Starring in 'MJ' musical latest dream come true for Roman Banks

It isn’t hard to argue that Roman Banks was destined to play the role of Michael Jackson.

He launched the first national tour of “MJ the Musical” in August. The tour’s third stop is the Peace Center, Sept. 19 – 24.

Banks certainly has the credentials to carry the iconic role, but he has actually been training for it – sort of – his whole life. The kid who moonwalked around the house in his socks? That was definitely Banks.

“There's literally a video of me in the kitchen,” he says.

But fast forward a few years and the path really started to take shape. Banks says he was in college and dreamed of one day taking on the lead role in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway.

“I remember being obsessed with the show and thinking, OK, well, by the time I graduate, it will have been on Broadway for years, and somebody Black will probably have already portrayed him at that point,” he says.

When Banks saw an open casting call for the show, he gave it a shot, getting a ride to New York with someone else who was auditioning.

“We stood in line with like 500 other people,” he says. “I auditioned with a 30-second song. After six months of auditioning and waiting and thinking I didn't get it, I finally got to be a part of that amazing show and make history in the role as the first BIPOC actor to play Evan Hansen. I still get chills when I think about it, because I can't believe that actually worked out the exact way I could have dreamed, like something straight out of a book.”

Embodying Michael Jackson and his instantly recognizable presence on stage has involved much more than spinning around the kitchen, but Banks is invested in making it happen.

“It's the most famous move set, I think, of any man or woman who's ever lived,” Banks says. “To use the same dance vocabulary for 20 years, 30 years and for people not to look at you like, ‘there he is, doing that thing again.’ It's really magical every single time – the moonwalk never stopped being the moonwalk. For the hard work to go into your movement for the thing that you've already been doing 15, 20 years to stay magical and to stay electrifying, is such a testament to his work ethic. That inspires me anytime I put on the costume, and I put on the shoes to rise to that occasion and hopefully meet it and try my best to go beyond it. Because that's what he would have done.”

As he was preparing, Banks was able to glimpse that kid who imitated Jackson’s dance moves growing up in the Atlanta area.

“Honestly, I spent a lot of this creative process thinking about my mom,” Banks says. “Because my mom saw the Jackson Five, she introduced me to the Jackson Five. She grew up watching me do all of this, and now she's going to see me embody a man whose music she loves so much. And I just wonder what that must feel like to grow up being such a huge fan of somebody's artistic legacy, and then to bring someone else into the world who will then interpret that person in front of you in real time. What a journey she's going to have opening night.”

The multi-Tony Award-winning “MJ the Musical” is centered around the making of the 1992 “Dangerous” World Tour. It is presented at the Peace Center Sept. 19 – 24. For tickets, visit peacecenter.org.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Starring in 'MJ' musical latest dream come true for Roman Banks