To mark the first anniversary of re-Invention, the tour that gave to the world a brand new Madonna we are glad to present our readers the latest version of our ever evolving re-Invention tour Scrapbook, featuring exclusive interviews with artists involved in the creation of the show and interesting reports by many long time Madonna fans who try to put in words their amazing experiences.

The latest addition to the Scapbook is of course our exclusive chat with Jamie King, the show’s director that really took us for a walk behind the scenes of the creative process of this tour:

Jamie King: When we get to rehearsals Madonna and I think the same, we like everything to be really prepared so that we can execute everything because she has a family, she has a very tight schedule. I really have to make sure that everything is pre-prepared.
So what I do is bringing in choreographers for a few weeks prior to Madonna even getting there.
I start developing everything and get the idea and I play Madonna so I can feel what it’s going to be like.
Trying out the staging and all the choreographies so I can get an idea of how to explain it to her.
I had three rooms going. The Music room, for Madonna and the band. The main choreography room and then I had another sound stage where other choreography was being taught, like swings and other specialities like fire were being taught and other things like that.

We also had the chance to talk with a musician on board of the tour, Steven Kilbride, who instructed the dancers on how to play drums during Into The Groove.

Steven Kilbride: I was asked if I could with Lorne (Cousin), come up with a link from “Imagine” to “Into the Groove”. Lorne and I had some ideas so Madonna had us go into the studio with Stuart and Steve that night. We laid down some backing tracks and thankfully she liked what she heard.
She then had us back at Culver Studios and asked if it was possible if I could choreograph the moves and to teach Stuart, Steve and the dancers how to play Pipe Band drumming for the tour, so I says I would give it a go! Showing Stuart and Steve was easy, Steve is a fantastic drummer and Stuart is a natural musician. So I had them play the Snare Drums and Cloud played Bass drum, so the other dancers had to work very, very hard. The tenor drums they played are as much a visual thing as a musical instrument as you have seen the tour. The boys worked harder than I could ever have asked them to and don’t know how they did it in between learning their dance routines. They did me and Pipe Band drumming proud!

While on the subject of drum and pipes we also investigated the costume department with the help of our friends Rocky Roeger and Kelly Stewart from USA Kilts who crafted all the special Kilts to be used on stage during the Into The Groove segment.

Roger & Kelly: In March, we were contacted by a ‘dance-troupe’ who said that they were out of the Los Angeles area, but they did not give much more information than that. They asked us to send samples of our different kilts. About 2 weeks after we sent the samples, they contacted us again to let us know that we had the job. Then they told us it was for Madonna. Madonna’s costume department came to us with some ideas of what Madonna wanted. We went through several prototype models and design changes and eventually came up with the longer kilts with box pleats that you see in the concert.
One of the changes that make the “Madonna kilts” different is that they are very long (mid-calf).
Another is that it was made with box pleats, so that while Madonna and her dancers were moving around, the pleats would not stack up.
We made a total of 40 kilts. Originally, not all of the people on stage were going to get one, but the dancers were going to each have 2.

Donna DeLory, Madonna’s longtime friend and back singer on the tour also shared with MadonnaTribe some of her re-Invention memories.

Donna DeLory: The re-Invention tour was a lot more positive and Madonna was happy to do many of her hits. At some of the shows in Europe, Madonna was told to get off the stage after sound check so the crowd could start to come in. She was not ready yet so they started to let people in while we were rehearsing on stage because the seating was first come first serve. I wondered how everyone would react when they saw her there but they were fighting so hard for their place in the front that they did not see her. I couldn’t believe it!!! There she was out of costume with no make up and they could not see her. She was eventually escorted off the stage easily by her bodyguards.

And then the fans… Our friend Clare from Madonnalicious shared her backstage memories with us as well

Miss Madonnalicious: Although it was very busy, everyone knew exactly what they had to be doing and there was a ‘calm’ to the chaos!
No great scoops to share but the sweetest thing I saw was when Madonna rose out of the stage and started to sing Nothing Fails, Guy came from backstage and stood behind her out of view from the audience just quietly watching his missus do her stuff and all her fans reacting to her.

Click on image below to enter MadonnaTribe’s Re-Invention Scrapbook. We hope that reading it one more time will bring nice memories to you all, just as much it does to us. And again… thank you Madonna.