MJ The Musical (current)

Michael Jackson, the king of pop, is still considered by many to be the greatest entertainer of all time. His iconic music is grounded in the blues, the black church, rhythm and dance, MJ’s music invites the listener into a transcendent space of funk and fiesta, syncopation and step, groove and gyration. Gifted as MJ was as a songwriter, his onstage performances took on an otherworldly dimension. I once shared the stage with MJ at President Clinton’s inauguration in 1992. As he performed, I saw him turn into a radiant energy of peace, power, and love all at once. For MJ, being onstage was the only place where he felt truly comfortable and free to be himself.

The power of MJ the Musical lies in its ability to inspire, enlighten educate and challenges us to be our best as a human race. I am inspired by MJs courage: after his early successes with Berry Gordy, he still knew there was more for him to achieve and he decided to leave Berry Gordy to go on his own. I am enlightened by MJ’s prophetic voice in his lyrics and desire to push the boundaries of pop music. His song, Tabloid Junkie challenges humankind to examine its relationship to the press, to think critically and examine and what is “factual, actual”. Earth Song is an anthem that challenges humankind to better take care of our planet and eradicate war. I am educated because in knowing more about Michael, his brilliance, his process in creating healing art, I can assess the ways that I create healing art. I am educated because I learned that Michael was traumatized as a child by his father’s incessant beatings, and that this trauma in part lead to Michael’s perfectionism in his music and creating the Dangerous tour. As I learn about Michael’s trauma, I am invited to consider the ways in which I’ve been traumatized and the ways that I have adapted to my cultural context and upbringing.

Every human has learned to adapt 1 to her or his environment. These adaptations can lead to behaviors that can result in mental health challenges. I was raised in a single parent household and learned to adapt to this environment by playing the piano and spending a lot of time alone. I didn’t realize the implications of my upbringing until college. I’ll never forget the first day on campus when I saw many other students being dropped off by their mother and father, that I realized how different it was for me not having two parents in the home. I felt unease and discomfort and wish I had the opportunity to talk about my feelings that I had around my parents’ divorce that took place when I was 8. As I disassociated more with reality, music was my outlet, and I lost myself in the beautiful sounds of classical piano music and playing music in church and for local musical theater productions. Other than my musical experiences, I don’t remember many feelings or experiences from the ages of 8-12.

Given this trauma that I experienced, and the notion that I have the ability to heal myself 2 and my inner child that was wounded 3 , I continue to speak love, healing and affirmation to little Victor that was hurt. I tell him I love him and that he is complete, there is nothing missing, and I receive my healing. I have an 8-year old son, Immanuel Justice Simonson. Often, while holding him I tell Immanuel and little Victor, “I love you so much, it’s ok”. I’ve talked to my ancestor, my grandmother’s grandfather, Pastor Reginald, the former Pastor of the Church of the Pentecost in Barbados. He regrettably left 13 children to become an itinerant preacher. My grandmother, Elaine Waldron described the pain he caused his family in leaving. Despite this pain, I’ve spoken to him to say, “you are well, and your children are well”. I’ve also talked to my father’s younger self little Victor Simonson Sr. when he was a teenager. Regrettably, my grandfather, Jean Thelemaque, left my father when my father was a teenager. Despite this pain, I’ve talked to my dad’s younger teenage self saying, “dad, it is well!” I have learned that I can create healing in myself, in my family in hopes to reverse the generational burdens that may be passed on in my family. As a husband and father of two children, I choose to love each day and show up for my family, depositing seeds of peace, joy and instilling the ethic of hard work, self-care and prayer. I am hopeful my children will adapt positively to the environment I try and create.

This is one of the greatest gifts MJ the Musical gives to me: the opportunity for personal healing and growth. MJ retained his youthful wonder, his curiosity, and his drive for greatness despite the trauma and pain he grappled with much of his life. If MJ was given the opportunity to speak to his inner child, what might he say? He might say, it is well and that’s all daddy knows. If we all were given the opportunity to speak to our inner child, what would we say to facilitate healing and wholeness? This work of inner healing is crucial to the continued development and growth of our country and world, for as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says, we need a moral revolution that rivals the technological revolution that has taken place. 4 In what ways has our country been traumatized, and how does our collective inner child need to be healed. To use an analogy from MJ, what pills have we taken as a country to mask our pain?

The answers to these questions are varied depending on our socio-economic status and cultural upbringing. Nonetheless, when we begin to do the work of healing ourselves as individuals, communities and as a nation, this is when we can truly advance as a human race, where love and justice can reign for all people. MJ knew this, that’s why he hoped his fans would understand him solely through his music.
Consider the lyrics to MJ’s Heal the World:

Heal the world, make it a better place.
For you and for me, and the entire human race.
There are people dying, if you care enough for the living.
Make it a better place for you and for me.

Each opportunity I have to conduct this show is a privilege and honor.
Hopefully, I get to offer inspiration and healing to our audiences. As we better understand MJ, his thinking, and his process, we in turn are invited into a space where we can better understand ourselves as a species.

1 “Adaptation is an all-pervading biological phenomenon. An organism is adapted when it functions in interaction with its external environment in such a manner that the functioning enhances the biological well-being of the organism.” See, Furth, Hans G. Piaget and knowledge: theoretical foundations. Prentice Hall Inc., 1969. Pg. 169. Many adaptations enhance the well-being as stated. However, some adaptations result in negative behaviors. Consider how Harville Hendrix, PH.D and one of the founders of the Imago Relationship Theory describes our shadow, dark side: “all people have a dark side to their nature, a part of their being that they try to ignore. For the most part, these are creative adaptations to childhood wounds”.
See Hendrix, Harville. Getting the Love You Want: A Guide: A Guide for Couples: Second Edition. HenryHolt and Company, LLC, 2008. Pg. 75.

2 According to David Watkins, the consciousness technique of radical truth helps to facilitate healing. They include, “letting go of resisting the sensory experience of the illness, no longer labeling the illness and ultimately “replacing what the mind has learned about illness with the truth: I no longer believe in that. I am an infinite being, and I am not subject to that. I am only subject to what I hold in mind.” Finally, “choosing the energy field of Love, which heals.” See Hawkins, David. Map of Human Consciousness.
www.hayhouse.com, 2020. Pgs. 145-146

3 “When a child’s development is arrested, when feelings are repressed, especially the feelings of anger and hurt, a person grows up to be an adult with an angry, hurt child inside of him. This child will spontaneously contaminate the person’s adult behavior”, See Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner
Child, Bantam Books, 1990. Pg. 23

4 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. purports in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech that “if we to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computer, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”