Goddess & Icon
Umlaut has persuaded me to take this picture out of hiding. Many moons ago I was working for Bill Graham Presents when a rather notorious production manager came through town and hired me away for a round the world trip with Wacko Jacko. One minute I'm out buying toilet seat covers for Bette Midler, the next minute I'm in Bremen, Germany preparing for the Michael Jackson HIStory World Tour. There are many stories to tell about these 8 months of my life, but my confidentiality contract doesn't expire for two more years. It would just be my luck to give you some juicy details and then have someone read it on the "world famous" Umlaut blog and find myself in a lawsuit. Jacko is a little touchy these days, wouldn't you say?
I held the job of production assistant. Or "answer lady". It was my very unglamorous task to answer hundreds of questions each day from 170 crew members and many more local starstruck production people. The questions ranged from the mundane - "Where are the crew busses parked?" to my personal favorite, "Stop what you are doing now! I need more laminates! The Sultan of Arabia just arrived and he has a harem!"
Yah, so after many months of madness we ended our tour in South Africa. This photo was taken in Johannesburg, in MJ's private onstage cubicle right before the show started. They lined us up like cattle and herded us up there one by one so that he could shake our hand with a limp wrist, give us a little smile and squeak out the words "thank you". He's much taller than you would expect. I'm 5'10" and he is standing behind me, but he was taller than I was and he is very fragile. It's no wonder the poor guy got the flu on the eve of his big trial. His nerves couldn't handle, I'm sure.
I don't really believe that Jacko is as bad as they say. He truly believes he is a child in some sense. I think he was just playing doctor.
Name withheld. But the picture is worth a thousand words.
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ADDENDUM:
According to ALL MICHAEL JACKSON.com:
"HIStory Tour (September 7, 1996 - October 15, 1997): The first leg of the HIStory Tour began in Prague, Czech Republic at Letna Park on September 7, 1996, and ended in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium on January 4, 1997. The second leg of the tour began in Bremen, Germany at Weserstadion on May 31, 1997 and ended in Durban, South Africa at King's Park Rugby Stadium on October 15 1997. During the HIStory tour, Michael performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans. The HIStory Tour visited 5 continents and 35 countries."
GEDDIT?? "HIStory"! Clever..... I guess.
