The show that never was
Singer’s death cuts short La. native’s role as wardrobe supervisor
For more than a decade, Abby Franklin has catered to the wardrobe needs of rock stars. Prince, Bon Jovi, Creed, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe. She’s been on tour with the best of them.
But the Louisiana native’s biggest gig was yet to come.
And, now, it never will.
Franklin, whose parents Norma and Sonny Franklin live in Clinton, was the wardrobe supervisor for the band and backup singers for Michael Jackson’s London concert series.
“We were a week away from dress rehearsals when he died,” Franklin said in a phone interview from New York earlier this month.
Glimpses of what would have been are in the new film, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” which opens in theaters Wednesday. The movie was culled from film shot during rehearsals, little of which includes the costumes.
Franklin, who was there night after night as Jackson rehearsed, might even be in the film.
“I haven’t seen the final version. In the first cut, I was there. In the second one, I’m not there at all,” she said. “But, even if the scene is put back in, you kind of have to look for me.”
However, she thinks she will be on the “extras” of the DVD coming out in conjunction with the film.
“I tell about my first meeting with Michael. It was during rehearsal and he came into the dressing room,” she said, only willing to add this tease: “It has to do with ants.”
Franklin’s job for the tour, which was going to run for 50 shows at London’s 02 arena starting on July 13, was to dress the band, the backup singers and local performers who would take part in what’s been described as a “theater musical experience,” complete with aerial dancing similar to Cirque du Soleil routines.
Jackson’s longtime costumer Michael Bush and a young designer known only as Zaldy designed the looks for the star and his dancers. More than 300,000 crystals by Swarovski were being used in the show, she said.
“The costumes were amazing,” said Franklin, lamenting that not all of them will be shown in the film. “They were truly beautiful, with all these intricate details. The costumes were really pieces of art Michael was going to wear.”
She said some costumes will be showcased at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere — Franklin was still gluing crystals to one dancer’s costume during this interview — and the DVD will include a tour of Michael’s costumes.
Franklin’s job meant coming up with between 150 and 175 costumes, which include everything from hats to shoes, from rings to bracelets. The concert was to have between 18 and 22 songs, she explained.
“There were costume changes for almost every song,” Franklin said.
But that was only part of it.
Franklin started the job in late April and was there as the show developed.
“We went from a small rehearsal space, to the Forum to the Staples Center,” she said. “You could see it all coming together.”
Franklin said her duties “changed on a daily basis.”
“There really was no schedule yet. One day I left my desk at 3 p.m. for a few minutes and didn’t get back until 6‰ hours later.
Everything was still coming in, so it was something different every day. One day I got a call that there was a delivery for me. It was 2 tons of Swarovski crystals — they were a big partner in the tour. They were to be used for the crystal chandeliers, so I had to call the company making them and tell them their stuff was here.”
Many days were spent “watching rehearsals and noticing the little things, like how the dancers moved. If his hands were on his shirt, did he need straps for snapping his suspenders? You would see what things needed to be adjusted. … Or how they came on and off stage.
How much time before they were back on stage, so where would they change? What would make it easier when you have a 10-second change for four people?”
Franklin said many of those adjustments would have been made during rehearsals in London.
Franklin is one of the rare few who got to see the intended concert.
Watching Jackson every night was “unbelievable,” she said.
“Some nights, you just got chills,” Franklin said, adding this story: “I love the song ‘Human Nature,’ but it was not in the original set. But one night he started singing it and the band started playing it. I was sitting up there watching and the fan in me just took over. I usually try to stay professional, but it just busted out and I was like ‘yeah!’”
Franklin was at the Staples Center the day word came about Jackson’s death.
At first, she said, they were told the star had had a heart attack, but that all would be fine.
“Everyone just sort of went back to work. I was calling a friend for her birthday when I saw the director get a phone call and he just kept saying, ‘Say it again. Say it again. Say it again,’ and one of his producers started bawling.
“I mean it was like 10 minutes from when we heard it was a heart attack to being told that he had passed.”
The Staples Center went on “lock down,” she said. “No one was allowed in and you were checked when you left.”
One of Franklin’s talents perfected over her years of taking care of rock stars was getting their dressing rooms set up at the show venue. She had done the same for Jackson at the rehearsal halls.
“You know, get the TV, the DVD, the music,” said Franklin. “I would get the stuff needed. Make sure he had magazines every day and toys for his kids.”
She did the same at his memorial service.
“It was so busy. We set up the family room for the Jackson family, and had to make sure all of the performers’ stuff was ready to go. I’d rather work than not,” she said. “Michael’s band was up there, and you had all these celebrities. You had the people who produced the Grammys taking care of the (celebrities’) arrivals and seating and making sure they made it to the stage…
“I stayed backstage until the brothers left,” she said.
The film, Franklin said, will “remove any doubts. It’s going to show that he was the best entertainer in the world. Everything just came naturally to him.”
She said she’s a little sad people won’t get to see the intended show.
“So much work was put into it.… It was going to be so good.”
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/65956137.html?showAll=y&c=y
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Four months after his death, the King of Pop lives on.
Literary agent David Vigliano is shopping a book of the private writings and drawings of Michael Jackson, according to industry sources. Interested publishing executives have been visiting the agent's midtown offices to view the material, which comes from the estate of the late pop star.
The writings include “musings on his craft and various songs,” says an executive who made the trip, and is only a sample of the treasure trove available from the estate. “There were promises of a lot more,” says the executive.
Mr. Vigliano has been down this road before. In 2002, he sold the diaries of the late Kurt Cobain for $4 million.
Mr. Jackson's posthumous career includes at least one other book deal. Sources say that the Villard imprint of Random House recently paid $800,000 for Fated, a graphic novel that the pop star was working on before his death. It will be published next June. Mr. Vigliano did not respond to calls seeking comment.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091025/SUB/310259985/0/toc
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Today in
Michael Jackson History
Michael Jackson History
1989 - Janet Jackson's album "Control" was certified five times Platinum by the RIAA.
2001 - Michael Jackson took part in a webchat on his official website.
2009 - Sony Music Entertainment's Columbia/Epic Label Group released the two-disc album "This Is It" internationally. The set featured the music that inspired Sony Pictures' forthcoming film "MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT." This two-disc album was released in Northa America on October 27th.
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