Mark Rowbotham - child in tow - enjoys a night of disco classics made famous by Michael Jackson

Armed with a Jacko-mad five-year-old, my wife and I headed to the opening night of Thriller Live at Oxford’s New Theatre. It's an unusual choice of music for someone so young, you might ask. And with the 7.30pm start time making the show already past his bedtime, we weren't really sure how the evening would turn out.

We certainly attracted some attention with the youngest person in the audience, and there were non-stop questions while waiting for the show to start: which song will he sing dad? Will there be zombies...?

The show didn't disappoint, though, with a peregrination of all the favourites, from the early Motown days, right through to the monster hits of the later years.

The talented cast included Cleopatra Higgings, best known as the lead singer of the 90s Rn'B group Cleopatra. Whose debut album Comin Atcha, included a cover of the Jackson Five's I Want You Back.

She has certainly still got a great voice, but I'm not sure it worked having a female vocalist performing Jackson's songs.

The dance troupe was scintillating, with high energy moves, twists and flips and a spectrum of colours and designs with eye catching quick costume changes. Some of the singing was a little wobbly though. The dancer perhaps should stick to using his feet.

After emulsifying the early years of disco and ballads, and making it through the interval, we meandered back to our seats for the second act, where the modern era and big hitters kicked in.

Featuring most of the classics, and biggest selling songs, including Smooth Criminal, Beat It, Bad and of course Thriller, as well as his biggest selling song, Billie Jean.

The theatre was now rocking, with the show really coming alive. Far from wanting to sleep, our young fan wanted to get on the stage and join in, but had to make do with busting moves in the gangway.

After the grand finale, the show was over. It was a great night of music made famous by a truly iconic legend - a man who will always be known as The King of Pop.

4/5