Michael Jackson released between 150 and 200 songs over the course of his commercial career. In five of those songs, he centers and names specific women: Maria, Billie, Annie, Diana, and Susie.

This five-part work is about the women behind these iconic songs, and a snapshot of living narratives that extend beyond the perspectives traditionally given to them by Michael’s words. Through a distinctly womanist lens, each character is reimagined with her own desires, agency, contradictions, and power.

Maria dreams of life in the big city and refuses to sacrifice her ambitions for romance.

Billie knows her worth — and holds a man accountable for his actions.

Annie is a survivor who refuses to be defined as a perpetual victim, finding strength and empowerment through sisterhood.

Diana is blamed simply for being a woman: cast as the temptress even when she is simply minding her own business.

And Susie, who moonlights as a hired assassin, and uses her skills to take out a room full of malicious male magnates.

Together, these five stories reclaim women who in the original songs, exist largely through someone else’s gaze. Here, they get to tell their own stories.