Theatre News

Blue & Jafargholi Join Thriller 1000th Celebration

Michael Jackson musical Thriller Live will celebrate its 1000th West End performance at the Lyric Theatre on Thursday (26 May 2011) with a one-off performances by Blue and Britain’s Got Talent‘s Shaheen Jafargholi as part of the show.

Boy band Blue, who were the UK’s entry into this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, have sold over 14 million records worldwide. Originally formed in 2001, they split up in 2005, reuniting for the Best of Blue tour in 2009. Their entry for Eurovision 2011 “I Can” came eleventh at the Düsseldorf competition last weekend.

Britain’s Got Talent contestant Shaheen Jafargholi, who appeared in a pre-West End tour of Thriller Live, will also perform in the show. Shaheen sang the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” at the 2009 MOBO Awards, during the ceremony’s tribute to Jackson. After performing on the Britain’s Got Talent tour, he sang a musical tribute of “Who’s Lovin’ You” on stage at the Los Angeles Staples Center, for the globally televised Michael Jackson memorial service in July 2009. He had been invited to perform with Jackson in his This Is It series of concerts at London’s O2 Arena.

Thriller Live opened in the West End on 21 January 2009 (previews from 2 January), initially for four months only, but increased demand after Jackson’s death has led to numerous extensions in the West End – it is currently booking through to 22 January 2012.

The show is also currently on a UK national tour, playing dates in Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, Woking, Milton Keynes, Aberdeen, York, Aylesbury, Stoke, Southampton and Sunderland.

Billed as a concert show, Thriller Live includes Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 chart-toppers such as “I Want You Back”, “I’ll Be There”, “Earth Song”, “Blame It on the Boogie”, “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” and, of course, the title song, “Thriller”, from best-selling albums including Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory.

The show is directed by Gary Lloyd and written by Adrian Grant, with design by Jonathan Park. The cast is led by three 13-year olds who rotate in the role of Young Michael. It is produced by Paul Walden and Derek Nicol for Flying Music in association with Adrian Grant for Key Concerts.


To mark the 1000 West End show milestone, Thriller Live‘s producers have teamed up with the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club to offer new and renewing members a thrilling joining gift – a completely free ticket to see this spectacular concert created to celebrate the career of the world’s greatest entertainer and undisputed King of Pop.

Join the theatre club for just £30 a year – including your Thriller Live gift ticket
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