Broadway Newcomer Elijah Rhea Johnson Wants MJ Audiences to Know They’re in Safe Hands

“My favorite is ‘Beat It,’” says Elijah Rhea Johnson. In conversation with Tamsen Fadal for The Broadway Show, the 25-year-old performer picks MJ the Musical’s opening number as his most anticipated sequence every night— despite fears of it being a “boring answer.”

“It's the first thing that I do,” Johnson says about his song selection. “I can tell from the applause I get when I first come out what the crowd's going to be and what I should give…I think by the end of that number, they are like, ‘OK, cool. We're in safe hands. This kid is good.’”

Johnson has been performing professionally since childhood, cutting his teeth in the theater at 10 years old as young Simba in the Las Vegas and touring productions of The Lion King. As a teenager, he developed his vocal chops as lead singer of the Kidz Bop crew, and later, fronted the boy band Mindless Behavior, which toured with the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, and—serendipitously—Janet Jackson.

After helping develop the role of Middle Michael in early workshops of the Michael Jackson biomusical (the show depicts Michael at three different ages), Johnson has returned for an auspicious Broadway debut as the principle Dangerous-era MJ. He began his run this past April, and not only was he tasked with embodying one of the greatest and most singular performers in music history, he had to fill the shoes of Broadway’s original Michael, Myles Frost, who accomplished that feat to Tony-winning effect. Hence, the sense of accomplishment when he wins over the crowd at the top of each show.

“It's a dream,” says Johnson. “When I was little, Michael was the reason why I started performing, and so to be able to play him on Broadway, it's bigger than anything I could have ever imagined growing up.” He credits his father with giving him “an education of all the greats” as a child, but Michael Jackson has always had an outsize influence on his imagination— and his musical repertoire. “I would perform around Detroit at different town shows, doing Jackson 5 songs,” he recalls. “That's how I got my start. It kind of just captivated me. I really was inspired by his movement, his intention— all the [reasons] why we love Michael.”

With three different Michaels taking the Neil Simon stage to perform songs from Jackson’s different eras, MJ itself has become a sort of time capsule reflecting Johnson’s own coming-of-age. “The little Michaels in our show are 10, 11—so it's kind of looking into a mirror in that way. Also seeing my beginnings,” Johnson reflects. “It's so interesting looking back at that time. I didn't know so much about myself in the industry and all that, but I knew I loved performing…And I get to do it every night.”