It’s every producers worst nightmare.
Your star falls ill, and so do his understudy and standby.
That’s what has happened this week at hit West End show MJ The Musical, which opened last month at the Prince Edward Theatre in London.
Tony Award-winning star Myles Frost, who played MJ (Michael Jackson) on Broadway and now helms the London production, fell ill earlier this week; as did the Alternative MJ Kieran Alleyne, and Standby MJ Kwamé Kandekore.
To save the day, the Broadway producers of the show quickly flew in Jamaal Fields-Green from America, who made his West End debut last night, 4 April 2024, playing MJ.
Fields-Green is currently MJ Alternate on the US national tour of MJ The Musical and was also part of the Broadway show.
On Instagram, the actor said of the experience that it had come “completely out of left field. My first time out this way across the pond! But it felt so right despite the circumstances not being ideal”, and that “I’m also the first person ever to play MJ in all 3 companies (Bway, Tour, London)”.
Created by Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris) and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat), with music by Michael Jackson, MJ The Musical is the smash-hit Broadway show now playing at the Prince Edward Theatre in London.
Myles Frost stars as MJ in the London production, and originated the role of Michael Jackson in New York winning a Tony Award for his performance.
Centred around one moment in time, as Jackson prepares for his acclaimed 1992 Dangerous World Tour, MJ features over 25 Michael Jackson hits including Beat It, I’ll Be There, Don’t Stop ’till You Get Enough, Earth Song, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Man in the Mirror and Black of White.
We wish Myles, Kieran and Kwamé a speedy recovery. The producers of the show were contacted for comment.
Book tickets to MJ The Musical at the Prince Edward Theatre in London
UPDATES: Myles Frost returned to MJ The Musical on Saturday 6 April 2024, with Jamaal Fields-Green flying home to the US to rejoin the Northern American tour on the same day. This article was updated on 6 April to add a quote from Fields-Green.
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