N.Y. theater to honor singer

NEW YORK -- The Harlem theater that helped launch Michael Jackson's career plans a star-studded musical memorial on the same stage where he and his brothers once did 31 shows in one week, for $1,000.

"They couldn't pay their hotel bill," recalled Bobby Schiffman, whose family owned Harlem's Apollo Theater in 1967.

That summer, after the Jackson 5 won the Apollo's Amateur Night competition, Schiffman says he gave them the gig that covered the bill so they could go home to Indiana.

Michael Jackson fell in love with the famed Apollo, standing in the folds of the musty maroon stage curtain to study electrifying performers such as James Brown. Even then, the 9-year-old was already the top singer among the five brothers.

Forty-two summers later, with both King of Pop and the old curtains gone, a refurbished Apollo will honor Jackson.

Starting Tuesday at 2 p.m., the landmark theater will stage a special public tribute, with eulogies delivered under the marquee by the Apollo Theater Foundation's president and CEO, Jonelle Procope, and others.

The Rev. Al Sharpton will lead a moment of silence at 5:26 p.m. -- the time on the East Coast when Jackson was pronounced dead Thursday in Los Angeles.

Inside on Tuesday, DJs will spin his music, accompanied by video tributes. And on an outside wall on 125th Street, Harlem's main thoroughfare, mourners will be invited to write down their thoughts about Jackson.

On Wednesday night, Apollo's weekly Amateur Night will be dedicated to Jackson. Music director Ray Chew is to perform a medley of Jackson hits.