Evident Productions

The Jackson production, with Kenny Ortega as co-creative director, was fantastic about making sure everyone, from the dancers and musicians to the programmers, managers and technicians, were all moving in the same direction as one big production family.

One night in particular, Ortega and the tour and production management sat us all down for a talk that forever humbled me.  The normal list of items to be discussed or housekeeping for the tour was addressed.  Nothing significant was said until Ortega said something I will never forget.  Ortega told us that we were picked for a reason:

“All of you have been watched or known of for a while,” Ortega said.  “You have built a reputation for yourself and for that you should be proud.  No one in Michaels’ production team is just brought on to fill a spot.  EVERYONE has their purpose and are extremely good at what they do and have valuable resources to bring to the table.  For that you should all give yourself a hand.”

I sat there in awe as people applauded each other around me.  Ortega’s statement made a deep impact: We were all there for a purpose.  Each of us had unique talents to bring to the table, whether it was knowing how to deal with time code for video playback, synchronizing musical instruments or programming lasers to animate properly.  Even though everyone didn’t go through as rigorous of an audition process as the dancers, each person brought experience, capabilities and knowledge to make Jackson’s majestic vision happen.