LOS ANGELES TIMES
“The glove is a way to deal with Michael’s Jungian shadows,” said director Julien Nitzberg, who also wrote the show’s book and lyrics. “This is not, like, dumb comedy that’s making fun of Michael. It’s actually a very complex piece dealing with racism, cultural appropriation, sexual subjugation of certain religions, but in a humorous way.”
LA DOWNTOWN NEWS
“A revisionist and fantastical look into those things which influenced Michael Jackson and the scandals that bedeviled him, “For the Love of a Glove” has been billed as a musical for those who hate musicals. And while it is a comedy, the creators and artists hope it will inspire people to think about the issues raised.”
NPR WEEKEND EDITION
“Raunchy, surreal and absurd.”
ARTILLERY
“Madly inventive… veers from the sublime to the obscene in an idiosyncratic demolition of the traditional jukebox musical.”
YAHOO NEWS
“There’s something in For the Love of Glove to offend just about everyone. But Nitzberg says with a shrug, “We don’t give a f***. We’re canceling ‘cancel culture.’””
THE COMPTON HERALD
“This is a raw, unapologetic (à la Mel Brooks) immensely funny view of his life, told from the perspective of his best friend – the iconic silver glove. Theater-goers will definitely have something to discuss afterwards as the play seeks to push the audience’s sensibilities to and fro – one moment enamored with Jackson, another perplexed by him. It truly reflects what fans felt about his intriguing life.”
STAGE SCENE LA
“For The Love Of A Glove… makes Book Of Mormon seem as squeaky clean as The Sound of Music… Those who find four-letter words a no-no, hold religion sacred, believe that talk of sex is taboo, deem Michael Jackson above reproach, and/or don’t have a funny bone in their body might be advised to seek out yet another Guys And Dolls or Kiss Me Kate. For everyone else, For The Love Of A Glove is a deliciously scabrous treat.”
LA WEEKLY
“Enter the wryly brilliant mind of Julien Nitzberg and his bizarre yet fantastical new musical For the Love of a Glove. Nitzberg takes the timeline of Jackson’s life, based in well-documented music history, and expands the story into surreal absurdity even while consciously weaving in sociological, political and religious commentary. And it’s all presented and narrated from the perspective of Jackson’s blinged-out glove… Suspend your disbelief, check your political correctness at the door and go see this off-the-wall show with an open mind while preparing yourself for a comical, culturally warped adventure.”
STAGE AND CINEMA
“I thought, My God, this show could easily go to New York, Off-Broadway or on. This send-up is far, far better than the current hot Off-Broadway ticket, Titanique, because it refuses to be puerile. It’s timeless in that Book of Mormon/Avenue Q vein.”
KCRW
SPECTRUM NEWS
STAGE RAW
“Mix a B-movie sci-fi plot with the life story of the “King of Pop,” add some inventive puppetry and a talented and uninhibited ensemble, and the result is a profane, hilarious, and razor-sharp skewering of the pop culture industry, systemic racism and religious hypocrisy.”
TVOLUTION
“Prances and bounces joyfully from inane farce to TMZ exposé, from Jackson bio over to Motown history with the agility of a gazelle on meth. Kudos must go to Eric B. Anthony. To undertake the role of one of the 20th century’s most iconic personalities bespeaks a chutzpah verging on the suicidal. However Anthony succeeds in pulling it off with panache to spare.
Make no mistake about it, Nitzberg’s For the Love of a Glove is a rough, rambunctious, rollicking and a tad racy evening; a three-ring circus squished onto a single stage. But if madcap musical silliness is your cup of tea – pinkies up! And prepare for a deluge.”
Make no mistake about it, Nitzberg’s For the Love of a Glove is a rough, rambunctious, rollicking and a tad racy evening; a three-ring circus squished onto a single stage. But if madcap musical silliness is your cup of tea – pinkies up! And prepare for a deluge.”
BLURRED CULTURE
“This production is meant to shock and stir and question and spoof and potentially offend. Doing so in a musical format gives permission to let it all go, to hysterically examine off-limit subjects like sexuality, religious hypocrisy, child abuse, and racism. I thoroughly enjoyed For the Love of a Glove and found it quite original, idiosyncratic, intelligent and humorous.”
DANGEROUS MINDS
“The show is a non-stop comedy clobbering of the senses, with a very small, very talented cast, great original music, cool effects, etc. In these days of modern mass paranoia and casual racism, over-sensitivity and dumbing down of all things, even I had a flash of looking behind me (as I saw others do) and wondering if this was cool to like, who was getting offended, who was laughing, and right then at that moment I realized I have been way more affected by all this modern bullshit than I thought. We need people like Julien Nitzberg to remind and instill in us that it is not only okay, but quite necessary to think, laugh (at ourselves AND at others) and learn.”
MEDIUM.COM
“In lesser hands, this could have all gone terribly wrong, but I’m happy to report that Glove goes terribly right. The show is hilarious!”
STAGE AND CINEMA
“A cleverly constructed, uproarious oddity that feeds our collective desire for catharsis through humor. The show, in all its absurdities, is a theatrical manifestation of our collective psyche in processing the unthinkable.”
STAGE RAW
“Of course, the subject of Michael Jackson couldn’t be more controversial, especially in the wake of HBO’s documentary Leaving Neverland. All I can say (having written The 13th Boy, my own story of being sexually molested) is that Nitzberg has found a very clever way of raising the subject without in any way diminishing its importance. While the show does not have access to the Jackson 5 or the Michael Jackson catalogues — it is highly unauthorized! — composers Nicole Morier, Drew Erickson and Max Townsley have created a memorable original score, which incorporates sweet and seductive hooks to often-twisted effects.”
CULVER CITY NEWS
“The show is comical and unflinching, its music infused with the spirit of MJ’s career.”
LA IST
“Highly unauthorized and far from a jukebox musical”
BOING BOING
“The newly debuted musical is a witty, ridiculous retelling of Michael Jackson’s story.”
AV CLUB
THE DAILY MAIL
THE MOVIES THAT MADE ME
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER