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WOS TV: Jackson Inspires at Thriller Auditions

Editorial Staff
London's West End

In the wake of Michael Jackson’s recent untimely death, producers of Jackson tribute show Thriller – Live announced a new world tour in response to “unprecedented demand” from the late singer’s fans(See News, 9 Jun 2009). That’s in addition to the show’s ongoing West End run at Shaftesbury Avenue’s Lyric Theatre, where it’s currently booking through to 3 January 2010, another UK tour and plans for an extensive American tour within the next 12 months.

“Since the tragic news from Los Angeles broke, we have been amazed by the reaction of the fans around the globe, and enquiries for Thriller – Live to appear worldwide have been overwhelming,” producer Paul Walden said . “Against this background, it seems clear that what Michael’s fans want right now is to celebrate his life by continuing to listen to his music and to have a way to celebrate his legacy. We can think of no greater tribute to the memory of this global superstar than to continue to celebrate his life and his music as we have done for the past three years in Thriller – Live.”

To cast the new world tour, open auditions were held in a bid to find new, undiscovered talent to perform the concert celebration, which 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 Thriller, Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory.

For Whatsonstage.com, our TV editor Ian Miller dropped in on the auditions for the world tour, held at a studio in east London, to see aspirants being put through their paces and to hear more from cast and creatives about how Thriller is keeping the spirit of Jackson alive.

You can access lots more footage via the Whatsonstage.com Television channel.