I often think about how lucky I am to live in a country where we have such great access to shows.
After a stint in Sydney, MJ The Musical has just opened in Melbourne, and wow – this show is spectacular.
Set in 1992, the audience is taken behind the scenes of Michael Jackson’s Dangerous World Tour – and given an insight into his life leading up.
Jam-packed full of some of his most popular songs, since the musical had its first performance in 2022, the show has been nominated for ten Tony awards – and won four.
And this show really has it all.
With incredible set design, lighting, and costumes, audiences can expect to be blown away by more than just the acting, singing, and dancing.
It’s important to note that for a show like this to be as successful as it is, it takes a huge amount of work behind the scenes.
As a musical theatre lover, I was beyond excited to have the opportunity to go on a private behind-the-scenes tour and meet some of the powerhouses that run the show.
Getting the backstage tour
When I arrived at the theatre, I was taken through the ‘Stage Door’ (which made me feel very important).
The actors were arriving for their matinee show around the same time I got there, and I could feel the buzz of excitement around me.
I was taken through a maze of doors and stairs, down hallways lined with rows and rows of costumes hanging, when suddenly I found myself on the stage!
I hadn’t expected to have the privilege of standing there – right in the spot where so many insanely talented stars have been – and for once in my life, I had the opportunity to imagine my life as a musical theatre star (my musical theatre career, which is just roles in my high school productions, was sadly short-lived).
After having my 5 seconds of fame (with no audience to witness it), I was taken back through the winding corridors to meet some of the stars behind the scenes.
The role of the resident director
I met with resident director Effie Nkrumah, who revealed to me that there’s “never a dull moment and no day’s the same”.
“You do a lot of work for, to get people happy for a couple of hours,” she says with a smile.
Effie has the big job of ensuring that the entire show, from on the stage to behind the scenes, runs smoothly.
MJ The Musical ran from February to August in Sydney prior to moving to Melbourne, but Effie says that they’re always tweaking.
She compared the show to “a human being”.
“You grow every day, and those changes are minute. It’s the same with the show – every inch that you move further left stage, left, or upstage or downstage, will eventually change a picture that was once even or diagonal,” she says.
She reveals that theatre is “unlike film or TV”.
“This is a daily playing, so today I might feel a bit more tired or be excited, and that can affect the life of the show. It’s a daily check. A daily tweaking. A daily readjusting,” she says.
“We do the cast change every day. So that doesn’t necessarily mean the cast is changed, it’s more like so we all know if anyone is on leave or unwell, and we know who’s going on. But if it’s full company – which is ideal – we’re good to go,” she says, adding “it’s ensuring that we know we have a team that works well together, that the people are ready to go on for whichever role they need to and then whatever we need to work on in the hour we have before a show”.
Effie highlights that all the departments are key to making the show go well.
“From the largest to the smallest, it will not work!” she says, highlighting the spotlight and wardrobe maintenance teams as one of them.
The importance of costume maintenance
Effie tells me that without the wardrobe maintenance team, “it would not be anything close to what it can be”.
“If the wardrobe team is not in every morning washing, ironing, drying, cleaning, maintaining, and repairing the costumes, there’s no way the show will work. Because we work at night, or day to night, and they work, morning into the evening, we don’t see each other. So it’s hard to feel like we’re part of the same thing. They get to see the costumes on the hanger every day,” she adds with appreciation.
I was also lucky to meet Annie, Head of Wardrobe.
She runs a team of fourteen people, which includes the dressers and maintenance staff.
She presses that there are lots of “running repairs” – which includes make-up stains, zips getting bust, buttons and jewels coming off (and I’m not surprised this happens with the amount of dancing in the show!).
As the show is full of epic dance moves, including a large number of knee slides (the dancers even wear knee pads to protect their knees), she says that it’s very normal to have things rip and tear on stage, even though costumes can be stretchy as they “get so much movement”.
“Particularly in MJ’s black tux pants that he wears for rehearsal one and two – he will do a knee slide and we’ll have to replace the knee patch on the pants,” she reveals.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a pair of pants ripped like that!” she says with a laugh.
Hair and makeup magic
One thing that has always fascinated me about big theatre shows is the hair and makeup.
I met with Kellie Ritchie, Head of Hair and Make Up, who told me everything I needed to know.
I was shocked to find out that 15-20 of the actors wear wigs in the show, including “most of the principle cast – and all the female ensemble”.
“We do have a lot of people with their own hair in the show – including all of the male ensemble,” she reveals.
Kellie reveals to me that all the wigs are bespoke to each actor.
“We have a block that the wigs sit on that’s made to the performer’s head, and the wigs are all tailor-made to each performer. They take a plastic wrap of the performer’s head and custom make the wig to that,” she says.
Each wig requires maintenance, in terms of washing and resetting them.
“They’re so beautifully made,” she says with a smile.
In terms of how fast the wigs can be put on – a question I was desperate to know the answer to – she says they can do wig changes in 30 seconds.
As for the makeup for the show? She reveals the makeup design is “pretty minimal”.
“Most of the males don’t wear any! The female ensemble is like a nineties, basic face,” she says.
In terms of how long it takes, I was surprised that it wasn’t long at all.
“It takes just 20 minutes for the female ensemble,” she says, adding, “for MJ, who takes the longest, the makeup takes about 25 minutes”.
MJ The Musical is on now in Melbourne.
