Michael R. Jackson is reshaping the world of musical theater

Michael R. Jackson (Joey Stocks photo)

By Shania DeGroot

“I remember taking her class as a creative writing student, and one day asking her, you know, in between classes, if wanting to pursue writing as a profession was too lofty of a goal for me to have, and she said, no, she very much encouraged me to write professionally. It wasn’t just like a stupid dream, or something that was out of my grasp. And I just always remember that because what she said, morphes me still in my life,” said Michael R. Jackson as he reflected on the moment when his instructor Deborah Thompson, whom he remembers as one of the first adults in his life to speak to him like an adult rather than a teenager, acknowledged his dreams.