Roman Banks. Photo by Daniel Boud.

 

Roman Banks to Join Broadway Company of “MJ” for Limited Engagement

The producers of MJ announced on Thursday that Roman Banks, who originated the title role on both the First National Tour and in the Australian production, will join the Broadway company for a limited engagement beginning December 5. Banks will appear as the MJ Alternate on Friday and Saturday evenings through February 15 at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Tickets are available at tickets.broadwaydirect.com and at the Neil Simon Theatre box office.

Banks’s return to New York comes as the musical continues its wide-reaching global run. Since opening in December 2021, MJ has drawn more than two million patrons on Broadway and more than five million worldwide. The Tony Award–winning production has broken the Neil Simon Theatre’s box-office record 11 times and is currently led by Matte Martinez in the title role.

The show’s reach extends well beyond Midtown. The North American tour, starring Jordan Markus, is playing in Boise, Idaho. In London, Jamaal Fields-Green headlines the Olivier Award–winning West End production at the Prince Edward Theatre. Hamburg’s Stage Theater is home to the German production, starring Benét Monteiro, while the Australian company, led by Ilario Grant, is performing at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne. The musical plans to launch Asian and U.K. tours in 2027, marking its next phase of international expansion.

Alongside Martinez, the Broadway cast features Apollo Levine as Rob and Joseph Jackson; Bailey McCall as Rachel; Tavon Olds-Sample as Michael; Christopher Sean Cooper Jr. and Emjay Roa alternating as Little Michael; and Lincoln Alejandro Collier as Little Marlon. Sasha Allen appears as Katherine Jackson, with Matthew Frederick Harris as Quincy Jones and Tito Jackson. Gabriel Ruiz plays Alejandro; Antoine L. Smith takes on Nick and Berry Gordy; and Joey Sorge appears as Dave. The ensemble includes Lloyd A. Boyd III, Nick T. Daly, Zachary Downer, Kellie Drobnik, John Edwards, Aydin Eyikan, Chelsea Mitchell-Bonsu, Sarah Sigman, and Ryan VanDenBoom. Samuel L. Nelson III and Jayden K. White serve as standbys for MJ and Michael. The production’s swings include Blu Allen, Dasia Amos, Kyle DuPree, Tre Frazier, Chantelle Good, Michael Harmon, Skye Jackson-Williams, Joshua Kenneth Allen Johnson, Carole Denise Jones, Tyrone Reese, and Charles P. Way.

MJ features a book by Lynn Nottage, the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, and direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, a Tony Award winner. The creative team includes scenic designer Derek McLane, lighting designer Natasha Katz, costume designer Paul Tazewell, sound designer Gareth Owen, projection designer Peter Nigrini, hair and wig designer Charles LaPointe, and make-up designer Joe Dulude II. The music team is led by David Holcenberg, with orchestrations and arrangements by Holcenberg and Jason Michael Webb. Casting is by The Telsey Office.

Banks’s return adds another chapter to the musical’s widening footprint—one that shows no signs of slowing, on Broadway or beyond.

Tickets are available at tickets.broadwaydirect.com 

and at the Neil Simon box office.