Jeanne LaCroix of Woodland Hills gazed with a wistful smile at the images unspooling across two giant screens inside downtown L.A.'s Grammy Museum: a teenage Michael Jackson surrounded by his brothers as they announced the name of a winner at the 1974 Grammy Awards ceremony.
When the montage shifted to the moment 10 years later when he strode onstage in a knockout blue sequined jacket with blinding gold epaulets to collect the producer of the year trophy he shared with Quincy Jones for their work on "Thriller," LaCroix's head snapped around to the glass display case immediately behind her.
"Do they have that jacket in there?" she said to her 13-year-old daughter, Brianna.
No, but there were four other equally dazzling specimens from Jackson's spectacular wardrobe: the turquoise jacket decorated with Swarovski crystal from the Jacksons' 1984 Victory tour; a midnight blue and gold number he wore to the unveiling of his star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame; the blood red jacket with sparkling gold piping he chose for an American Music Awards show; and the red, white, blue and gold model he put on for the United We Stand concert after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Positioned amid the glitz-heavy jackets and two sequined gloves circa 1988 -- both right-hand only -- was a simple white Hugo Boss suit. LaCroix and other visitors to the museum Wednesday were momentarily puzzled at the uncharacteristically plain outfit until they recognized it as the one Jackson wore on the cover of the "Thriller" album.
"It's amazing to see these," said a wide-eyed Michelle Wallace, on vacation in L.A. from Waverly, Iowa, with her husband, Scott, and teenage daughters Bailee and Courtney. Michelle wore a black T-shirt with Jackson's image and the words "In Loving Memory -- Michael Jackson."
Scott Wallace said the family's long-planned trip to California had turned after Jackson's death last week into a pilgrimage to various Michael Jackson-related points of interest, among them the 7-month-old Grammy Museum and the performer's star outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
The Grammy Museum's exhibition has attracted hundreds of visitors in the days after Jackson's death, but it's actually a stripped-down version of the one the institution had had on display since February. The original exhibit ended its run June 24 and was being dismantled to make room for a Neil Diamond salute when the news of Jackson's death surfaced.
