Michael Jackson fans flock to Grammy Museum exhibit

Museum officials quickly assembled a reconfigured display that will remain up "indefinitely," executive director Bob Santelli said Wednesday. In addition to Jackson's four jackets, two gloves, "Thriller" suit and video footage from his Grammy appearances as a performer or presenter on display on the second floor, the museum is screening the entire 1984 Grammy Awards show in the lobby and a selection of Jackson's videos in its Soundstage theater.

"I think the shock is over," Santelli said, "and now people are just trying to connect as much as they can."

In the days since Jackson died, Santelli said, "If I'm out on the floor, I can't do any work because everyone wants to stop and share Michael Jackson stories. They're trying to hang on to whatever they can and remember him, and that's the case for me as much as for any of them."

On Wednesday, Santelli brought out several additional pieces of clothing Jackson had loaned to the museum this year, including the golden greaves -- shin guards -- he sometimes wore on stage and four more jackets, to show to a visiting group of about 300 Santa Monica elementary school students.

Some were young enough that they had little clue who Jackson was or what he meant to the world, although their eyes were glued to the glittering "artifacts" Santelli shared with them. Others had learned tidbits from TV, like the first-grade girl who knew that Jackson sometimes appeared in public wearing a mask along with the blue jacket Santelli was showing -- he explained that the garment was modeled on the uniforms worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace in London, which Jackson had admired when he visited Queen Elizabeth II.

"Are those diamonds?" one boy asked of the flashy stones on one jacket. "No," Santelli answered. "Real diamonds would be too expensive to wear on stage."

"Did he make that?" another asked about the 15-pound red and gold jacket Santelli handled carefully with his white curator's gloves. "He had the idea for it and worked with a designer who made it for him," Santelli answered.

Finally, from another curious girl: "Why did he wear all these fancy clothes?"

"Because he was the King of Pop," Santelli said, "and when you're a king, you have to dress like a king."

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randy.lewis@latimes.com