of carnage that he would do stuff for us. i remember when we extended, and jim got the play done. that s the only reason we were on broadway. and when we extended, jim s first thing was everybody gets paid the same or i don t do it. wow. he did things like that constantly. it was so brave of him to come to broadway. that s the proving ground. a lot of film actors can t do it. it s eight times a week. it s tough to make it look like it s happening for the first time month after month after month. i think there was part of jim that looked at sopranos as this cooped of i don t want to be a one-hit wonder. and i m a big star, but am i good actor. and he bravely came to broadway with god of carnage to prove to himself that he was a good actor. and it was a joy for the four of us, for mar sharks hope and myself in particular to kind of watch him feel good about what he did as an actor. and i know by the end of it, we walked off stage. and i said you did it. and you could see in his
i just think how is he going to do these shows? record producer rodney jerkins. 50 dates at 50 years old? that s a lot of dates. and i just kept saying i hope he gets a physical trainer. someone to really work him out to make sure he s healthy and prepared. jermaine jackson says his little brother was ready. i mean, he could have did 200 shows. i talked to jermaine following a band rehearsal. i felt that he could do it because of the way the shows were spaced out and it wasn t, like, every day. see, like, when we first started, we were doing one-nighters. every day, you re in a different place. you re riding in the bus and sleeping on top of each other, that s tough. but this was it, you didn t have to take the stage down.
rehearsals for this is it often ran late into the night. on the surface, the man many say was born to perform never looked better. was his voice getting stronger? absolutely. was his dancing getting stronger? absolutely. his body? everything? absolutely. michael bearden, the musical director for this is it was on stage that last night. he looked back at me, you know, after we did one number and looked at me as if to say yeah, i m michael jackson. i got this. he looked really good. m.j. was 50 years old and they re like half his age and he still was wearing them out. on stage, always a perfectionist. off stage, a legend with a sense of humor. he s making big-money decisions and then he would lean over to me and say silly stuff like who s your favorite three
choreographer. we were on a journey with michael that was going to return him to the stage, you know, that he loved so much. and i know that we were eight days away from leaving for london. the stage is where michael was most at ease. on stage, there was no one better. since age 5, he had electrified audiences around the world with hit songs like i want you back. and the world appeared ready to welcome him back. it had been 12 years since jackson s last major performance. the king of pop was poised to regain his throne. this is it. i mean, this is really it. this is the final this is the final curtain call. according to the concept with promoters aeg, michael was to perform 50 concerts at the 02 center in london over a nine-month period. i ll be performing the songs
don t understand. my body is what fuels this entire venture. and, like barack obama, i need my own physician with me 24/7, okay. that s not negotiable. phillips believed michael had a very personal reason for taking on the scheduled 50 concerts. i said why now? i d been chasing him to come out of retirement, to get on the stage and perform live for three years. this was, you know, like a mission of mine. a quest. and he said to me, very interesting, was very poignant, he said, i m doing it now because my kids are old enough to appreciate what i do. michael s children could end up playing a major role in this case. 16-year-old prince, the oldest, is on the witness list and has already testified during depositions. stating that he was intimately involved in his father s affairs. when prince jackson gets up on the witness stand, it will be a very dramatic time. prince has not publicly talked about his father s last days. but i believe we will hear him