Photos: Inside Opening Night of MJ: THE MUSICAL

The four-time Tony® Award-winning musical MJ has officially opened in Sydney with a star-studded premiere performance attended by celebrities from around Australia and the globe, including very special guest, Michael Jackson’s son Prince Jackson. It is the fifth production of the blockbuster show to have opened since it premiered on Broadway in February 2022. Productions in London, Germany and a US tour followed.

Brought to Australia by leading producer Michael Cassel, alongside original Broadway producers Lia Vollack, John Branca, and John McClain, MJ is now playing at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. 

MJ takes the audience back to 1992 and inside the creation of the iconic Dangerous World Tour. The production goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Michael Jackson into legendary status. From the mind of two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Lynn Nottage, MJ imagines that an MTV journalist and her camera operator are invited into the rehearsal room of Michael Jackson’s spectacular concert experience and through their lens, reveals moments from the complex history of his life including the challenges he faces to match the Dangerous World tour to his creative genius. 

Seen by more than a million people on Broadway, MJ was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, winning four including Best Choreography for the show’s creator, Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet Christopher Wheeldon OBE, and Best Actor in a Musical for the show’s original Broadway star, Myles Frost. 

Featuring more than 25 of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits from across his career including Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Man in The Mirror and Thriller, MJ has captured the hearts and imaginations of Broadway audiences where it consistently plays to packed houses. In Australia, fans have gone wild for MJ describing it as “the most incredible thing I’ve seen in my life” and “mind-blowing”. 

Critically acclaimed performer Roman Banks leads the Australian company following his spectacular debut in the role in Chicago in 2023. He went on to play the role more than 200 times across the United States. 

Banks made his historic Broadway debut in the award-winning production Dear Evan Hansen, marking the first time an African American performer had portrayed the title role. After leaving Dear Evan Hansen, Banks was cast as Howie in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, before returning to the stage to lead the US National Tour of MJ, a portrayal that earned him both audience and critical acclaim, with the Chicago Sun-Times calling him “a force of nature” and the Houston Chronicle saying “what Banks does on stage as MJ is nothing short of miraculous.” 

Banks is joined by newcomer Liam Damons who will make his professional debut playing Michael as a young adult, Josslynn Hlenti Afoa as Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine, Conlon Bonner playing the dual roles of Tito Jackson and Quincy Jones, Derrick Davis playing Michael’s father, Joseph, and his tour director, Rob, Yashith Fernando as Alejandro, Wonza Johnson as Berry Gordy and Nick, Tim Wright as Dave, and Home and Away star Penny McNamee making her highly anticipated return to the stage as MTV journalist, Rachel.

The rest of the cast is completed by Ceeko, Ilario Grant, Albanus Terry Strickland II, Kayleb Alese, Beth Appiah Cain, Blaiyze Barksdale, Charlie Batchelor, Shewit Belay, Martha Berhane, William Bonner, Eric Allen Boyd, Charlie Bryant, Liam Costello, Cayden Dosoruth, Xavier Gibson, Kyle Kavully, G Madison IV, Daniel Makunike, Loredo Malcolm, David L. Murray Jr, Sebaga Neumann, Coby Njoroge, Warren Nolan Jr, Fletcher O'Leary, Brittany Page, Zavier Pillay, Dustin Praylow, Kael Smith, Tigist Strode and Iris Wei.

Casting for the Australian production has been a meticulous process, led by director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon OBE who recently earned great acclaim for his creation of Oscar for the Australian Ballet, the first full length narrative ballet commissioned by the company in two decades. 

With a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat) MJ is directed and choreographed by Royal Ballet Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon OBE, who won the Tony Award for Best Choreography of a Musical for MJ, and whose previous award-winning directing credits include An American in Paris.
The internationally renowned creative team for MJ also includes Scenic Design by Tony Award and two-time Emmy Award winner Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Lighting Design by six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Once), Costume Design by Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Paul Tazewell (Hamilton), Sound Design by Tony Award and Olivier Award winning Gareth Owen (Come From Away), Projection Design by two-time Tony Award nominee Peter Nigrini (Dear Evan Hansen), Hair & Wig Design by two-time Emmy Award nominee Charles LaPointe (The Color Purple) and Make-up Design by Joe Dulude II. Musical Supervision is by Tony Award nominee David Holcenberg (Matilda), and the Orchestrations and Arrangements are by David Holcenberg and Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb (The Color Purple). Casting Director for the Australian Production is Lauren Wiley with Additional Casting by The Telsey Office (Rachel Hoffman, CSA & Lindsay Levine, CSA).

Check below for photos from the opening night red carpet of MJ: The Musical. Photo Credit: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

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