A stage show about the King of Pop’s life featuring the biggest hits from his catalogue is now in development

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Michael Jackson’s music is set to hit Broadway in 2020 in the shape of an as-yet-untitled musical.

Playwright Lynn Nottage, who has won the Pulitzer prize in drama twice for her plays Sweat and Ruined, has signed on to write the book, while Christopher Wheeldon, a former Tony award winner for An American in Paris, is set to choreograph.

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The score, like the Carole King-centric musical Beautiful, will feature songs from the singer’s own extensive catalogue, marked by universally loved hits such Thriller, Man in the Mirror, The Way You Make Me Feel, Billy Jean and Beat It.

The forthcoming musical will be the third stage production based on the singer, after the Cirque du Soleil-produced shows Michael Jackson One, which runs in Las Vegas, and Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. Another show about the pop star, Thriller Live, can be seen in London’s West End.

There have been notable attempts to bring Jackson’s music to the screen, too, with documentaries such as Michael Jackson’s This is It, the highest-grossing music documentary of all time, and Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown to Off the Wall, a detailed account of his musical evolution directed by Spike Lee.

Michael Jackson’s estate recently filed a federal copyright infringement lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company and ABC after the network’s recent documentary special, The Last Days of Michael Jackson. The filing alleges that ABC used copyrighted materials such as concert footage and music video clips, plus video from the two previous Jackson documentaries that had received the family’s blessing. In a statement made about the documentary, the Jackson estate called it a “crass and unauthorized attempt to exploit the life, music and image of Michael Jackson”.

Jackson died in 2009 after overdosing on propofol and lorazepam and, months after, his death was ruled as a homicide.