From 'The Voice' to the glove, Prinnie Stevens is set to star in the popular musical 'Thriller Live'.
A celebration of Michael Jackson’s musical career, 'Thriller Live' is one of London’s longest running stage shows and is world renowned for its high-end production values. With encapsulating light shows, immaculate choreography, dependable outfits and of course the iconic sequin glove, the range of MJ hits include the Jackson 5 era and make it an all-out homage to the King of Pop.
Australia’s own Prinnie Stevens has been announced to star in the show as the man himself when the show arrives for a national tour next year. Though with a career in music spanning as wide and as long as Michael Jacksons’, his inimitable range requires more than just one lead to master. “We have five leads, so there are two females and three males, and we share the role.” Prinnie says. “There’s nobody ‘playing’ Michael Jackson – it’s just a celebration of [his] music and dance.”
Not many people have been able to conduct a flawless imitation of the late Jackson, and the use of five leads seems to be the best way to bring the audience something close enough to the original. “He leads the charts in pop music, rock music and R&B. It’s hard to find any one person that can do all three, and his vocal range is so crazy you need girls and guys. There’ll never be another Michael Jackson. We’re not trying to be him: we’re just trying to celebrate his life.”
With a recording career drenched in pop influences such as Whitney Houston and Beyonce, it should come as no surprise that Prinnie is a huge fan of MJ. She cites him as a major influence on her work, and as the now 30-year-old began her career in musicals at 17, it’s the perfect mix. “I kind of feel like I’m going back to my first love … I did a long run of musicals and then kind of went ‘I really wanna do pop music’ and moved to America.”While in America, Sony quickly signed Prinnie and she asked to front an all-girl group before returning to Australia and gaining recognition on The Voice. The exposure earned her a record deal with Universal Music. “I did my whole pop thing and now I’m being asked to go back to do musical theatre, but doing Michael Jackson is like the best of both worlds.”
Although well known at home, in the States and in the UK, Prinnie underwent an unconventional audition to gain the role. With the show being based in London the long distance meant she was required to submit a video of what was essentially her best Michael Jackson impression. “Auditioning for something long distance is kind of weird. They sent me the songs and then I just had to do it on my laptop. Doing auditions normally you go into a room and you can kind of see the other girls sitting around so you kind of know who you’re up against, you know what they’re after … you can see on their face how they feel about it. Whereas doing a video you watch it, you hate it, you love it, you think ‘why did I make that face? What did I do?’ and you just overanalyse it and then you press send and you’re like: ‘Should I have sent it?’”
Despite her misgivings, the audition landed her the part and she is set to fly to London for rehearsals later this month. Though the rest of the crew are practicing together the distance has meant Prinnie has been learning the songs and moves at home through her love of Michael’s music and her aforementioned laptop.
With eight live shows a week, the part promises grueling devotion to the schedule, not to mention the physical demand each performance will entail. “I’ve done musical theatre; it ain’t no joke. Like it’s full on,” she says with a laugh. Running at two hours a show, the producers have tried to squeeze in as many seminal hits as they can. But the trouble with Jackson’s musical achievements is, as Prinnie says, “Which song do you leave out?” To combat this, there were some compromises. “There’s not many songs in their entirety, because we thought it was more important to get all the songs in … [but] one of the other great things about the show is the dancing … as soon as that dance starts you know it’s 'Thriller', they come out in the hats – you know it’s 'Smooth Criminal' … the dancing is awesome, the singing’s awesome, the band is awesome. It’s just like a big party.”
As well as being focused on the tour, Prinnie intends to capitalise on her time in London by getting into the studio to record some new material. Having been back and forth between London and Australia frequently over the past few years she has forged valuable relationships with some of the city’s most prolific producers. “A lot of my influence is actually from London and England. I love it and I’m looking forward to getting back into the studio with all the guys when I’m there … that’s where pop music is at. I guess that’s kind of the mecca for pop music, I’ll definitely be in the studio on my days off.”
– written by Luke Ward
Thriller Tour Dates
10th-21st Dec – Crown Theatre (Perth)30th Dec – 11th Jan – Festival Theatre (Adelaide)
14th-25th Jan – QPAC (Brisbane)
28th Jan – 8th Feb – Melbourne Arts Centre State Theatre
26th Feb – 15th March – Lyric Theatre (Sydney)
