The King of Pop's legacy is moonwalking to Broadway.
On Tuesday, the Michael Jackson Estate and Columbia Live Stage announced they are working on a new musical based on the icon’s life, according to Variety. The untitled project is expected to hit Broadway sometime in 2020, but it’s currently unclear which theater it will run in.
The score will draw from Jackson’s huge catalog and have a book by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, with choreography and direction handled by contemporary ballet superstar Christopher Wheeldon of the Royal Ballet.
The musical will be inspired by Jackson’s life, but it’s unclear how much of that will include his early childhood and the Jackson 5, or some of the darker sides of the pop star’s past, such as his public 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sexual abuse. Since the show has been approved by the Jackson estate, it's likely that any controversial aspects of the star’s life will be left out of the project.
The estate previously approved two Cirque du Soleil productions inspired by the late legend, but the Broadway show will be the first of its kind. It’s still too early to know who might be in the running to play Jackson. As Pitchfork points out, this isn’t the first time Jackson will appear as a character on the Broadway stage: he was depicted in the 2013 production of Motown: The Musical.
