York. “James Brown, Nicholas Brothers—they really blew my mind. But I really