Saxophonist Mike Philips keeps good company. He’s played the Super Bowl with Prince and Stevie Wonder, has played for Presidents Clinton and Mandela is now one of the featured musicians in The Cirque du Soleil presentation of “Michael Jackson: Immortal World Tour.” Philips has enjoyed a flourishing solo career as well, recording his CD “You Have Reached Mike Phillips” in 2002. Now as a featured performer on the Cirque tour, Phillips has the opportunity to pay tribute to another great every night.
“They extracted Michael's masters and custom made and tailored the songs to specific acts … Cirque is perfect for that," Phillips told Pittsburgh’s Post-Gazette.com. "They have a way of putting together a presentation that will bring you through different moods. Once that happened and I was in rehearsal, I was absolutely amazed. To look at the greatest artist of all time, the King of Pop, and the greatest company that could put on a spectacle like this, I think it's the perfect merger."
The show has been playing in the U.S. since the spring and continues its run in the U.S. through October. The third anniversary of Jackson’s untimely 2009 death was this week and people continue to pack the audiences to see how the singer’s music is interpreted by the world-renowned Cirque troupe. The show includes 35 Jackson songs, 21 people listed as creators (music directors, choreographers, set directors, acrobatic choreographers, lighting designers and more) 60 performers from around the world and includes audio of Jackson’s actual voice, finger snaps and foot stomps.
