Michael Jackson Tried To Inspire

Waiting outside Adelaide Festival Centre's red stage door having experienced Thriller Live! the night prior, some recognisable faces/potential interview subjects file past.

The show's Tour Manager shows up and we enter, then wander through the backstage rabbit warren while pictures of legends who have previously performed on this stage, some autographed and others where the subject of the photo looks ridiculously young (Billy Connelly, is that you?), watch on. It's Sunday morning, but cast members hurriedly sign in because today there are two shows: a matinee as well as evening performance.

Knock, knock. "Come in!" Interview subject number one, J Rome (born Jerome Wayne) is located in his dressing room. Costumes from the show hang along one wall; a long shelf and large mirrors bordered by bare bulbs for applying makeup/hurriedly checking one's appearance crowd the opposite wall. It's a very narrow space. "I actually didn’t get much sleep last night, but I was thinking about today’s shows," Rome shares as we locate another chair. The male lead vocalists don't alternate. "We do all of [the shows] unless – we have a cover, who’s Tyrone Lee, he actually covers myself, Wayne [Robinson] and Alex Buchanan.

"I started off being a cover," Rome reveals. "It was pretty rough... because you just have so much to learn. It's not just movement and placement [to remember for Thriller Live!], but it’s also vocally – ‘cause we do a lot of our own harmonies as well." During the opening song of Act Two, this scribe could've sworn some of Michael Jackson's original vocals were also utilised. "No, no," Rome counters. Some of the male lead vocalists sound a lot like The King Of Pop then. Rome admits he's been told his vocal sounds a lot like MJ, "and we also have Alex Buchanan as well, who sounds a lot like Mike. I told him the other day he sounds like Michael to me, you know, in They Don’t Care About Us, in his verse – amazing, amazing vocal ability there." (Last night a neighbouring audience member obviously agreed with Rome. Clearly on team Buchanan, the punter let out an approving moan every time Buchanan was featured.)

They Don’t Care About Us is one part of a killer trifecta of songs in the show and these have been arranged for maximum emotional impact. Yes, the Kleenex were required. Earth Song followed They Don’t Care About Us, which song preceded it? "Man In The Mirror," Rome clarifies. "Yeah, it's a beautiful section. Absolutely beautiful. I love the way that they set that up. I love the way that they arranged those songs because... [Pauses to wait for a message over the theatre intercom announcing the dancers' warm-up is about to commence on stage] they all have a very specific meaning, it seems, for the times that we’re in today. You know, going through what we’re going through and then the hostage situation that we had." We discuss the "very random" nature of the recent Lindt Chocolate Cafe hostage crisis and Rome enquires, "They said that this is the first time that something like that has happened here, right? Well, you know, me being from the United States – we get terrorist attacks all the time, so it was nothing, really, as far as when things happen back there, but then when it happens over here and you see the actual expressions [on the fleeing hostages' faces] you remember, ‘Wow! Oh my goodness, I remember when something similar happened in America, like, how it was reacted [to].’"

Rome says he was struck by the contrast in atmosphere he felt from the Thriller Live! audience after the Sydney situation. "When we were performing, you could see the faces, like, the whole reaction just changed from when you had a whole lotta people just going, ‘AAAaaaah,' like crazy the night before. Then this [hostage drama] happens and the next night it’s like people wanted to get away and not think about what was going on but, at the same time, how could you not?-type of thing." So tears were witnessed in the crowd, more so than usual, that night? "Absolutely. Absolutely." Had Thriller Live! concluded after the three aforementioned songs, Rome offers, "I feel like it probably would’ve been maybe a little too much to take... I think it was very well placed."

Thriller Live!'s Australian cast is very international and the majority have performed in the show in other countries. Rome explains, "Everyone except for Wayne has been a part of a cast at one point in time. A couple of them just came from The West End, some of them just did [Thriller Live!] tours.

"It started off in the UK. I did the UK back in 2009 and 2010 then when we went to Abu Dhabi, Singapore – I did that as well. And then they called me to do this one and I couldn’t turn it down ‘cause I was like, when will I ever go to Australia? This is amazing."

There's another announcement over the theatre's PA and it seems like it might be a good time to give Rome an out. "Um, the only thing I’ll need to do is I’ll just go to vocal warm-up', he advises.

Rome notices this scribe's gaze wandering towards the costumes, some of which could easily be worn out to the right event. "Some of the jackets are phenomenal', he agrees "I love the costumes to be honest, most of them." In terms of their wearability off stage, he opines, "I think they did that on purpose, to make it look relevant but also really nice on stage as well." Only a couple of Rome's costumes are hanging down here in his dressing room, because "all of [his] quick changes are on stage". "I’m one of the only ones [with quick changes], everybody else has time to go back to their dressing room and do that stuff," he shares.

Sitting in the audience, it's impossible to imagine the mayhem happening behind the sight lines for any given show. "Oh, it’s crazy backstage," Rome confirms. "Sometimes right before we go on there’s a zipper that’s busted, there’s a button that won’t button, there’s a rip in some trousers so you have to hurry up and put on some more. Somebody lost their shoe so all of the guys have to change into different shoes, yeah! That happened last night, actually." In the event of a shoe crisis, Rome says, "We'll yell backstage, ‘Put your black ones on, put your black ones on!’ and everybody has to hurry up and change those." It comes down to a couple of handlers "to make sure that the show backstage goes well so that [the cast], on stage, can make sure that [the show] goes well". "They do such a phenomenal job," Rome commends. "I love the crew all the way from lighting, sound, the staging, dressers – everybody does their job so well. I’m really, really pleased with this crew, with this group of people, they just really do a great job."

Although Rome is enjoying "every minute of being part of Thriller Live!'s Australian cast, it must be difficult to not panic about what happens next. "For me, I’m an anxious person by nature anyway so I always worry what’s gonna come next, like, in the middle of the job that

I’m in," he confirms. "So then I talk to my management and my agent and see what else we can get into, go to auditions and do auditions over the phone, or Skype or something if I have to, if I’m overseas." Before the wonders of modern technology, Rome admits that if you couldn't physically attend an audition "then you weren’t even looked at". He's worked on The West End before, but never Broadway, and Rome reveals he has "a coupla auditions coming up in New York when [he goes] back, possibly for Broadway". "I used to dream about [performing on Broadway] ever since I was a little boy, so we’ll see. I’m hopin’ The Lion King or something [will come up]," he laughs. "That would be amazing." Rome has his eye on playing Simba, which is a role his castmate Robinson performed on The West End. "He's done everything, it is so funny," Rome observes. "He's absolutely amazing. In meeting him, I didn't know everything that he's done, or I didn't know very much about him, but he's done every role that I think I would wanna do, you know: Seaweed from Hairspray, he's done The Lion King, he's done Rent – he's done so many different musicals. I'm just like, 'Dude!' Like, 'Where do you get the time?' [Laughs] Like, 'How?'"

Once you've landed a plum role in the musical theatre world, it does seem to have a roll-on effect. Although Rome states, "I haven't been privy to that yet," a lot of opportunities came knocking after he took out Season One of Duets, a reality television singing comp in the States. "I get what you're saying," he acknowledges. "I got the chance to sing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You [written by Dolly Parton], 'cause they saw me sing it in the show." Rome sang the song "during Grammy week on the last stage that [Houston] performed on." So how does Rome keep his nerves in check before a "HUGE moment!" such as that? "I think I've been given the gift, it's a gift and a curse, of not really living in the moment, because I just really wanna make sure that it's still the best that I can do, and I really don't wanna mess up... My grandmother told me a long time ago, the reason why we get nervous is because it's God's way of humbling us and so I look at that, I'm like, 'Ok, I'm humbled, I'm humbled, I'm humbled,' and then I'm so nervous I'm shaking, you know? All that stuff. But then five notes into singing the song, I've relaxed and I just enjoy the song, you know: I interpret the song for what it means to me and then by the end of it I'm like, 'What just happened?'" he laughs. "So it's one of those things where I wish I could live in the moment to understand how big of a moment it is but, at the same time, I'm glad that I don't because I get a chance to give the best of me without being extremely nervous."

It’s officially vocal warm-up time for Rome and so we wrap up our chat. Awaiting interview subject number two, Samantha Johnson (one of the show’s female vocalists, now also warming up her enviable pipes) it’s time to linger on some sidestage steps, text the TM and await further instruction. It’s actually rather pleasant listening to such gifted singers limbering their vocal cords in the distance and once the beautiful noise ceases this interviewer is collected and led through the backstage maze once more, this time toward Johnson’s dressing room. The 25-year-old New England bombshell has a radiant, welcoming smile and luscious ‘fro and is sharing her Thriller Live! role with our own Prinnie Stevens. “I'm doing one show and then Prinnie is doing the second show,” she clarifies. “Yeah, it's pretty cool. We get a sweet deal... But this is actually a new format to the show. We actually have five singers this time around. I've been in the show for four years, usually it's just the four vocalists – a female and three men – so this is a different variation.” Johnson has left and returned to Thriller Live! several times over the years and her various stints in the show reflect its worldwide appeal: “I've done a UK tour, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Japan, now this, and I've been in The West End.”

This international experience performing with the show allows Johnson to compare and contrast audiences. Japanese audiences are “incredibly emotional”, she says before rating us. “Australia's been pretty rowdy; they're ready to party, so that's a good vibe. Sometimes in the UK, or in The West End especially, people will see Les Mis the night before and be like, ‘[puts on toffy English voice] Oh, tonight let’s see Les Mis and then tomorrow we’ll see Thriller.’ And then they show up and they’re just like, you know, I don’t think people get it – what the show’s about – until halfway through and then they’re like, ‘Oh, ok.’”

Johnson stresses "absolutely!" regularly, as did her castmate J Rome so the pair probably hang out. “What I love about this show is each of us are our own artists as well and each of us are influenced by Michael,” she explains. “Like, I do my music, Alex does his own music, J Rome does his own music and all three of us have our own natural influence; so it's not forced, we're not trying to emulate Michael, we're just the next generation. Just like it was James Brown before him and we're the next generation.”

When Johnson learns this scribe could've sworn some of Michael Jackson's original vocals were utilised at the top of Act Two, she’s chuffed. “That's amazing! That's a compliment. Thank you. Right after the interval we go into Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'... His voice doesn't appear in the show one time, not even in the background vocal. Each person definitely has some uncanny moments, like, Alex Buchanan has an uncanny moment in Can You Feel It and in Earth Song where he really captures the essence, you know.”

On whether she particularly looks forward to performing any specific sections of the show, Johnson unsurprisingly singles out Earth Song. “That's a new edition to the show, so it's something brand new; we just put it on this tour,” she reveals. “It's incredibly emotional, there's a lotta stuff going on back home in America so I tend to kinda think about that.” We discuss Jackson’s commitment to promoting change in the later stages of his musical career and Johnson opines, “That's why I love Michael because he's fun, he's aggressive at times, but once he reached a certain level he realised that there was more that he should do – and that's like the We Are The World times – and ever since then, every album he's put out he's had some kind of earth-changing song, or Earth Song, which wasn't even really a big hit in America, honestly. So it's really nice to connect with it over here and see that it's appreciated, you know? You can tell.”

Johnson’s joyous portrayals of Jackson’s catalogue stood out during the previous evening’s show and it’s obvious his music is a huge part of her existence. “I'm a fan,” she confirms. “I knew Michael Jackson's music before, like, anything else, really, except for classical music. It was happening; there was really no way to escape it at that point. I mean, when I was young was when the Dangerous album was out, so, Black Or White, Remember The Time, like, that's just what was goin' on.”

Some of Johnson’s Thriller Live! costumes are absolute showstoppers and they hang like the precious items they are on a clothes rack inside this room. “This is my favourite right here,” she points out, “what I wear at the top of Act Two: this vintage, Michael Jackson-esque – almost like what he would wear to the Grammys or something like that. Now if there's anything that I'll take when I'm DONE, done, it'll be that. It's gorgeous.” MJ-inspired fashion is something we both admire and Johnson advises, “Just dress like Michael Jackson wherever you go and you'll be the coolest person there.”

Speaking with both Johnson and J Rome, it’s apparent that both artists continue to be inspired by Jackson and feel privileged to be given this opportunity to keep his memory alive. Johnson laments, “I don't think people are sensitive enough to what Michael went through, because I was watching an interesting video it was, like, a late-night show and the guy introduced Michael and he said, 'And now here to sing his single Ben – it's probably past his bedtime – Michael Jackson!' And that's so creepy now knowing how the story has ended, unfortunately. He's a child and he's on stage performing for a bunch of adults. Why? That's, like, why? You know? Why wasn't he in bed? It stinks, like, if Beyoncé doesn't go on, hundreds of people don't get paid. If a young child doesn't go on, hundreds of people don't get paid. Think of how much pressure that is for a little boy. It's pressure for a grown woman or a grown man.”

Reflecting on his idol’s life, Rome considers, “I think Michael tried to inspire, that was one of his biggest goals – he just wanted to inspire people – and he did that in everything that he did. So I’m grateful to be a part of this show, I’m grateful to be a part of this cast. It’s one of the most talented casts since I’ve been a part of Thriller.”

QLD

WHEN & WHERE: until 25 Jan, QPAC

VIC

WHEN & WHERE: 28 Jan – 8 Feb, State Theatre

NSW

WHEN & WHERE: 26 Feb – 15 Mar, Lyric Theatre