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17 October 2022, 10:35
'We've Arrived' - Watch the first promo for MJ the Musical
The hit Broadway musical MJ is making its way to London's West End.
Michael Jackson fans in London are in for a treat, as the multiple Tony Award-winning MJ The Musical is finally coming to the UK.
The production opened on Broadway in February 2022, and it's now been confirmed that it will be coming to The Prince Edward Theatre in March 2024.
Full booking details will be announced in the coming months, but it's already been announced that tickets will go on sale in spring 2023. You can sign up now for priority news and ticket information.
Rather than just a celebration of his life and music, MJ The Musical is centred around the making of Jackson's massive 1992 Dangerous World Tour and promises an insight into his "creative mind and collaborative spirit".
The production has a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage and is directed and choreographed by Royal Ballet Associate Artist Christopher Wheeldon OBE.
Lynn Nottage said: "As a Black musician and a pioneering voice in the music industry, Michael Jackson demanded inclusion, broke incredible barriers and in the process made indelible music that continues to resonate, delight and move listeners today.
"I am drawn to his complicated, singular and uncompromising creative process, and to understand where, why and how he made his music."
Christopher Wheeldon OBE added: "I am thrilled that MJ will come to London, having been embraced by New York audiences since it opened.
Michael Jackson - 'Man in the Mirror'
"Michael Jackson had a profound influence on popular culture, as well as all of us as performing artists, and this musical is an exploration of that artistic mind and a creative process which is unmistakably Michael Jackson.
"It has offered us the opportunity to put one of the greatest catalogues of pop music ever written up onstage in a show that combines the thrill and energy of a Michael Jackson concert with a glimpse into a pivotal moment of his pioneering career.
"After many years working with the Royal Ballet and bringing the Tony Award-winning American In Paris to the West End, I now very much look forward to bringing MJ to UK audiences."
Casting for the London production of MJ is to be confirmed. On Broadway, the part of Michael Jackson was played by Myles Frost.
Frost won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, while Wheeldon and Rich + Tone Talauega won the gong for Best Choreography.
MJ The Musical also picked up Tonys for Best Sound Design and Best Lighting Design.
This will be the second major Michael Jackson musical for West End theatregoers, after the successful decade-plus run of Thriller – Live.