QUICK TAKES - July 9, 2009

Amid the Michael Jackson mania that has sent fans into mourning and the superstar’s music to the top of the charts worldwide, producers of the U.K. stage musical “Thriller Live” announced that they are taking the show on the road later this month.

The musical -- essentially a two-hour tribute concert that employs Jackson impersonators to showcase many of the singer’s best-known songs -- will begin traveling across Europe on July 21 and will be performed in several American cities at some point in the next 12 months, an announcement said.

So far, “Thriller Live” dates have been set for such cities as Munich, Germany; Barcelona, Spain; Paris; Amsterdam; Prague, Czech Republic; and Copenhagen.

The show, which has toured the U.K. since 2006, was created by Adrian Grant, a Jackson associate who wrote “Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary,” although neither Jackson nor his family was involved in “Thriller Live’s” production.

-- Chris Lee