Thriller Musical in London

In January next year, the live musical Thriller Live is set to go on stage in London at the famous West End theater. The venue for these shows, whose title is taken from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video (released in 1982), will be the Lyric Hall. The production is a tribute to the art, talent, creativity, and unmatched musical career of the King of Pop. It took a long time to select three 13-year-old boys to play Michael Jackson in this musical from among 600 mixed-race or Black teenagers aged 11 to 15 who were eager to take part in the show. On the morning of November 3, the teenagers lined up in the snow showers of London to do stage performance auditions. The first test is singing songs like Ben, I’ll Be There, or I Want You Back. Twenty-two are selected. Then it’s time for the dance performance with the song I Want You Back. Ten are eliminated. The remaining 12 must prepare themselves for the final audition, performing another Michael Jackson song. The manager says that the decision is very difficult because the standard used to choose the performers is very high, and they need more time to decide. In the end, three teenagers are selected to perform the role of teenage Michael Jackson on stage in the Thriller musical. Leighton Williams from Bristol, Kieran Allen from Leicester, and Sterling Williams from London are the three selected teenagers, and all are 13 years old.

Leighton Williams, who is the first Black teenager to play Billy Elliot in a West End theater production, says about Michael Jackson: “I’m a huge fan. I think he (Michael) does an amazing job at everything he does. He’s really incredible. It’s really hard to try to perform his moves and his role. That’s why I’m trying to draw on my own creativity. I’m determined to deliver my best performance. Performing on stage is something I want to do for the rest of my life.” Sterling, who previously played Simba in The Lion King in the West End, says the same: “I love singing his (Michael’s) songs. This role is my ideal.” Kieran Allen, who is less experienced than the other two but beat 60 other hopeful boys in the battle to win the role of Michael Jackson in this show, says: “I’ve always looked up to Michael Jackson. He’s always been my mentor, and I’ve always tried to follow his path and get into the profession of singing. I’m so proud to perform in a show that will be staged in his honor and tribute.” The Thriller musical has toured London three times and has also had performances in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, but this is the first time it’s coming to the strict, high-profile, professional stage of the West End. A preview will be presented on January 2, 2009, on the stage of the Lyric Theatre, and from then on the serious run of the show begins on January 21 and continues until April 12. The show’s schedule is five performances each week on Sundays in two time slots, at 3:00 and 7:00 PM — at 8:00 PM on Saturday night and Tuesday night — and one performance at 4:00 PM on Saturdays. The producer of the show said: “Thriller is a fun, high-energy musical, with incredible choreography and exciting, thrilling songs that everyone has heard and loves. It’s suitable for everyone aged 8 to 80.” A representative from Sony BMG also said: “This show is a celebration of one of the biggest music catalogs in history. We’re excited to do this, and it will definitely give us many opportunities for marketing and for developing the catalogs.” Source: eMJey / BBC