How 'MJ the Musical' playwright Lynn Nottage brings Michael Jackson's story to life on Chicago stage

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "MJ the Musical" is a colossal hit of the season.

It is right around the corner at the Nederlander Theatre, and you have just a week and a half left to see it there!

SEE ALSO | 'MJ The Musical' director Christopher Wheeldon on how they're paying tribute to Michael Jackson

Lynn Nottage is the playwright, and told ABC7's Hosea Sanders about bringing Michael Jackson's story alive on the Chicago stage.

Nottage is a double Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. She has often collaborated with Chicago theaters, and "MJ the Musical" is a departure in her body of work.

"I'm someone who loves challenges, and I always believe there's really no success unless you take risks, and the risk was making a musical about the greatest musical artist of the 20th Century; how do you do that?" Nottage said.

Nottage discussed her connection with Jackson's music.

"The soundtrack of my life is Michael Jackson's music, from the very first album I bought which was 'ABC,' to 'Off The Wall,' which is the album that defined my high school years, to 'Thriller,' the album that defined my college years," she said.

She also explained her approach to telling his story.

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"In some ways, because he has been such a complicated, fraught artist, I really wanted to understand: Who was the man who made the music? I was really interested in how an artist creates. I really invest in taking the character through a journey moment by moment, and discovering who they are, through the writing," Nottage said. "How did he, through very complicated, difficult circumstances, continue to create music that touched not just people here, but people throughout the world?"

You can see "MJ" at the Nederlander Theatre through Sept. 2.