MJ The Musical premiered in London on Wednesday night and was well attended, with guests including Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson, the children of late singer Michael Jackson, who the play is based on. The session took place at the West End’s Prince Edward Theatre, where the Hannibal Entertainment production is now showing. Similar to the US version, the UK play features the same actors: Mitchell Zhangaza, Ashley Zhanghaza, and Myles Frost. The American production has already managed to garner ten Tony Award nominations besides higher popularity among viewers.
Big names from the showbiz world, including television presenter Jeremy Vine, Hans Zimmer, and former Strictly Come Dancing stars Darcey Bussell and Arlene Phillips, were also in attendance. The much-awaited season saw the comeback of the MJ estate and Hanibal Entertainment in collaboration again after successfully mounting the show’s production in the US.
This is one of the first times that the musician’s children, Prince (27), Paris (25), and Blanket (22), have been seen publicly. Paris and Prince were born to the late artist and ex-wife Debbie Rowe, with some controversy surrounding Blanket’s conception, as he is believed to have been born from an unknown surrogate mother outside of the United States.
Meanwhile, Blanket has been making headlines this week in other Jackson-related news after filing a legal injunction seeking to stop his grandmother Katherine from using any funds from his father’s estate in a legal battle. The lawsuit comes as a response to Katherine’s opposition to the recent landmark deal that the Jackson estate made with Sony to sell 50% of Michael’s music catalog for $600m. The deal is expected to mark the highest valuation of any artist’s musical assets of between $1.2bn and $1.5bn combined.
Further news has been released on Jackson’s iconic red and black “Thriller” jacket which is now destined for a private auction, with expected auction valuation at around $500,000. The coat was worn by Jackson in his 1983 hit music video/short film, “Thriller.
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