Showing posts with label Wicked-musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wicked-musical. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Update on 'Wicked' the Movie

Wicked is most definitely on it's way to the big screen. After so very long, (and not a few fan petitions), a movie version of Wicked is finally happening and building momentum. Although we expected to hear more on the casting front at this point in time, it's clear there has still been steady work on this since the official announcement in July this year, so we should expect to hear some more interesting news from this neck of the production woods very soon...

Here's what we know so far:

  • The movie is being handled by Universal and Stephen Daldry is directing. (Daldry is currently well into season two on the much anticipated Netflix series The Crown, though the first season has yet to air).
  • Wicked (the movie) has been officially scheduled for release on December 20, 2019.
  • That's the same release date as a yet-to-be-revealed Disney live action fairy tale movie.
  • Marc Platt is producing (he's also producing the Broadway version of the show, as well as a number of Disney movies, including the just announced live action remake of Snow White).
  • Winnie Holzman, who wrote the original adaptation of Gregory Maguire's novel for Broadway, is handling the screenplay, and will also be working with the musical's original composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.
  • There will be four new songs in the movie, in addition to the Broadway favorites, such as Defying Gravity.
  • No casting has yet been announced or hinted at.

From the Newsweek exclusive, this past weekend:
Daldry says he is scheduled to film the movie in 2018 but there has been no talk as yet about who will play the film’s leads, the unlikely friends Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba. “We haven’t done casting yet... but it’ll be great,” the director promises.
What do you think? Are you excited for Wicked the movie? Or will you wait to see the casting before deciding?

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Something "Wicked" This Way Comes... (Finally!)

Wicked the movie (based on the musical, not the book) is on the way!

Let's get the facts straight here though: "in-the-works" is "in development". That does NOT mean "greenlit". It means they want to do it - heck, lots of people want to do it and there's some money being spent - BUT they're still trying to see if they can make it happen and are at the idea stage (of successfully translating the musical to the big screen).

When Producer Marc Platt was talking to Film Divider he confirmed the film was definitely "in development" with a first-pass script being written and a soft goal of a 2016 release. The production companies for the film are Marc Platt Productions and Universal Pictures.

Here are the relevant quotes from the interview at which the news was revealed:
The most famous (and possibly beloved) cast of Wicked The Musical.
Casting have some big shoes to fill!
It’s a loose goal. But the bar is very high for the creators of Wicked. Our show is still so strong everywhere, and we just set a record in both London and Edinburgh last week, and in Los Angeles, and we did on Broadway. Audiences enjoy that show so much that we are intending to move forward on the movie but aren’t going to do so until we’re satisfied in the material we have as a screenplay, and that the film will be every bit as satisfying as what we have on the stage. 
Who’s been writing it?Winnie Holzman. 
And what shape is her script in now?She’s just writing it now. 
And do you have a director at the moment?It’s Stephen Daldry. He’s been on for a year or two. But it’s in process. 2016 is the goal, but I don’t know whether we’ll make that goal or not. We will make the movie, but like I said, the bar is really high. We’re going to scrutinise our work on the screenplay and our prep on the movie, and when we feel like it’s ready, okay. We’re not going to shoot a release date is what I’m saying. It’s in the works, it’s not in a rush.
This movie is a no-brainer fan-draw. No matter what trends are happening, from misunderstood villains to Oz tributes to nothing-at-all-to-do-with-any-of-these, this movie has a guaranteed built-in audience who have been dying to see it for YEARS.

If you're one of them, just be warned it could still be quite a ways off. 2016 is only next year and that's a LOT of work to get done to get a film release-ready from it's current state by December 31st!

In the meantime, let the dream casting begin! (Or, continue...)

Sources: Here, here, here & here

Friday, April 11, 2014

Fairy Tale News Hound Digs Up More Than She Can Chew, er, Post (aka Article Roundup From Between the Coffee Stains in a Reporter's Notebook)


It's no secret that I barely get to a quarter of the fairy tale news stories I dig up and there are always a good handful I regret not sharing so I'm going to try something and we'll see how it goes.
I'm going to list a group of stories I haven't had time to post on that I think are worth checking out, giving you links to the various key articles and web pages so you can both be aware of these things happening and research them yourself if they catch your interest. 

This won't be uber-regular as it could turn into a column all by itself (!) but from time to time, hopefully I can pass on a plateful of fairy tale goodies that you can follow up on at your leisure.

My big challenge, considering I'm already interested in them, is to keep my summaries brief and concise so this post doesn't turn into an encyclopedic-sized essay.... 

(Note: Most of these are from last week and any events mentioned are still running/exhibiting.)


Beren and Luthien by Helena Panassol 
From a blog that, studies and critiques Tolkien's work comes a parallel with Rapunzel:
"...the Silmarillion presents a reconstruction of the story of Rapunzel, in which Luthien, trapped in a “wooden house” at the top of “the greatest of all the trees,” causes “her hair to grow to a great length,” and “of the strands… twine[s] a rope” and “climb[s] from her prison” (Silmarillion 203). "
I wish it expanded on it a little more but there's enough there for you to start your won research if you're intrigued. 




A fun post with some silly thoughts that also points out the two-sided nature of the banner and that the dual (and dueling) sides of Maleficent that are likely to be explored in the movie. This does appear to be the driving force of the movie but the article also kind of want to make a whole list of more silly predictions for fun now too. :) The article also touches briefly on the discomfort being felt by money-makers on Wall Street at the darkness of the film (which is the key talking point about the movie this week).
"... if you didn’t already predict a rosy reception to Sleeping Beauty: Dark Side Edition, you can start placing your bets...""... the structure of the poster symbolizes Malificent’s inner struggle: one side is dark and thorny, and the other is lush and community-oriented..."


Try not to get TOO excited just yet... except it's hard not to perk your ears up when the composer is already so enthusiastic.
"..."Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz... revealed that the "Wizard of Oz" origin story has already "started gearing up" for the big screen. Although, he admitted that there are still no concrete plans for the Wicked movie adaptation. However, after years of false starts, it seems that this year could possible the year for "Wicked" in the big screen.
"... his creative team are already thinking about what to consider in order to do so.
"What are we going to change?" Schwartz said. "What are we going to keep? How do you use a whole new language and medium to tell the story? [We can] really look at it again and say, 'Oh, we can do this, and we've always wanted to do that and we couldn't onstage, but we can in a movie.' We're actually having a blast."

Third year natural science undergrads ask these questions (and more in the same vein) seriously and come up with some interesting answers.
"Pinocchio could only sustain 13 lies in a row before the maximum upward force his neck could exert cannot sustain his head and nose. The head’s overall centre of mass shifts over 85 metres after 13 lies, and the overall length of the nose is 208 metres."Lengthy, extensive lies are advised against, for the health and well-being of Pinocchio." 
"...It is theoretically possible to gain enough energy for the transformation of a frog to a prince from the kinetic energy of air alone."However, extraction of such amount of energy is practically impossible for present science, as it would require extracting all kinetic energy from the air molecule."This would result in an environment of absolute zero temperature. While solar heating would slowly provide the air with energy again, the health of the prince/frog and any other person (princess) in the area cannot be assured.
(A separate article HERE on Rapunzel's hair - what type of hair it would have to be, how strong, anchor points etc)



A brief but good introductory review of this fairy tale anthology that lives on the dark side of the border.
Red Caps might be a rock band. Or they might be something more sinister, a fey source of sounds that are but the backdrop to thrills and misadventures. These thirteen stories provide readers jaded by the traditional, Old World fairy tales with tempting new stories that will entice bored readers from their suburban ennui. Closets are waiting to be explored. Escape from work camp leads to a dangerous encounter on a wet road. That high school year book is magical and might be mocking you…or helping you find love. And isn’t love one of the central premises of the fairy tale? 
These teenage boys and girls need not fear that their love has no worth, because Steve Berman has written for them princesses who love maidens and adorkable students who have wondrous and smart boyfriends. Readers can be assured that, if the tale does not end happily, it ends most memorably.


Both are inspired by Andersen's mermaid but they take their own journeys.
Cate from Something to Read for the Train also had a recent review worth reading (HERE) on the first book as well.
"Not every little mermaid has to follow in the wake of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale. Two new mermaids with tales all their own swim to the surface in “The Mermaid and the Shoe,” written and illustrated by K.G. Campbell, and “The Mermaid’s Shoes,” written and illustrated by Sanne te Loo. These modern mermaids make for a refreshing and amusing departure from their famous predecessor."


Sergeant Wu, a character not (currently) "clued in" to the world of the Other on NBC's Grimm has to deal with seeing an Aswang - a fascinating Filipino folklore addition to the world folklore rearing its head on Grimm these day. Scary as all hell, we still like seeing folklore and fairy tales from all over the globe appearing in our modern multi-cultural world.
"A big thanks to Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee! The Filipino folklore ruled in the United States TV ratings which additionally emphasizes Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee, who plays Sergeant Wu on supernatural TV series “Grimm”. “Mommy Dearest” is the fourteenth episode of Season 3 of Grimm..... In Reggie’s interview, he related his part in helping create the story, how he gave the writers three mythical Pinoy creatures to choose from, and they wound up picking the aswang. “Binigay ko yung manananggal, yung dwende saka tiktik. But they really, really fell for the tiktik. So I was really happy that they stayed true to the Filipino story”, he said."


A very interesting use of the tale - read the excerpt (& the article) for a brief overview. The link above on Theater Nisha takes you to their production photos on Facebook.
Theatre Nisha’s version though, is not as happy as Anderson’s, reveals Sunandha. Where in the book she becomes a ‘daughter of the air’, on stage dies of a broken heart. “We wanted to give a context for the mermaid - a contrast and, at the same time, draw parallels to her story with modern day incidents,” explains the director.
On stage, Ariel not only rebels against what she is expected to do, but her actions are a metaphor for several incidents relating to women and their safety. “Through Ariel, we are confronting issues of honor killing, racism, fascism and maybe a little bit of jingoism that’s gotten a hold of us these days,” she says.
The characters are quite fluid – no one actor portrays the mermaid all by herself..."


Snow White's Apple
by Benjamin Lacombe
An article that caught my eye and stayed with me this week, about colors in illustrations contrasted with the mention of specific colors in fairy tales, as well as the conciseness of language used in fairy tales as opposed to retellings. Reminds me of discussions on the SurLalune boards.
"A fairytale does not have to try hard.  In keeping everything simple, it also keeps everything fresh. ‘Close by the King’s castle lay a great, dark forest’ leaves almost everything to your imagination, and then comes the ‘old lime tree’ and the cool well, and that’s as much as anyone needs to know.  A novelist might add a description of the well, providing it with a carved marble parapet or a rustic stone wall.  It might be beautifully written and very fine – but in a fairytale, it would merely get in the way....Colours in fairytales are strong, simple, basic, and meaningful.... White, black and red are meaningful colours because they are rare in nature and therefore noticeable. White is the colour of innocence, the colour of an untrodden fall of snow under which the whole landscape is transformed. A white dove is an emblem of peace, a black raven a signifier of wisdom. In some variants ofSnow-White, it is a raven which the queen sees against the snow, a more likely and a sharper contrast than an ebony window-frame. Black is unusual. Most birds are brownish: even today with our dulled attention to nature, we notice black crows and white swans.  Before chemical dyes, black was an expensive colour for clothes: it stood out: most people could not afford to wear it. And red of course is the most meaningful of all colours, the most emotionally charged.  Red is the colour that accompanies childbirth, wounds, war, accidents. Red is the stuff of life and death.... Colours in fairytales aren’t decoration, they aren’t even ‘just’ descriptive. They carry information.  They are a form of emphasis. And they can be relied upon. A golden head which rises to the surface of a well may be strange, but won't be evil. ..."


A collection of photos I haven't seen all together before. Some of it is that odd-vintage style but some of it is really wonderful. 

Seeing it all together, gives you a good idea of the mood this particular production evoked in the audience.
“The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian Maeterlinck. It premiered at Constantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.  
The story is about a girl, Mytyl, and her brother Tyltyl seeking happiness, represented by The Blue Bird, aided by the good fairy Bérylune.”


This looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately I'm currently on the wrong continent...
Pulling no punches, this production is designed for a world raised on American idol. From the original fairy-tale Myers and O’Brien have created a 21st century music theatre spectacular for all ages. Conceived by the Windmill Theatre and the multi-Helpmann Award winning creative team behind last years hit play School Dance, this very physical, funny and heartfelt musical comedy looks set to accomplish that rare and wonderful feat – breaking new ground on a story we all thought we knew!


The promise of exclusive behind-the-scenes and making-of movie content is quite tempting to go check out, especially because... MALEFICENT!
“We’re about content-driven retail. That’s the beauty of our business model.”...Disney welcomed HSN’s fashion director and other executives on set to gather inspiration for the movie’s aesthetics via conversations with the art department, costume designers and other crew members. That intel was shared with HSN’s merchandise and marketing teams, as well as its go-to designers, who put together an exclusive collection comprising curated items as well as products designed specifically for the event.... Following the 24-hour launch event later that month, HSN will air Countdown to Maleficent specials in primetime every night leading up to the film’s May 30 release. ...(HSN and Disney) indicate that the programming will build upon the precedent set by their Oz partnership, which featured props, set pieces and trailers from the film as well as appearances by star Mila Kunis and the movie’s makeup artist."
UPDATE 4-12-14: I neglected to add a link to HSN in case you want to check them out. Apologies! You can find the site HERE and this HERE is where news on the Maleficent merchandise & specials will be updated. If I get any advance news I will be sure to share that with you too.

Fan Made poster (source)
Slightly older news but if you haven't heard it yet, you need to know: Yes, the Harry Potter spin-off will now be  "three megamovies" and J.K. Rowling will be doing the screenplay (it's her screenwriting debut). 

And check out the fan-made Harry Potter-styled moving poster! I have a strong feeling we are on the verge of "gif posters" as being the new official advertising medium as well. You heard it here first.. ;) 
"That is when Warner announced that Ms. Rowling had agreed to adapt for the big screen her “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a 2001 book billed as one of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbooks. Three megamovies are planned. 
The main character will be a “magizoologist” named Newt Scamander. The stories, neither prequels or sequels, will start in New York about seven decades before the arrival of Mr. Potter and his pals."





Known as Shakespeare's fairy tale or a Roman-era Snow White, this film is currently in production with no release date yet announced. Although this is older news because it's been happening for a while now, I haven't mentioned it yet as details have taken a really long time to trickle in, a trailer released late last year has been removed from everywhere and it's still pretty under the radar overall. It would appear, though, that we're finally getting closer to seeing the film finished and released. 
The cast is stellar, including Dakota Johnson as Imogen (that's the Snow White character), Milla Jovovich as Queen, Ethan Hawke as Iachimo and Ed Harris as Cymbeline. 
(See the link on the title for a little more information and the 'reboot' link for film style details.)
Phew! I'm going to stop there as that's an awful lot for one post but this is by no means everything happening with fairy tales in the last week. Seriously. I'll bring you some more news tomorrow...

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Gregory Maguire Talks "Wicked", Teases Nutcracker... (Drosselmeyer!)

Broadway hit Wicked (which is nearing it's 10th anniversary!) heads to Manila this month, debuting on January 22nd with an Australian cast (you can see a slide show of the Australian production HERE).

As part of promoting the new production there, Gregory Maguire was recently e-interviewed (it's an official thing now) by Philippine newspaper The Star about, not only his thoughts on seeing his book head to the stage (and quickly become "a commotion"*), but also about his writing life and upcoming book plans.

Wicked Elphaba by Laura Mossop
The article also included an excerpt from the Auckland, NZ, show program for Wicked last year which, if you haven't read before is pretty wonderful:
...(Maguire) noted in the souvenir program for the Wicked run in Auckland, New Zealand (which The STAR covered late last year): “When Stephen Schwartz approached me with the notion of turning Wicked into a musical play, I needed much less persuading that I let on,” adding that “… from the opening anthem’s foreboding figure of notes… the score for Wicked respects the book’s tensions and ambiguities” making the figures who once lived solely in his head seem more real,” he added.
To have your book turned into another (professionally produced) art form is pretty fantastic but to feel that the people doing that understand your vision and "get" your work? That's on the rare side and completely thrilling.

Here are some excerpts from the recent e-interview:
Can you recall the exact moment when the idea of Wicked first came to you? 
“No. But I do remember the moment when I realized that the information we did have about the story was incomplete. In one of the songs from the MGM film (The Wizard of Oz), the Cowardly Lion sings, ‘What makes the Hottentot so hot?’ Even at the age of eight, I knew that Hottentots were from Africa, not from Oz: So how could the Cowardly Lion use such a reference? Similarly, when Dorothy sings to the Tin Man, ‘You could be another Lincoln…’ he doesn’t stop the song to ask, ‘What’s a Lincoln?’ They are not telling us the whole story, I said to myself, and scrunched closer to the TV to see what else was going on.” 

You’ve said in interviews that you don’t write anything that doesn’t ask big questions. What’s the biggest question and message readers will take away from Wicked? 
“What is the true nature of evil? Is evil determined by culture, by history, by God or by spirits, by the accident of birth or the behavior of individuals? I can’t say I provide an answer, but this is a question we do well to ask ourselves over and over. It is never an old question.” 
Wicked by Tim Shumate
What’s your daily writing life like? 
“I try to write about five pages a day when I am writing a new novel, and a first draft is usually done in a couple of months. The older I get, the more time I spend on revisions — my newest book has gone through eight drafts. It is out next year. (I’m working on) a book called Egg & Spoon, a fantasy set in Tsarist Russia about the time of Dr. Zhivago, more or less.”
(By the way - the projected date for that book's release is still "sometime during Fall 2014".)

And now for the news that had me probably more excited than I should be, especially since it's still in the "vague idea" stage:
If there’s another classic tale you’d want to give a “wicked” treatment, what would that be and why? 
“I have been playing with the idea of writing a book called Drosslemeyer, about the godfather who gives Klara the Nutcracker in the story of the same name. I don’t know why I would want to write that. Writing it would give me the answer.”
!!!!

Drosselmeyer by Artuš Scheiner
Nutcracker (and, in particular, the character of Drosselmeyer) has so much potential to me. Unfortunately it often feels like Clara (Klara?) reaches the Kingdom of Sweets and people fall into a sugary malaise of... nothing.

Only two (that I can think of) interpretations come to mind that attempt to mine Hoffman's story for retelling potential (remembering that this was a whole, literary work, by the way): one is Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker: The Story of Clara for the Australian Ballet, about a Russian dancer, migrating and growing older (available to view on DVD). The other (at almost the opposite end of the scale) is a video made for a college assignment by a student who used Britney Spears' song Toy Soldier (What? Yes - right there with you!) and blended the choreography with images and symbols from the traditional Nutcracker ballet in an attempt to empower girls instead of have them waiting to be rescued. It's actually more successful than it sounds. Yes I was surprised too. (You can click HERE to see it on YouTube if you'd like. It's a much better than average amateur video, especially once it gets started on the song/choreography portions.)

It's bizarre because I always thought Nutcracker could be quite epic. Drosselmeyer is a completely fascinating character, the music is wonderful and well known and it's a tradition for many people to go see Nutcracker at Christmas time so there's an audience already built in.
Nutcracker by Natasha Tabatchikova
But I digress.

You can read the whole fascinating interview HERE (note: sometimes the website has difficulty loading but keep trying, it's worth it). While it's not very lengthy, it packs a lot into a page.

What do you think of Maguire's next fairy tale-based novel consideration?

* Wicked fans will get my reference. :)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Breaking News/Rumor Mill: There's A "Wicked" Musical Animated Miniseries Currently in Production (& Chenoweth & Menzel Are On Board!?!)

I haven't been able to confirm this via any single additional source but this was announced yesterday (Tuesday), November 26th. There is no identifying title, handle or nickname behind the Tumblr that I can see (the header is above), but that person tagged the post with #Wicked Musical #Kristin Chenoweth and #Idina Menzel...

I know a lot of people are dying to see something done with the Wicked musical (as opposed to Gregory Maguire's book - though there's a whole crowd excitedly watching the various on/off developments for that too) but I wouldn't have thought "animated musical miniseries" would be what we would see first.

Here's the sneak peek or "test & promo animation":
Well, it's clear whoever did this has a good idea of what they're doing. What else do we know? Not a lot but here are the points listed in the FAQ:

  • It will be 2D (hand drawn)
  • It will be a televised miniseries event made by a feature animation team (first time this has been done)
  • It’s by a major studio that has done 2D before
  • Not WDFA (Walt Disney Feature Animation)
  • The animation on here is test/promotional material and is not final
  • The event is very early in pre-production
  • I (the Tumblr owner) briefly worked on the production
  • Hmm... I'm very much wondering if this is due to the hard work and inspiration of Heidi Jo Gilbert, who, not only storyboarded "Defying Gravity" herself in her spare time (and received much praise and support for it) but has been (gently) lobbying Stephen Schwartz for permission to do this (or to have him get someone else to do it, but preferably with her on board) for a good couple of years now.
    By Heidi Jo Gilbert from her "Defying Gravity" personal project storyboard

    Here's her open letter to Stephen Schwartz (who convinced Marc Platt to make a musical instead of a movie and resulted in the award winning Wicked: The Musical):
    I know you can relate to the plight of loving a story, loving a medium, and trying to convince someone in power to see your vision! You did it with Marc Platt when you convinced him to make it a stage musical. I’m just approaching you with the same sincerity. Is it possible to talk you out of doing a live action movie adaptation? Would you consider doing a traditionally animated adaptation? In my heart I think the musical needs the medium, and I think the medium needs your musical. I just love them both so much and hopefully that shows through in the story reel.
    Sincerely,Heidi Jo Gilbert
    Take a look at Ms. Gilbert's storyboarded sequence, Defying Gravity (it's pretty great):
    Ms. Gilbert got so much attention and acclaim at the time (about 2 years ago) that Theater Advisor interviewed her regarding why she thought Wicked should be an animated movie and how she might go about it, if it were up to her. Here's an excerpt:
    TA: What inspired you to make this animation of Wicked? 
    Heidi: Wow I don’t really know where to start with that question. If I had to give the short answer I’d just say my love for the story and my passion for hand-drawn animation. But if you want the long story… 
    by Minkyu Lee (one of the Wicked-in-animation inspired trio)
    I first discovered Wicked from my twin brother. He got the album for Christmas the year it came out. I didn’t know anything about it …but when I looked through the album and saw Stephen Schwartz and Idina Menzel my interest was peaked. I obviously knew Stephen Schwartz from his animation work. And I had seen Idina Menzel on broadway as Amneris in Aida and I loved her. I fell in love with the music and the story. But I think the idea of an animated Wicked first came when I was going to school at CalArts. There was a small group of us Wicked nerds. I think we really annoyed a lot of the other students with our constant stream of Wicked talk. I don’t even remember where the idea came from, it was just like this hive mind. We just had to make it into an animated film! It had to be hand-drawn and we had to be involved! Ha ha! We didn’t think about all the obstacles, how we’re still just students, how hand-drawn animation was dying, how Universal owns the rights. We just loved the story, loved the music, and just had this dream to see it animated.  
    by Heidi Jo Gilbert (check the colors! Looks familiar?)
    We all got jobs at Disney after graduation. Three of us just never let go of the idea, me, Jennifer Hager, and Minkyu Lee, two of my best friends from school. I got laid off from Disney when production on The Princess and the Frog was wrapping. I had all this time on my hands, and the freedom to work on whatever I wanted. Minkyu had done these awesome character designs and visual development for Wicked for one of his portfolios. I just kind of thought to myself, nothing is ever going to happen until we just do something. So I just invested my whole heart into storyboarding that sequence. Everyone has their dream projects. This would be mine. I love that the story is about the friendship between two girls, and not just a love story. I like that it’s not really a happy ending. I just think animation would be the perfect way to tell that story onscreen. And I also think hand-drawn animation needs a story like that to tell. I just love them both so much and that’s what inspired me to do it. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s just coming from a sincere desire to see that story animated and the hope to be a part of it!
    You can read the whole interview HERE.

    At the time of the buzz about Ms. Gilbert's boarded sequence, Universal held the rights to using the Wicked property but I'm not sure who is holding it right now. Guess we'll just have to follow the Wicked Leaks Tumblr and watch for updates...