MARCH 2003
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31 March 2003
Site announcement
- Please note that there will be no more news updates until next week due to my big move overseas. On 2 April, I will be flying out from my home town here in Australia bound for Glasgow, Scotland. I will be moving in with a friend, and hope to get back online as soon as possible. However, I cannot give an exact date of return for two reasons. One is that me and my lap top computer have to arrive safely (!), and the other is that, as I will be upgrading to a broadband internet connection, I need to buy a new part for my lap top before I can get back online. Hopefully, I will be able to get back online some time next week and return with what I hope will be a massive update! In the meantime, please feel free to contact me if you find any new information regarding Baz's projects over the next week or so, particularly news about Alexander the Great.
In preparation for my temporary online absence, I have been working on getting this site as up to date as possible. I have now launched my Strictly Ballroom section, including a full transcript of the DVD commentary. I have also finally added a Cast and Crew page to my Moulin Rouge section, and have completed lots of updates in my La Bohème section, including information regarding the soundtrack and principal cast, as well as a synopsis and Baz's director's notes. I have also added more information concerning the DVD release of the 1993 production of La Bohème, which I highly recommend. I will aim to add further updates to this site upon my return to the internet next week, so feel free to check back real soon!
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29 March 2003
New start date for 'Alexander'
- Yesterday, Dark Horizons reported a very interesting snippet of news regarding Oliver Stone's Alexander:
"Alexander: Reforma reports that Mexican photographer Rodrigo Prieto ("Frida", "8 Mile") has been hired to serve as Director of Photography on the Oliver Stone Alexander biopic. Shooting starts in September in Morocco, India, Spain and England."
Previous reports indicated that Stone's movie would begin shooting in June, and this was even confirmed by the backing studio, Intermedia. However, according to Reforma (a Spanish publication), it appears that Stone's movie will not begin filming until September! This should be good news for Luhrmann's Alexander the Great, as it seems that filming of both movies will now begin around the same time. Luhrmann's film is reportedly scheduled for a November start, with Stone beginning production only the month before. This information therefore indicates that both Alexander movies may have a close shooting schedules as, previously, Stone's production was set to start filming up to 6 months before Luhrmann began.
King Muhammed VI of Morocco has reportedly pledged 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 horses to Luhrmann's Alexander the Great, as well as granting access to prime locations throughout the country. I have heard that Stone has also made a similar deal, and so it could be quite interesting if both productions are filming in Morocco at the same time! It's also interesting to note that, according to Reforma, some filming of Stone's Alexander may take part in England. As I am about to move to Scotland, if this information is true, I might be able to head down south to check out some filming! You never know! ;-)
Further additions to IMDb
- As I've reported previously, several new production credits have appeared on Luhrmann's ATG IMDb page recently. However, previous information reported on this film's page has been quite misleading and, once again, the following information cannot be confirmed. The new production credits that have been added are:
Executive producer - Faye Bays
Associate producer -Christie Moore
Casting manager - Francine Blosser
Casting manager - Hans Seth
Once again, none of the above people seem to
have worked on any other films, and agent details have not been listed.
An additional production company has also been listed - American Films International. And
again, according to the IMDb, this production company has not worked on any other films.
As always, if anyone has any further information about any of the details listed here,
please contact me.
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24 March 2003
Nicole wins Best Actress Oscar!
- Congratulations to Nicole Kidman for winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Virginia Woolf in The Hours at this year's Academy Awards! Here in Australia, we saw a delayed broadcast of the ceremony tonight, and I managed to avoid all media sources throughout the day so that the announcements would remain a surprise! I felt a huge sense of joy and relief when Nicole's name was announced as the winner of the Best Actress category. Nicole's emotional acceptance speech was stunning. She was clearly in shock, but remained graceful, sending us all a strong message about the importance of art. Her speech was as follows:
"Thank you so much. Yes. Now I have to think. David Hare, I need your words. I have such appreciation and gratitude for this. Russell Crowe said, "Don't cry if you get up there." And now I'm crying. Sorry. Stephen Daldry, you took a huge chance on me. I am so grateful. David Hare, you gave me magnificent words to say. Scott Rudin, you fought so hard for this film to get it made. Paramount and Miramax, you made it. And Kevin Huvane, Rick Nicita, Marc Epstein stood by me for so many years. And I am just absolutely thrilled to be standing up here tonight. I do have to say, it was "Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil?" Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do. And you want to honor that. And it is a tradition that needs to be upheld. At the same time you say there is a lot of problems in the world and since 9/11 there's been a lot of pain, in terms of families losing people, and now with the war, families losing people. And God bless them. And I am standing here in front of my mother and my daughter and my whole life I've wanted to make my mother proud. And now I want to make my daughter proud. So thank you."
A femail.com.uk article called 'Oscars: Nicole makes history' reported that Nicole has become the very first Australian to win a Best Actress Oscar. Another article regarding the Oscars in general was published in the Sydney Morning Herald called 'Sad mood and all that Oscar's jazz'. Both articles also feature a statement issued by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin expressing their happiness with Nicole's success. They said:
"We've been sitting on the edge of our seats for days. To be honest, it had to be Nicole. Apart from the tremendous, exquisite, psychological dramatic work in The Hours and given her journey over the last few years, if it had not been Nicole, we would all have been left asking, 'What does an actor have to do to deserve an Oscar?'"
On a more personal note, I believe The Hours is a wonderfully deep and moving cinematic experience and one of the best films of recent times. Nicole deserved to win for her amazing performance, and I'm so glad that the Academy has finally given her the recognition she deserves. Additionally, I feel that this recognition is also a reward for her previous works, most notably Moulin Rouge, which she was nominated for in the same category last year. As much as I would have liked The Hours to win, Chicago was pretty much assured the Best Picture Oscar due to it's huge popularity and a rigorous promotional campaign. Personally, I feel Moulin Rouge was definitely a better film, and Chicago would not have achieved as much success without it. However, this year more than ever the Academy felt the need to praise a light-hearted film, and Chicago was rewarded with several awards, including Best Picture. It would have been nice if Moulin Rouge was given this honour last year, but Chicago was a most entertaining musical that has further helped to revive the movie musical genre and is therefore worthy of its success.
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23 March 2003
More 'ATG' IMDb additions
- Yesterday, more additions were added to Alexander the Great's Internet Movie Database page. As reported in my previous news update, this database is the most extensive on the internet, but it is not always entirely accurate. In fact, recent information reported on this film's page has been quite misleading. Therefore, once again, the information I provide in this update cannot be confirmed. The reason I have chosen to report these new names is because it wouldn't surprise me if Luhrmann works with new people on ATG. This movie is set to be quite different from his previous works, so maybe he has chosen to work with a new team? However, from now on, I will be considering all new names listed on the IMDb as rumours until they are confirmed by other sources.
New additions are:
- Cinematography by Nicholas D.
- Film Editing by Mary Barco.
- Boyd Rahier has also been added to the writing credits for the screenplay (despite Ted Tally already being listed).
- Most surprisingly of all, T. Atcheson is added as co-director alongside Baz Luhrmann!
None of these new people have any previous work listed on their individual IMDb pages, and no agent details have been listed to contact for confirmation. If anyone has any further information about these new additions, feel free to contact me.
James Holzier website
- James Holzier is set to star in Oliver Stone's production of Alexander the Great, and is rumoured to be playing Hephaestion. I have been made aware of a website featuring information about this upcoming young actor that includes an interview, biography and images. Feel free to check it out by clicking here.
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18 March 2003
New 'ATG' information!
- Today, I discovered some rather startling news about Alexander the Great. This information was found on the film's Internet Movie Database page. This database is the most extensive on the internet but, from my experience, it is not always entirely accurate. Therefore, the information I provide in this update cannot be confirmed. However, these updates were made by the IMDb back on 12 March and, if this information is correct, it's bound to raise a few eyebrows.
New production credits have been added, as follows: (click names for IMDb links)
- Production Design by Ken Larson
- Art Direction and Set Decoration by Todd Green
Catherine Martin has been Luhrmann's Production Designer for all of his films, and has also worked on art direction and set decoration. Therefore, the new additions of Ken Larson and Todd Green are quite a surprise. However, I must admit I was expecting Martin to play more of a minor role in this production, as she is expecting a child this year and obviously her priorities will change as a result of her pregnancy. I do hope she has some creative input into the film though, as it will seem rather strange not to see CM in the credits!
- Original Music by Eckart Seeber
I know that many fans were hoping that Craig Armstrong would return to work for Luhrmann for Alexander the Great, as he did a wonderful job composing both Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. However, it seems that Luhrmann has chosen a new composer for his upcoming epic. I have not heard of him before, but look forward to learning more about him. Feel free to visit Mr Seeber's comprehensive official website for a biography, music samples and further information about his works. I definitely recommend listening to his music samples, as I really liked what I heard! I have written to the contact address provided on the website and hope to be able to confirm that Seeber is definitely set to work on Alexander the Great. Once I have received confirmation, I will add more information about Seeber and his works to this site.
- New Locations - Florida, USA and Alberta, Canada
I have previously reported that Luhrmann is building new soundstages in Morocco, and that some filming might also be done at Fox Studios, Australia. Well, according to the IMDb, it seems that Luhrmann has now added America and Canada to his list of locations.
As always, if anyone has any further information about Alexander the Great, please feel free to contact me.
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13 March 2003
The 'ATG battle' continues...
- Yesterday, Ireland Online reported that Oliver Stone appears to be winning the 'battle' with Luhrmann to be the first to produce his version of Alexander the Great. The article is called 'Stone set to direct Alexander the Great' and reads as follows:
"Director Oliver Stone
appears to be winning his battle with Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann to be first to the
screen with the story of Alexander the Great.
Stone plans to begin production this summer on the epic adventure, which will star Irish
actor Colin Farrell in the title role.
Luhrmann, who has Leonardo Dicaprio as his star, will not begin filming until November,
allowing DiCaprio to first star in The Good Shepherd, a CIA story which is being
produced by Robert De Niro.
Hollywood analysts are wondering if there is room for two costly epics about Alexander the
Great and would not be surprised if only one made it to the screen."
According to this article, we can now expect Luhrmann's ATG to begin filming in November. I have previously read that pre-production is set to begin around May, so principal shooting starting in November makes sense.
So, is there room for two large scale Alexander the Great movies? Apparently so! I do not believe Luhrmann and co. will back out of their own project, despite what Stone decides to do with his. I have also heard that Luhrmann plans to begin filming without Leonardo DiCaprio earlier in the year, which would allow him to shoot many scenes that do not require the presence of Alexander. The time waiting for Leo would also be used to build elaborate sets and create all the costumes, props etc. This means that all the preparation work will be complete by the time Leonardo begins to shoot, which will potentially accelerate the time required for Leo to film his scenes.
Broadway strike resolved
- A musician's strike on Broadway resulted in Luhrmann's production of La Bohème being closed down last weekend. Musicians were unhappy with proposals to reduce the number of musicians required for orchestras in several theatres, and group action resulted in 18 of the 19 shows on Broadway being closed down after actors and stagehands unions decided not to cross the picket line. Thankfully, the dispute was resolved on Tuesday morning, and all productions are now back playing on Broadway as normal. To read more about the dispute, feel free to read 'Broadway Bohème Back Onstage Following Strike' at Andante.com, and also 'The show is back on again for Broadway' at Sunspot.com.
Site updates
- As promised, I have now updated my 'Trip to the House of Iona' page with new thumbnails, as well as larger images and descriptions for each photo. Enjoy!
I have also completed the Romeo + Juliet DVD review page with detailed descriptions of every special feature included on the Region 1 DVD. This means that my Romeo + Juliet section is now fully complete! :-)
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10 March 2003
Congratulations Baz and CM!
- Last night, Antonia Kidman, host of Australian television movie show In Entertainment (formerly Premiere), announced that Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin are expecting their first child! She said it would be "their greatest project yet"! (Special thanks to foxy and Chelle at Nicole Kidman United for the heads up!)
Congratulations Baz and CM!!! I expect there will be more baby news to report throughout the week as the media gets hold of this information, so stay tuned for further updates! :-)
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8 March 2003
First image of Maria Hatzis
- A couple of days ago, I received an email from Amanda Jackson telling me to check out a webpage at ChildStarlets.com, as she was quite sure that the images on this page featured Maria Hatzis. I e-mailed Maria's agent for confirmation, and I am now pleased to post this site's very first image of Maria Hatzis, as seen in the 2001 TV drama, Life with Judy Garland. The image is only a thumbnail, as larger pictures cannot be accessed without membership. However, hopefully I will be able to obtain a larger image soon! Click here to view more thumbnails of Maria in Life with Judy Garland, and click here to view the TV drama's IMDb page which provides information about the production, but for some reason does not yet appear to list Maria in the credits.
Discussion with Jeffrey Seller
- Playbill.com has reported that the producer of La Bohème, Jeffrey Seller, will soon be taking part in a discussion about producing musicals in New York. The article is called 'Jeffrey Seller and Thomas Cott Discuss Producing and Musical Theatre, March 19 in NYC', and begins:
"Jeffrey Seller, producer of La Bohème and Rent, will have a conversation with Thomas Cott, the new artistic director of Musical Theatre Works, 6:30-9 PM March 19 at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Community Center in Manhattan. Out Professionals presents the discussion on the subject of producing, musicals and the new Baz Luhrmann Broadway staging of Puccini's La Bohème."
Click here to read the full article and, if you are able to attend what I'm sure will be a most interesting discussion, please feel free to contact me with your feedback.
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4th March 2003
More information about Maria Hatzis
- Maria's agent, Michael Harlington, has kindly provided me with lots of general information about Maria and her works. This information was compiled by Maria's mother, Clare. I have now added all this information to my new Maria Hatzis page, which can be accessed through my ATG Cast and Crew section. I have also included Michael's answers to my questions regarding Maria's involvement in Alexander the Great, and I will be adding more information to the page throughout the year. In the meantime, feel free to take a look at my new page to learn more about this talented young actress.
'La Bohème' premium tickets!
- I'm not sure how long these tickets have been available, but the official La Bohème website now features the following details about premium tickets for the Broadway show:
PREMIUM TICKET PACKAGE
Call (212) 239-6270 for a $250 package that includes superior seat location hand picked by
director Baz Luhrmann, a special "boho" cocktail and alimited edition postcard
set designed exclusively by Academy Awards winner Catherine Martin (the postcards are not
for sale and have been exclusively designed for Premium ticket holders).
If I was living in the US right now, I would definitely be purchasing myself a premium ticket to see the show! If anyone has been lucky enough to attend a show (especially if you have sampled the premium ticket package!), please feel free to contact me with feedback about the performance.
A very good review of La Bohème has been recently published by VOANews.com entitled 'La Boheme Opera Finds New Audience on Broadway'. This article demonstrates the popularity and continuing success of La Bohème, which hopefully means the show will be seen on Broadway for a long time to come!
'Moulin Rouge' a cult classic?
- Moulin Rouge could become a cult classic, according to this article by The PittsburghChannel.com. It reports:
"One theater in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, the Mann Festival Theater near UCLA, will start holding midnight screenings of Moulin Rouge. It's just like the Rocky Horror Picture Show has been doing for years at lots of theaters. Twentieth Century Fox says it's "responding to demands from its legions of fans -- including a rally in front of its studio lot."
Let's hope this trend continues! Moulin Rouge remains my favourite movie of all time, and I feel it fully deserves this recognition. There is a huge fanbase for this film, and so I know it has the potential to become a true cult classic!
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2nd March 2003
Excellent Baz Luhrmann article!
(Special thanks to foxy for this scan,
and also to Nicole Kidman United)
- Yesterday, The Weekend Australian published a fantastic five page article entitled 'Strictly Luhrmann', and it's definitely one of the best Baz Luhrmann articles I've ever read. The article was contributed to the newspaper by John Lahr, a senior drama critic for the New Yorker, and I've been informed by a fellow fan that this article has already been previously published in this magazine. However, as far as I know, it's the first time Australian readers have had the opportunity to read the item. 'Strictly Luhrmann' was written shortly after Lahr met with Luhrmann in San Fransisco during rehearsals for La Boheme back in September 2002. It provides a most insightful read into Luhrmann's realm of thinking, and I have added the article to my Facts About Baz page for future reference. Feel free to click on the above image to access a scanned copy of the complete article.
More 'ATG' information!
- Last week, I was happy to reveal some exciting information about the production of Alexander the Great thanks to Maria Hatzis's agent, Michael Harlington. Yesterday, Mr Harlington was kind enough to answer a couple more of my questions:
1) Do you know what part of
Morocco Maria will be filming in? And will Maria take part in any filming in Australia?
We weren't told where in Morocco yet, but yes she will be filming in Australia.
2) Where the auditions took
place? And who did she audition for?
The auditions took place in NY. She is a really big fan of Baz, and she auditioned for
Leptine because she loves his work and he absolutely adores her.
Mr Harlington also disclosed some additional information about the production:
"We were told that she would be filming in the middle of this year, and we haven't received any further information. Maria hasn't been in contact with Leonardo and Nicole since the beginning of February (due to filming schedule), but she is looking forward into seeing them soon. They had mentioned that it will take a long time to film, within 4,000 + more extras."
Mr Harlington's information confirms that Luhrmann does plan to do some filming at Fox Studios in Australia. We also now know that Maria Hatzis has already met DiCaprio and Kidman, and Luhrmann adores her! This is definitely one young actress I believe we'll be hearing a lot more about in the months to come - I look forward to learning more about her!
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