This Is It Tour Rehearsals Details

I have obtained more information about Michael Jackson's This Is It Tour rehearsals. All the related contents are owned by AEG Live Inc. and will be released soon.

AEG hired documentarians Tim Patterson and Sandrine Orabona in connection with preparations and rehearsals for the tour.

Jackson started the first rehearsals on May 7, 2009 in Center Staging in Burbank and continued it through June 1. Jackson once appeared in Stimulted Inc.'s studio in Burbank on May 29 and in Culver Studios in Culver City from June 1st until June 10th. The preparations were made in the Forum in Inglewood on June 1 through June 21. The staging moved to the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 22.

Jackson's creative team included among others the following members: Michael Bearden (musical director), Alfred Dunbar (bass), Roger Bashiri Johnson (percussion), Jonathan Moffett (drums), Thomas Organ (guitar), Orianthi Panagaris (lead guitar), and Morris Pleasure (keyboard); singers Judith Hill, Dorian Holley, Darryl Phinnesse and Kenneth Stacey; director Kenny Ortega; choreographers Travis Payne, Anthony Testa, and Stacey Walker; Karen Faye Heinze (hair and make up); Michael Bush (costumes). The selected dancers were: Nicholas Bass, Daniel Celebre, Mekia Cox, Christopher Grant, Misha Hamilton, Shannon Holtzapffel, Devin Jamieson, Charles Klapow, Ricardo Reid, Danielle Rueda Watts, Tyne Stecklein, and Timor Steffens.

Jackson once singed and danced in Stimulated Inc.'s studio for 2D and 3D footages for the backgorund Chaos LED screen to be set onstage behind him and for the already discussed Dome Project. The Dome Project would consist seven works: Smooth Criminal (Jackson inserted into classic 2D black-and-white film noir chase sequence); Thriller (3-D movie starting in a haunted house with a ghostly image of Vincent Price, then moving into a graveyard where the dead awaken); Earth Song (3D short film featuring little girl who wanders through rain forest, takes a nap and dreams of the splendor of nature, and awakens to find the natural world has been devastated); They Don't Care About Us (a/k/a Drill, 2D film in which a sea of soldiers march in unison; 10 male dancers replicated hundreds of times); MJ Air (3-D movie in which a 707 jet pulls into the frame; hole was to open in screen for Michael Jackson to enter; jet flies away); The Final Message (3-D movie of little girl from rain forest embracing the earth); and The Way You Make Me Feel (2D theatrical background featuring male dancers fashioned as historical construction workers).

AEG despite their previous statements does not have so many footages, but most of them are from the June 23 - 24 rehearsals.

The setlist includes among others: Wanne Be Startin' Somethin', Jam, They Don't Care About Us/Drill medley, Human Nature, Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, Black or White, Jackson 5 Medley, Off the Wall, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Dangerous, Thriller/Threatened medley, Beat It, We are the World and Earth Song.

Other video sequences for the backgorund Chaos LED screen to be set onstage behind him would include the followings: Flashes and Glimpses (historical timeline of last century in 90 seconds); Startin' Somethin' (animation with letters MJ and words This Is It); Jackson 5 Medley (graphic animation featuring Jackson 5 logo); I Just Can't Stop Loving You (animation of a baroque hall of mirrors); Dangerous (graphic animation replicating brainwaves); Dirty Diana (graphic animation replicating fire); We are the World (graphic animation containing religious icons); and Heal the World (stock footage of children).

AEG furthermore owns over 1.000 color, digital photos taken on May 6 and June 22 - 23.