Next month it will be two years since Michael Jackson died, and for many fans it is still sinking in that the King of Pop will never tour again. But a stage show is coming to Abu Dhabi the same month that captures something of Jackson's spirit. Thriller Live, which is in the middle of its third West End run in London and has already toured to 22 countries, will make its way to Abu Dhabi for two nights on June 9 and 10.
It's a tribute, rather than a musical, with five singers of different ages, races and sexes and 10 dancers staging versions of the hits, from ABC to Man in the Mirror. Short video presentations between the songs give the headlines and highlights of the entertainer's career - his still-unbeaten number of awards and record sales - and the singers and dancers encourage the audience to get out of their seats and sing, dance and cheer along. The staging is basic, but there are some pyrotechnics and a glitter cannon and, of course, some moonwalking.
To cynics, this might all sound like a way to cash in on the grief of a dead star's fans, but that would not be fair: the show's mastermind, the Briton Adrian Grant, has been putting together Michael Jackson tributes since he was in his teens. At 19, he started a fanzine dedicated to the singer, who read it and invited him to Neverland. "Michael was really down-to-earth," Grant says now. "Laughing around, joking around; he was a big kid at heart. Inquisitive, very knowledgable, a genius in his studio, and a very humble person."
As well as interviewing Jackson and hanging out in his studio, Grant met his pet giraffe and chimpanzee, played arcade games, watched films and ate lunch with the star. "It was an unbelievable day," Grant says. "At the end Michael says 'come back any time' so I used to go back there once or twice a year. It highlights his generosity. He didn't need to do that, but he was just a kind person."
Inspired by Jackson's support, Grant started putting on an annual Michael Jackson tribute show, and the singer flew over to the UK watch the 10th edition. Grant says that Jackson got on stage afterwards to say the show was "incredible" and "beautiful". It was this production that evolved into Thriller Live, a theatrical touring show. "Michael watching [the tribute] gave me the inspiration that if you've got something you believe in you should follow it through, you can make things happen," Grant says. "Everything else that followed is thanks to him."
Thriller Live began in 2006, and Jackson told Grant that when he came over to London for his This Is It tour, that he would come and watch the show - in disguise to avoid being mobbed. That, of course, never happened. On June 25, 2009, during rehearsals for the tour, he died of an overdose. "I didn't believe it," Grant says of the news. "It took a couple of days to sink in and then my first thoughts were for his family: his children and his mother."
Grant considered cancelling the live show for the immediate future but "there was such an outpouring from the public that the Lyric Theatre [where Thriller Live was performed] turned into a bit of a shrine and there was a lot of demand for people to come and see the show and pay their respects to Michael. So we've continued in that vein and ever since it's become more of a celebration and tribute to his legacy".
The show went on the night after Jackson's death. Grant describes it as a "very charged performance," and says that there were tears among the performers that day. Since then, Thriller Live's popularity has rocketed: there are now three versions of the show going on in different parts of the world simultaneously, and 1.2 million people have been to see it.
"Thriller Live is what it always was," Grant says. "I started it because Michael had been getting a lot of negative press and I wanted to focus on the music. It wasn't a case of trying to commercially exploit anything. Since Michael's passing there have been a number of other copycat tribute shows popping up here and there, and I think they're the ones that have really jumped on the bandwagon."
There's only one performer who really impersonates Jackson in Thriller Live, doing the gravity-defying lean in Smooth Criminal, tweaking his trilby and moonwalking. As for the rest, they put their own spin in Jackson's songs, giving them a rock edge or a sultry R&B feel. Brittany Woodrow, an actress and singer from Pittsburgh, is the female lead who's currently performing in Scotland and who'll be jetting to Abu Dhabi for the shows. She takes the mic for I'll Be There, Can You Feel It and The Way You Make Me Feel.
She's excited about going to Abu Dhabi and urges people here to go out and watch it, whether they have all Jackson's records or not, but she warns that it might be an emotional experience for fans. "There's a lot of songs," she says, adding: "The whole show really demonstrates how Michael Jackson was so influential in music and in life in general."
On the other hand, she says, "it's uplifting and full of energy. Audiences should come ready to have fun and party."
Thriller Live shows on June 9 and 10, Flash Forum, Yas Island. For tickets visit www.thinkflash.ae.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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