Mykal Rand is a British actor and creative. His relationship with Starlight Express spans more than 30 years.
In 1987, Rand joined the cast of the original London production as Rocky 2. He has since performed the show in Bochum and on tour across Japan, New Zealand, the UK and Asia – most notably as Electra.
Offstage, Rand has served various Starlight companies as resident director/choreographer and skate coach.
Starlight Express Credits[]
London - 03/1988 - 09/1988 - Rocky 2
London - 09/1988 - 10/1989 - Krupp
London - 10/1989 - 03/1990 - Electra
Japan Tour - 04/1990 - 07/1990 - Electra
London - 09/1990 - 03/1991 - Rocky 1
London - 10/1991 - 04/1992 - Electra
Bochum - 1992 - 1994 - Electra (cover Rusty)
London - 1995 - 1997 - Swing, Skate Coach
UK Tour - 2004 - 2008 - Electra, Resident Director
NZ Tour - 07/2009 - 08/2009 - Electra, Resident Director
UK Tour - 01/2012 - 03/2013 - Electra, Resident Director
Bochum - 05/2013 - 07/2013 - Electra
Asia Tour - 10/2013 - 12/2013 - Electra, Resident Director
Bochum - 05/2014 - 01/2015 - Electra (Left Jan 2015 due to knee injury)
Bochum - 08/2019 - Associate Director/Choreographer (Twitter)
Biographies[]
Biography (2019)[]
Mykal was recently Resident Director/Choreographer at the smash hit musical, Five Guys Named Moe, at a purpose-built theatre on Marble Arch. Just before going into help with the creation for Five Guys Named Moe, he had just finished choreographing a wonderful production of the musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin for Theatre Royal Stratford East. Before this Mykal was working on the new production of Show Boat at The New London Theatre as Charlie. Mykal, has performed in Starlight Express in London, Japan, Germany, UK Tour and New Zealand Tour, where he was also Associate Director and Associate Choreographer. Parts played include Rusty, Poppa and Electra. Mykal can also be heard on the latest soundtrack of Starlight Express Bochum, where he was also asked to perform the role of Electra for the 25th Anniversary celebration period.
Other Director and Choreographer credits include Rent, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Smokey Joes Café, Fame, Supernatural, Purlie, Grease, Passion, Release the Beat, Golden Boy, Cabaret de Monaco and Tamperer featuring Maya.
Performance credits include, Big Moe and Nomax in Five Guys Named Moe, Simba in The Lion King, Gitlow in Purlie, The Boss in Hot Stuff, Ken in Smokey Joes Café, Rhythm Boy, Understudy Mister Magix in My One & Only, Stretch in Oh! What a Night. Mykal has also been involved in the musical Rent since it arrived in the UK, understudying and playing the roles of Tom Collins, Benny and Angel on numerous occasions in the Original West End production at the Shaftesbury Theatre. He also played Collins in Dublin, the UK Tour and at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London, which he also choreographed.
Television appearances include: The Concert, with his band Honeychile for Channel 4, A Day in the Life for WDR Germany, Richard and Judy and The National Lottery. Mykal can also be seen playing an Apostle in the award-winning DVD of Jesus Christ Superstar, produced by The Really Useful Video Company.
Mykal recently studied filmmaking at SAE Institute, in front and behind the camera.
Biography (2014)[]
Mykal Rand, Kristofer Harding, and Amanda Coutts, poster for the 2012 UK Tour
Mykal is thrilled to be have been involved in the 20th Anniversary production of Rent in Concert, playing the role of Collins. Mykal has just finished playing Electra in Starlight Express Asia, where he was also Associate Director and Associate Choreographer. Before that he directed and choreographed a production of the musical GREASE for Festival Ljubljana.
He was Associate Director and Associate Choreographer for the new production of Starlight Express in the UK and recreated the role of Electra. This is familiar territory for Mykal, having performed in Starlight Express in London, Japan, Germany, UK Tour and New Zealand Tour, where he was also Associate Director and Associate Choreographer. Parts played include Rusty, Poppa and Electra. Mykal was also recently asked to perform the role of Electra for the 25th Anniversary celebration in Bochum.
Other Director and Choreographer credits include, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Smokey Joes Café, Fame, Supernatural, Purlie, Grease, Passion, Release The Beat, Rent, Golden Boy, Cabaret de Monaco and Tamperer featuring Maya. Performance credits include, Gitlow in Purlie, The Boss in Hot Stuff, Ken in Smokey Joes Café, Rhythm Boy, Understudy Mister Magix in My One & Only, Stretch in Oh! What a Night, Simba in The Lion King, Understudy the Sergeant of Police in Pirates of Penzance.
Mykal has also been involved with the musical Rent since it arrived in the UK in 1998, understudying and playing the roles of Tom Collins, Benny and Angel on numerous occasions in the Original West End production at the Shaftesbury Theatre. He also played Collins in Dublin, the UK Tour and at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London, which he also choreographed.
Television appearances include: The Concert, with his band Honeychile for Channel 4, A Day in the Life for WDR Germany, Richard and Judy and The National Lottery. Mykal can also be seen playing an Apostle in the award winning DVD of Jesus Christ Superstar, produced by The Really Useful Video Company. Mykal recently studied filmmaking at SAE Institute, in front and behind the camera.
Biography (1996)[]
Musical Theatre: Rocky 1, Rocky 2 and Electra and understudied Rusty in Starlight Express (London); Electra in Starlight Express (Japan); Electra and understudied Rusty in Starlight Express (Bochum, Germany); A Cavalcade of Coward.
Recording: Member of the band Honeychile on CBS Records label; member of band Saidu with Wawa Records label, Germany.
Concerts: Broadway Dusseldorf (Capitol Theatre, Dusseldorf). As member of Honeychile supported such bands as Hall & Oates, Womack & Womack and Misty in Roots on tour; as member of Saidu performed at Love Parade (London, Germany) and Educate the World (Japan).
Television: The Concert (Channel 4).
Biography (1991)[]
Mykal Rand first joined the cast of Starlight Express in 1988 at the age of seventeen playing the part of Rocky II. The following year he was lucky enough to be offered the part of Electra which led to many other opportunities including playing the part of Electra on a five city tour of Japan performing to 10,000 people every night.
On his return, he rejoined the London cast for six months, during which time he was approached by an up-and-coming band signed to CBS records to become their lead singer. Mykal left Starlight Express in March 1991 to concentrate on his career as a recording artist. Now, six months on, having recorded several songs and performed live around the country supporting such artists as Womack and Womack, Hall and Oates, Nomad, Hazel Dean and many others Mykal has found time to rejoin the cast of Starlight Express playing Electra once again. Mykal would like to thank his foster grandmother, his sister and BB for everything.
Biography (1989)[]
Mykal Rand learnt dance and drama at Portslade School of Dance. During his time there, he took part in many of their productions including: The Wizard of Oz, Bugsy Malone and Hair. His talent as a "Song and Dance man" led him to his first summer season for Kenny Cantor productions as part of "The Funnybone Gang".
Starlight Express is Mykal's first West End show.
Gallery[]
London 1985-1989[]
Japan Tour 1990[]
London[]
Bochum 1992-1994[]
London 1995 - 1997[]
UK Tour 2004[]
NZ Tour 2009[]
UK Tour 2012[]
Asia Tour 2013[]
Bochum 2013[]
Videos[]
Interviews[]
Interview - Liverpool Echo, July 2012
UK Tour - BBC Norfolk May 2006
Electra (played by Mykal Rand)[]
The look: ‘I’m Electra, the engine of the future. My body is red, blue and silver. I have an electronic heartbeat on my chest and a Mohican that lights up. My face is very glittery.’
Personality: ‘I’m very mischievous and dangerous when I don’t get my way. I’m a total control freak and I love myself.’
Motto: ‘Electricity is taking charge!’
Best moves: ‘My spins.’