Bowie State Student Receives Tony Away Nomination for Performance in 'MJ: The Musical'

A Bowie State student has received a Tony nomination for his performance in “MJ: The Musical,” CBS New York reports.

Myles Frost is a student at Bowie State University, the oldest HBCU in Maryland. Recently, the 22-year-old made his Broadway debut, starring as Michael Jackson in the new production, “MJ: The Musical.” The show has received rave reviews, many praising Frost for his uncanny resemblance to Jackson on stage. Now, the Maryland native has received a Tony nominee for his work, the first of many to come if this show is any indicator.

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Murry/Broadway.com

Feeling Blessed

Frost says he’s extremely grateful to have earned such an honor during his first run on Broadway. He credits the entire theater community for really showing him the ropes and helping him to navigate such a delicate role.

“It’s so humbling. I’m so humbled. And I’m blessed to have this opportunity and just thanking the Broadway community for being so supportive of me and taking me under their wing. This is my Broadway debut and I’m new to Broadway so it's a lot that I have to learn. I’m just so blessed,” Frost told reporters.

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Murry/Broadway.com

Getting into character

An artist himself, Frost plays the piano, drums, saxophone, and trumpet. While it was a lot of pressure taking on such an iconic role, Frost says he feels like he used his own musical prowess and lessons he learned about Jackson’s own artistry that helped make his performance as authentic as possible. 

“I have an old soul. I’ve always gravitated towards the roots of where I feel like music comes from…these are the people that my mom made sure that I grew up listening to. Just like the world did, I gravitated towards Michael’s music and I’m an artist myself and I wanted to learn how Michael learned…picking things from [past artists] to build who he is and learning how to add his own twist onto things and that’s how I wanted to build who Myles Frost is…That was the motivation,” said Frost.

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Murry/Broadway.com

The budding actor worked alongside Jackson’s choreographers and the estate to really capture as much of the pop icon’s essence as possible, translating his story on the stage in a way that’s astounding to viewers. Frost said he had to dig deep to play such a larger-than-life figure, really focusing on being as sharp as possible and finding connections to his own life in Jackson’s story. 

“My life was in ways a microcosm of his life and I pulled from those things, whether it's the relationship with his father, or I pulled from the relationship with his brothers and his family and his mother, I pulled from those things that I could connect with that ring true to me,” he explained.

So far, the feedback that he’s had at shows has been overwhelming, many of the crowds chanting “We love you Michael,” in response to Frost’s performance. Bowie State officials even took to social media to congratulate Frost on such an amazing accomplishment.

#HBCU Pride! @BowieState student @MylesFrost5 has been nominated for a Tony Award as lead actor in @MJtheMusical! @PresBreaux @HBCUBuzz @BowieAdmissions @soulcinematic @bsucab @vcdma pic.twitter.com/GI22R6iGDp

— BSU VP of Advancement (@BrentSwinton) May 9, 2022

Those moments are what he says makes everything worth it, the Tony nominee is just the icing on the cake. Frost hopes to continue moving people through his art and looks forward to whatever is next for him in his career now that he’s firmly planted on the right track. 

“It’s unreal. It's [an] acknowledgment for me that I'm going in the right direction,” said Frost. 

The Tony Awards will air Sunday, June 12 at 8 p.m. on CBS. The show will also stream live on Paramount+.

Congratulations, Myles!

This article was originally posted on BOTWC