Requiem for a king: ‘This Is It’ offers fans last look at MJ

Kenny Ortega admits that his initial reaction to being asked to helm a Michael Jackson documentary mere months after the King of Pop’s shocking death was a firm no.

Working as the stage director on what was to be MJ’s last concert tour, Ortega, the man behind the High School Musical franchise and a friend of Jackson’s for many years, thought he was too invested in the material and it was too soon to start sifting through the 80-plus hours of rehearsal footage, intended for Jackson's personal library, to stitch together a feature film, though he was willing to offer his advice on how to proceed.

“I didn’t feel that I could be creatively objective enough, at that time,” he revealed candidly while in Toronto to promote the film. “I did promise that I would go in and offer my opinion as to whether I thought there was something there, whether I thought a film could be made and what I discovered is that it was us - it was everything we were doing. It was us dreaming and conceptualizing and working and it was like this sacred footage that I didn’t remember we were shooting.”

Having worked together on Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous tour and then again for his 1996 HIStory tour, Ortega agreed to collaborate with the musical icon for his final curtain call after being asked by the man himself, who was eager to get back on stage.

Then, as the story goes, two weeks before opening night Jackson very suddenly died of what turned out to be a lethal combination of anesthetics and sedatives, with his death later being ruled a homicide. Like MJ fans the world over, Ortega admits he was “shattered” when he heard the news, made all the more surreal when he recalls a focused, lively Michael dancing his heart out, ready to play for his fans.

“In the end, he was the strongest, in the end we were made believers, in the end, we all knew we were going,” he said. “There wasn’t one person that didn’t think we were getting on the plane going to London and moving forward with the project. Michael was gonna triumph, Michael was going to accomplish this because he, more than anyone, wanted this.”

Watch the trailer and This Is It clips here

It’s hard to believe that anyone could want this tour to happen more than his notoriously fervent fans or the 5,700 dancers who auditioned to be a part of the icon’s last hurrah. Ortega described the atmosphere during rehearsals as one filled with purity and love and, of course, awe at a singular performer whose artistry and skill defied age and expectation. Even stuffed suits at the biggest film houses weren’t immune to Jackson’s magical persona, who told Ortega of their own emotional reactions to early footage of the documentary.

Considering posthumous medical reports detailed that Jackson was on a serious medley of painkillers, a stiff, frail version of the single-gloved phenom may be expected, but Ortega insisted that if Michael was in chronic pain, he never let on.

“He was nourished by this experience. This was invigorating him, he was excited about this and he was involved in every aspect of the building. He was the architect of this project,” said Ortega. “I have never seen him more invested in a project in all of the years I’ve worked with him. So you see that and you feel that [in the movie.]”

A tabloid staple nearly his entire life thanks to exceptional fame at a young age, record-breaking album sales, plastic surgery mishaps and run-ins with the law, Jackson was certainly a controversial figure in the pop culture continuum. This Is It, then, presents an interesting opportunity for some after-the-fact validation, and though Ortega understands that, he stresses Michael was interested in far more pure pursuits.

“One day in his dressing room, I said to him, ‘Michael, I’m so excited. I can’t wait to get to London, I can’t wait for you to step into the light. You’re gonna be validated my man, you’re getting your crown back.’ And he laughed at me, like I was a child. He said, ‘You’re so silly Kenny,’ and I knew what he was saying – that’s not why we we’re here. This is not to vindicate Michael. This film is there for his children, his fans and to remind people of the important messages that Michael stood for.”

Michael Jackson's This Is It opens in Cineplex Theatres for a limited two-week run.

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