Johnny Depp producing Michael Jackson musical told by his iconic glove

·Contributor

29 November 2019 at 11:14 am

FILE - This Feb. 1, 1993 file photo shows Pop superstar Michael Jackson performing during the halftime show at the Super Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. A stage musical about Michael Jackson will premiere in Chicago later this year before heading to Broadway in 2020. Officials said Wednesday that "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" will begin pre-Broadway performances at Chicago's Nederlander Theatre on Oct. 29 and run through Dec. 1. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, file) — Michael Jackson performing during the halftime show at the Super Bowl (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, file)

Johnny Depp is apparently producing a Michael Jackson musical – told from the perspective of the singer’s famous sparkly glove.

The talking, singing glove will narrate the show, according to The New York Post’s Page Six.

For The Love Of A Glove: An Unauthorised Musical Fable About The Life Of Michael Jackson As Told By His Glove is from screenwriter and playwright Julien Nitzberg.

Michael Jackson's glove from his 1983 performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25 television special where he performed the Moonwalk for the first time, Julien's Auctions handount image on texture, partial graphic — Michael Jackson's glove from his 1983 performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25 television special where he performed the Moonwalk for the first time (Julien's Auctions handout image)

It will feature both actors and puppets of people and animals such as Bubbles the chimpanzee, who Jackson once kept as a pet.

Nitzberg said the idea came to him 17 years ago when a TV network wanted him to make a film about the King of Pop, but that the question of how to deal with the child abuse allegations surrounding the star came up.

He said: “I said, how’s this? Everything MJ has been accused of has actually been caused by his glove, which is actually an alien from outer space [and] feeds on virgin boy blood.

“They laughed and said, can you do the normal version?”

The movie did not get off the ground but Nitzberg said that nearly two decades later he decided to return to the idea and make it as a musical.

Actor Johnny Depp poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Waiting for the Barbarians' at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) — Johnny Depp at the premiere of the film 'Waiting for the Barbarians' at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival (Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil then got involved.

The musical is said to be a “look into the strange forces” that shaped the star and the “scandals that bedevilled his reputation”.

It will debut in Los Angeles in January.

The new show comes in the wake of the controversy sparked by this year’s Leaving Neverland documentary, in which two men claim that the star abused them when they were children.

Jackson’s relatives and estate have disputed the allegations, saying the claims are an attempt to cash in on the late singer.

The singer died in 2009 aged 50 following an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol.