"Once Upon A Time In Wonderland" Series Premiere Tonight

The Once Upon A Time "limited series" spin-off Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, begins tonight. Although some of the story lines and their players will be familiar, none of the actors from OUAT will be reprising their roles. We will, though, be treated to a whole new host of (quasi) familiar characters, most of them behaving somewhat differently from what we've seen in past versions of their stories (eg. Caterpillar, Jafar (as a genie), the White Rabbit, the Red Queen and lots more to come).

There has been a continual stream of teasers and spoilery leaks since ComicCon so there's plenty to find on the web if you're having trouble waiting for tonight.

Initial test screenings report a lot of soap-like drama and (what people hope to be incomplete) below-average effects but "Alice" (Sophie Lowe) has been given a lot of praise for her acting chops and is said to portray a very refreshing version of Alice so we'll just have to see how it goes.

With the limited episode aspect, Wonderland is going to be a test case for series spin-offs so viewer response will be closely watched by the networks. I'm curious to see if this is the start of modern-mini-series revival.  If so, the case is good for other fairy tale projects  - and possibly more independent ones as well - to come to TV. While I'm reserving judgement on Wonderland for the moment, I'm excited for the potential this programming model makes (and it will all have started with a fairy tale).

Disney's Ugly Princesses (Just Kidding. Pretty Is A Requirement. On the Record.)

This is the bottom half of one of the new Frozen posters. (Ugh)

Sometimes I want to change the name of this blog to Oh No They Didn't! but that's already taken...

(Coincidentally, I was preparing a two-part post on other controversies centering around Frozen that are affecting the public's opinion of fairy tales - slushee indeed...)

So here's the news out of Disney, originally posted in a 50 Things You May Not Know About Frozen article (intended as a publicity "cast-interview" and peek behind the scenes) but certain excerpts were quickly reposted (& shredded) by Tumblr, then quoted and well summarized HERE by Cartoon Brew:

Disney’s Frozen won’t be released theatrically for another month-and-half, but it’s already melting into one giant slushee of controversy. Some people have chosen to boycott the film because of the chauvinist revisions to its storyline. But the real shitsnowstorm of controversy started from within the studio after Lino DiSalvo, the head of animation on Frozen, claimed that it was “really, really difficult” to animate women because they have to be kept pretty while expressing emotions:

“Historically speaking, animating female characters are really, really difficult, because they have to go through these range of emotions, but you have to keep them pretty and they’re very sensitive to — you can get them off a model very quickly. So, having a film with two hero female characters was really tough, and having them both in the scene and look very different if they’re echoing the same expression; that Elsa looking angry looks different from Anna being angry.”

!!!!!!!

Disney did NOT just confirm "pretty" as the most desirable attribute in their female leads, did they?

Yeah they did.

✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

"The Devil's Widow" aka "The Ballad of Tam Lin" Released On Blu-ray

How did I miss this release at the end of September??

Despite being one of those obscure films only Tam Lin fanatics (yes, I'm one of them) and fairy tale folk well versed in film (and possibly die-hard Ava Gardner fans) know about, The Devil's Widow has had enough studio backing to make it to Blu-ray. It's a film that ended up with a couple of titles (not always a good sign) and it's interesting to see that this time around Tam Lin made it on top. When it was released on VHS you had to ask for it by it's more provocative title, The Devil's Widow. (I'm definitely considering getting a copy - my VHS copy is really difficult to sit through, let alone find a player to play it on these days.)

The reviews are more favorable than I've seen about the film in the past. Perhaps the transfer has helped the filmmaking and subtlety of the performances shine (yes, there is subtlety, despite the drug-induced modern-faerie psychedelia!), although it IS a pretty odd film - definitely a product of the experimental '60's (it was originally released in 1970).

With Ava Gardner playing a decadent and aging-despite-herself (faerie) queen, Ian McShane playing the under-the-influence Tam Lin role and Stephanie Beacham (known primarily for her Dynasty role/s and partnering Marlon Brando) playing Janet's role it's an interesting lens on the time period with a psychadelia-meets-fae twist, but the tale is definitely recognizable. This version is told more from Tam Lin (Tom Lynn) in this film and deals with his coming to grips with his... "situation".

It's not a version of Tam Lin that I like very much (and easy to dismiss as a cheesy B movie) but what Ava Gardner does with the possessive faerie queen character is fascinating and she gives a rarely seen, almost personal, exploration of that archetype - just like an inevitable force that can't truly be stopped, like nature, despite herself at times.

The pulp-meets-trippy design of the cover is a good clue to the overall sensibility of this film. It's definitely not for everyone (I wouldn't watch it if it weren't for the Tam Lin connection), but if you, like me, cannot get enough of the fairy tale ballad and haven't seen this, it's worth renting for a once through.

Here's an excerpt from DVD talk:

1970's Tam Lin (or if you prefer The Ballad Of Tam Lin or The Devil's Window) has no shortage of curiosity value, given that it's the one and only feature film directed by prolific actor Roddy McDowell.  

The story itself is based on an old Scottish folk tale, McShane plays Tom Lynn, a young man who gets involved with a wealthy and possessive older woman named Michaela Cazaret (Ava Gardner), who has a habit of surrounding herself with young adults so that she in turn will retain her youthful vigor... 

Definitely a product of its time, Tam Lin is nevertheless a pretty interesting movie even if it does get off to a bit of a slow start. On the surface, the tension wouldn't seem to mount until the last half hour or so but pay attention to the early scenes of partying and note some of the more vitriolic dialogue that works its way into these moments. There foreshadowing of the darkness to come is definitely there, and it's often times delivered in clever and effective ways by the cast members. As Michaela and her ensemble indulge themselves we're treated to a look at the counter culture movement of the era through some decidedly non-rose tinted glasses. These are spoiled children playing with an equally spoiled benefactor who is using them for her own needs with no concern as to what happens to them. They are her toys, and Tom is the one she likes best. 

Performances are very good here. Ian McShane is a good lead, he's not the foul mouthed villain it's so easy to see him as these days but instead a reasonably dashing and charming young man, making it easy to see why an older woman might take interest in him. Ava Gardner is the real star here, however. She's pretty diabolical in her methods, particularly once Tom has crossed her and she decides to take action against him for it... 

By the time the movie ends, McDowell has taken us into some expectedly dark and deliriously psychedelic territory. The movie doesn't necessarily end the way that you think it's going to and it turns out to be a rather strange, although very deliberate film. Some pacing issues aside, this is a pretty interesting curio, a mix of genres skewed through a singular vision intend on updating a story spawned from his own heritage to a modern audience not necessarily aware of the direction in which they were heading. This makes Tam Lin a smarter film than it might at first seem, and in turn makes it all the more worthwhile.

Here's the closest thing I can find to a trailer for it on YouTube:

I'm a little grumped there are no extra features on the Blu-ray - not even behind-the-scenes photos or marked up script pages. I hope they include the Roddy McDowell's intro that was on my VHS copy. It would have been nice to get some additional insight into the research and writing of the movie as part of the new package but... oh well. A decent copy to watch makes it a lot easier to see the Director's subtleties and intent. I'm curious if I will like it any better when I see it next. 

If you'd like a copy of your own, you can buy it HERE.

Wordstock 2013's Grimm Readers

NBC Grimm stars Silas Weir Mitchell & Bitsie Tulloch read fairy tales at Wordstock 2013

A little report on the fairy tales chosen by NBC's Grimm stars for their dramatic readings during Wordstock this past weekend in Portland, OR:

Bitsie Tulloch (who plays the main character's love interest and is recently new-to-the-Grimm-factor alive and well in her world) chose the Twelve Dancing Princesses, while Silas Weir Mitchell (the reformed big bad wolf, part of the Grimm "Scooby gang" and fan favorite) chose The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn Fear.

I wish more had been reported (read: I wish someone had put it up on YouTube already They did! They did! See below for the video!!) but Oregon Live was generous with other details so I can't really complain. Here are some extracts from the article that will interest fairy tale folk:

The story of the youth who went forth to know what fear was by Adreas Krapf

Mitchell introduced his Grimm tale as "The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear," and he read with conversational ease the saga of a young man who goes out into the world determined to feel fear. "If only I could shudder," the boy repeats. "If only I could shudder."  

Despite encountering assorted frights -- including some ghoulish bowling, and two deadly black cats, whose cry of, "Au, meow! How cold we are!" Mitchell delivered with high-pitched, feline relish -- the young man still can't shudder. 

He can't, that is, until he marries the daughter of the king, whose chambermaid comes to the rescue. She goes out to the brook, and collects a bucket of cold water filled with wriggling minnows. While the young man sleeps, his wife pulls back the covers and pours the water and minnows on him. The young man wakes, and at last declares, "Yes, now I know how to shudder." 

Finally published 60 years after it was created, Sheila Robinson's The Twelve Dancing Princesses

For her turn, Tulloch read "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," the famous Grimm tale about a veteran soldier who solves the mystery of how the 12 princesses manage to sneak out of the castle every night and dance until their shoes are worn through. 

Tulloch -- whose "Grimm" character, Juliette Silverton, has endured her boyfriend's strange behavior and an amnesia-inducing spell -- said "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" was one of her favorites. Smiling, she said that, in comparison to Mitchell's choice, hers was "a little bit girlier." She read in the smooth, reassuring voice of a parent sharing a much-loved story with her child. 

After the stories, Mitchell and Tulloch were asked why they selected the stories they did.

...Mitchell thanked the audience for sticking with his story, despite its length, and referenced the work of C.S. Jung -- a pioneer in the study of human psychology -- in alluding to the story's theme of something compensatory going on in the boy's psyche. When you feel you lack something, you feel like you've got to go get it, Mitchell said, even though "What he wants is something not great" -- that is, he wants to learn how to be afraid. 

The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was by Lin Ran

As to the ending, in which the young man finally learns to shudder at the hands of his wife, Mitchell said it also speaks to the idea that "We can't be whole unless we have someone...that we can relate to." It's the "other," he said, that makes the boy whole. 

Mitchell then added that was "one of a thousand possible interpretations of the story." 

Tulloch had a personal connection to her story. She wanted to read it from the book she had with her, she said, "Because my sister gave this to me when 'Grimm' was picked up for series two years ago." 

Coming from a military family, she added, she responded to the character of the wounded war veteran being the one to solve the mystery of the princesses' midnight dancing. She also liked that when given the choice of which princess to marry, the soldier acknowledges he's not young anymore, and so decides to marry the eldest princess. 

Twelve Dancing Princesses by Errol Le Cain

You can read the whole article HERE. 

And now you can see a video too! (See? It pays for me to double check what's going up early the next morning... :)

Enjoy:

How fun would that have been to see in person? I'm secretly hoping someone recorded these performances (properly) and that they'll be included as a DVD extra at some point, because this is a keeper.

Theater Review Articles: "Imaginary Beasts Troupe Makes a Meal of ‘Hairy Tales’" & "Matchless Magic"

Amy Meyer (front) and Poornima Kirby as the Countess

'To bicycle is in itself some protection against superstitious fears. That is because the bicycle is the product of pure reason applied to motion. Geometry at the service of man!' (Quote from Imaginary Beasts FaceBook page, on Hairy Tales)

You may remember my post last Thursday about Angela Carter's dramatized radio plays Hairy Tales (specifically, Vampirella & The Company of Wolves)? Now that a few performances have run we have some reviews available to give us a peek behind the curtain.

Here are some excerpts from a review in The Boston Globe "Imaginary Beasts troupe makes a meal of ‘Hairy Tales’":

Presented by Imaginary Beasts under the umbrella title “Hairy Tales,” as part of the company’s “Once Upon a Time . . . ” season at the Boston Center for the Arts, they posit that the beast in us all is anything but imaginary. 

At the BCA’s Plaza Black Box, the floor for “The Company of Wolves” is painted, or perhaps chalked, in swashes of brown, gray, and white that suggest tree trunks — or wolf fur. The back wall comprises four panels of horizontal wooden slats, in front of which is a long table and props: baskets, a chair, a stool, a red napkin, a gun, a hatchet, a feathered hat. The backdrop for “Vampirella” is a white sheet draped over the wooden wall with holes, through which the Count appears. The table doubles as a bed and at times is upended; a magic lantern projects images and information on the sheet. One of director Matthew Woods’s better inspirations is the hula hoop that serves as the Hero’s bicycle.

(You can continue reading the whole article HERE.)

Michael Underhill as the Hero

And there's a more personal review on the Boston Arts Review blog by Beverly Creasey titled "Matchless Magic". Here are a couple of excerpts from her write-up:

Of the two evening shows on the same bill, the first, THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, is what you might call a stylized “horror” story with a twist, about women and their infinite attraction to wolves... You may not recognize them because their fur grows not on the outside but on the inside... 

Lovely stomping, clapping, jumping choreography by Kiki Samko has the villagers dancing a reel, unaware of the shadows surrounding their exuberant celebration. Director Matthew Woods and company have found a delightful, inventive theatrical “language” with which to tell a story. Two actors, back to back, lock arms to become a four legged creature. Another becomes a ticking clock with outstretched arms for the hands. (A swinging pendulum is supplied by another.) Two more position themselves so that we see only the isolated head of one and just the body of the other, to add up to one “headless horseman” of a corpse.

...The piece de resistance, however, is the second play, VAMPIRELLA (Lady of the House of Love). Your breath will be taken away by the confluence of images in the play. From Joey Pelletier’s racing, tiptoeing, begging handed, lantern bearing Nosferatu (Woods pays tribute in VAMPIRELLA both to Murnau and to the original magic lantern “moving pictures”)… to Michael Underhill’s hilariously droll Brit peddling madly through the Carpathian mountains on a wild hula hoop bicycle….to Amy Meyer’s weightless, gravity defying form sliding down Dierdre Benson’s door-wall-platform-table-bed…to William Schuller’s taller-than-life Vlad, able to penetrate a castle wall at will…to Poormina Kirby’s helpless, blind bird, caged in Cotton Talbot-Minkin’s inverted hooped skirt armature (Talbot-Minkin’s costumes are extraordinary creations)…to Kamelia Aly’s bloodthirsty governess (Attend the tale of Sawney Beene!)....I could go on and on. 

Woods’ savagely beautiful set design/direction (not to mention Sam Beebe’s haunting music and Chris Bocchiaro’s chiaroscuro lighting) makes you wonder how Carter’s gorgeous language (“corridors as circuitous as passages inside the ear”) could exist without the thrill of the Imaginary Beasts to make it soar. Miss HAIRY TALES at your peril.

You can read her whole review (with many more details for the two stories), HERE.

There's another review from The White Rhino Report HERE which, although it doesn't give a whole lot of new information about the presentation or content, gives an enthusiastic personal - and clearly delighted - perspective on the double bill, which is worth reading as well.

I'm inspired just reading these three reviews! We'll have to see if it makes enough impact to travel or the rights given to other companies to perform it in other cities/towns. Here hoping. *fingers crossed*

CW's "Beauty and the Beast" Season 2 Premiere Tonight

CWs reboot of Beauty and the Beast clearly struck a chord, quickly building a loyal and solid fan base last season, so the show is back for a second round, looking bigger than ever and pushing the envelope a little more too.

What I find interesting about this season is that, in many ways, the premise for this arc is actually closer to older tellings of the fairy tale than the first season was. In this coming season you have Catherine (our modern Beauty) who has clearly committed her heart (at risk of her life) to the Beast but in this attached state she, this season will find him a stranger and will have to work through that.

This very much tracks with the idea of the story being about marriage; how a girl/woman is committed to a new way of life and has to adjust to this new state and all that means. With Leprince de Beaumont's story, fairy tale scholars say she specifically meant the story to be a warning/explanation of sex (and sexual expectation) in marriage and how that's a scary thing for many girls but also that you can learn to have happiness (in marriage) if you persist in your commitment. Now that we have rituals of dating and romantic engagement before marriage (I say romantic, meaning the couple tend to be in love before the wedding rather than following through on an arrangement) it is not unusual for couples (women in particular) to find themselves married to someone very different to the person they've dated. The difference in an arranged marriage is that couples expect not to know each other and are prepared to take time learning about their new partner and life, whereas modern couples are often taken by surprise at a partner's different behavior after a wedding, sometimes to the point of complete disillusionment. In a state of romantic pursuit, people (men in particular) tend to act very differently to when they have attained that "prize" and are settling into a married-and-sometimes-kids life. It's not a purposeful thing (usually) but it is a consistent thing and adjusting to this can be difficult - for both parties. The first year of marriage is often said to be the worst because of this. (Welcome to ever after!)

You may have heard a lot about the “changes” that Vincent goes through that put a strain on their relationship (specifically, he’s all Grrr-y now) and while you get the sense it will definitely be a battle to recover what they once had, there’s one very important gesture he makes that will fill your heart with hope. (source)

In this sense the metaphor of Beauty and the Beast for marriage is taken to extremes in this coming season with Vincent (the Beast) not only having challenges in keeping his human side dominant/present but also in that he's lost the memory of everything he and Catherine (his Beauty) have shared to date. Saying things are going to be tough is an understatement.

The show core of Beauty and the Beast, however, definitely has a strong optimistic heart of romantic idealism to it. No matter how many militia are faced or buildings explode (or, apparently, memories are lost) you know Vincent and Catherine are going to find a way to be together and that their love will conquer any obstacle.


Unlike the first season in which the lure of that "very different", seemingly unattainable and impossible match is what keeps the fire going in the relationship, this season seems to be dealing with a more realistic approach (and challenge). Intense feelings of new love and the rush of forbidden excitement won't be enough to get them through it all now. It's going to have to be deeper and more purposeful relationship than that and this is the big theme the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale rides on.

While there's no doubt the CW show is more about a romantic premise than retelling a fairy tale, what they're doing with it now actually resonates pretty well with the original stories. At the same time, the popularity of the show makes it clear that this what Beauty and the Beast represents to people today - of loving against expectation/the norm, of love conquering all, that commitment/true love conquers seemingly impossible obstacles in relationships. It's clear that this tale still resonates deeply with many today and probably always will, no matter what form the telling takes.

As a side note, I wanted to include the different posters appearing for the show in the post for comparison of themes and how ideal love is represented to two different audiences. The Canadian (and New Zealand?) premiere of the show has a very romantic yet romeo and Juliet feel in the promotional material (they are the more colorful images complete with being bound with thorns and roses and drowning in petals for Showcase) whereas Singapore and other Asian countries are choosing the harder, more warrior-looking images (aka edgy or death-cannot-keep-us-apart vibe) to promote the series beginning, which is what Season 2 is using in the US. Both, however, aren't shy in showing Vincent's facial scarring or suggestions of his "otherness". It's very different to the much softer (aka safer) way the US was introduced to the debut which barely had any hint of Beast at all. Interesting.

Ask Baba Yaga: How Can I Stop Thinking About How It Felt to Dance Drunk With Him at Midnight?

Vasillisa and the Baba Yaga by Biffno

You know that giddy feeling that comes with new love? Baba Yaga has some sage advice for people who can't seem to stop spinning from one to another.

This week's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

I think these people may be just as addicted to reading Baba Yaga's word soups as I am:

• "after the howl undoes itself" That makes my brain feel so happy; just one of those word sequences. (I'm Right On Top Of That, Rose))
• "always will there be more Whirlings & more absences suck to those fragrant ribs."
  HEART HEART HEART (PomoFrannyGlass)
• This is the only advice column that matters. (Potatotoe@twitter)

"Fragrant ribs" is a really bizarre-yet-appropriate way to describe the embrace of someone you yearn for. I guess if you choose love you should prepare to be swallowed. *gulp!*

I feel an urge to print out many of Baba Yaga's "word dancings" to pin up around the house... Reading these is a little like crack, in poetry form.

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

Dramatic Fairy Tale Readings by "Grimm" Cast Members At Wordstock Today!

Gov. John Kitzhaber, from left, and David Giuntoli, star of the TV series "Grimm," carved into a monsterous cake last year. Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell and Russell Hornsby watched the governor skewer a decorative monster. 

How neat is this? I just found out about this right when I was supposed to be signing off so forgive the mass copy & paste of information here but I don't want those who are in the Wordstock neighborhood (aka Portland, OR) to miss out!

From Oregon Live:

Silas Weir Mitchell and Bitsie Tulloch, stars of the filmed-in-Portland NBC series "Grimm,"will read favorite fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, atWordstock. Mitchell plays Monroe the Blutbad on the show and Tulloch is Juliette Silverton, the girlfriend of Monroe's partner Nick. Tulloch, active on Twitter, asked everyone to join her and Mitchell as they read to "kids/you!" "Grimm" begins its third season Oct. 25 and has been filming all over town.

Grimm News from Wordstock

A new development for the imminent Wordstock Festival stages, NBC’s GRIMM, the popular drama series inspired by the classic Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales, filmed right here in Portland, will make a literary appearance! In advance of their 3rd Season premiere, October 25th, GRIMM cast members, Silas Weir Mitchell and Bitsie Tulloch share dramatic readings of their favorite Brothers Grimm fairy tales with Wordstock audiences. Where, when, how you ask? Join us at Wordstock Saturday, October 5 at the McMenamins Stage. 

Silas Weir Mitchell stars in the acclaimed drama series as Monroe. When Portland Homicide Dectective, Nick Burkhardt, learns he is a "Grimm" charged with keeping balance between humanity and mythology, Blutbad Monroe (think Werewolf post anger management) steps in reluctantly to guide him. 
Bitsie Tulloch stars as Juliette Silverton, Nick's loyal girlfriend, who is wary of his recent forays into the Grimm world. 

Wondering how to fit this in your chalk-full schedule? For full festival event schedule and ticketing information, visit bewordstock.org.

Wordstock Festival At A GlanceOct 3, 4. Parties, flash readings and events all around Portland.Oct 5, 6. Book Fair at the Oregon Convention Center(777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Portland, OR)Book Fair hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday and SundayAges 13 and under —FREEAdvance General Admission (with parking and beverage discount)— $7 per dayDay-of General Admission—$11 per dayStudent Ticket (with valid ID) — $5 per day*Find further ticketing, event, and author details at bewordstock.org.

I'm curious to know what tales they will all be reading. If you go, let us know!

Fables Movie Update (There's *Almost* a Script Already!)

Bigby Wolf by Jeremy Bear

Gotta love getting bonus news on the end of a completely different interview which posted yesterday (Friday) afternoon...

I Am Rogue had an exclusive interview with Producer David Heyman, who had a huge hand in bringing the Harry Potter books to the big screen and whose currently-screening project is a little film called Gravity (you may have heard of it? Sandra Bullock, George Clooney... yeah - that Gravity). His current project-in-the-works is, you guessed it, bringing Fables to the big screen*.

Here's the Fables-relevant portion of the interview:

Producer David Heyman

Finally, are you still working on the feature film adaption of author Bill Willingham’s fan-favorite comic book seriesFables? 

Heyman: I am and I’m really excited.  

It has had over 133 issues and is still going, so there is a lot of story to narrow down into one movie. How do you decide what to focus on? Are you going to just concentrate on the Big Bad Wolf’s storyline, or will it feature other popular characters like Jack Horner? 

Heyman: I think we want to bring in most certainly elements of many different characters that make up this world because it really is about a community of sorts. I’m sure Bigby will feature. We’re working with a really brilliant director in Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair). 

Are you still in the script stage? 

Heyman: Yes, we’re in the script stage. We’re waiting for a first draft now.      

So what we now know/is confirmed, is:

1) Fables is well and truly happening - for REALS Y'ALL! (OK, yes. I'm still super excited about this. Why? It's exciting stuff. Period.)
2) They have signed a director: Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair)
3) They have a writer/s, and have gone from treatment/pitch to "script stage" where a first draft is currently being written (that's a big deal - a lot of films get stuck in development and writers don't even get employed to do a first draft)
4) They have chosen their core players (at least) from the gigantic cast of Fables are it looks like Bigby (aka the Big Bad Wolf, aka Fabletown's Sheriff, aka Snow White's love interest)
5) They're going to have a decently sized cast in which characters will play their storybook roles as part of a community (as opposed to faceless/featureless background/filler casting)
6) They're leaving a lot of room open to develop a franchise with a community set-up (ie. sequels, feature stories etc) should the movie go over well
7) This movie is moving along at a good pace and if they keep on this track we could actually see a movie by sometime in 2015... (based on average successful, highly anticipated and well funded movie development)

We have yet to hear word of the next biggest priorities: art direction and casting (but you can bet your Fables collection they're being talked about in every Fables movie meeting right now.)

All sounds great to me. I may have to ramp up my Fables catch-up reading faster than I thought. (This is NOT a complaint.)

* BTW - in case you've forgotten this is being helmed by Warner Bros in conjunction with DC Entertainment. 

Mats Ek's Modern "Sleeping Beauty" Is A Recovering Junkie Making Her Own Happy Ending

Created by Damian Siqueiros for created for the 2013-2014 Season of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens of Montreal

Mats Ek's Sleeping Beauty - Les Grands Ballets Canadiens - 2013

CALGARY: OCT 31 - NOV 3, 2013/ EDMONTON: NOV 6-7, 2013

There are two acclaimed modern Sleeping Beauty ballet productions debuting this month. The first, by world renowned Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, although not a new work, is a new production and will be performed in Alberta (Canada) for the first time. The other (by English choreographer Matthew Bourne) is a brand new which debuted in the UK this past year and is deserving of its own separate post (which should post this weekend).

This modern Sleeping Beauty ballet (and this production) is by all reports unforgettable but despite using Tchaikovsky's lovely score (which I knew by heart at age 5) the issues and narrative centering around a recovering "girl interrupted" type character, mean this interpretation is definitely not for kids (at least not without adult supervision). There are also nods to that "other" half of Perrault's Sleeping Beauty (& The Sun, Moon & Talia) as she finds herself pregnant and bewildered upon awakening from her overdose, with her happily ever after still quite a journey away. The explorations of human psyche and inter personal relationships using the Sleeping Beauty tale have critics in agreement that this is a magnificent work. Because of the modern ballet medium and Mat Ek's humor, however, not everything is necessarily clear along the way to even balletically savvy audiences. For instance those three ladies on the sides of the image below are fairies, and (in past productions) the audience is treated to a recipe for fish broth by a chef who appears on stage, for what purpose exactly, I still haven't read a good explanation. Despite this, the interpretation is considered a modern masterpiece and not to be missed.

Mats Ek has a penchant for taking classic stories and modernizing them with a visceral and controversial edge, while still managing to contain a sense of humor (albeit a dark one). Images from his Giselle  - both fascinating and provoking - stay with me to this day. I'm told his Sleeping Beauty would likely do the same.

I love this summary of how the Sleeping Beauty tale is updated and the quotes by Mats Ek himself that it contains, explaining not only his approach to this ballet but to fairy tales in general:

Created in 1996 for Hamburg Ballet, Sleeping Beauty tells the modern story of Princess Aurora, now a rebellious teen who has fallen victim to the prick of a heroin needle and a menacing drug dealer who has no intention of saving her. Lifted by the stirring sounds of Tchaikovsky and Ek’s signature dark humour, audiences will dive into the many troubling and beautiful layers of the human psyche, exploring death, love, jealousy, revenge and happy endings with 30 dancers from Les Grands Ballets. “A fairy tale is like a pretty little house, but there’s a sign on the door saying ‘land mines! ’All fairy tales have things in common: princesses, witches, kings and queens, Good and Evil. But each one also has something unique about it, because inexplicable things happen. InSleeping Beauty, for me, this mysterious moment is the actual prick of the thorn, with the sleep that follows. What does this mean, and what is really going on? I have an irrepressible storytelling urge. Rereading myths, legends and fairy tales, discovering their obvious aspects, sabotaging them and re-creating them—in other words, taking them seriously—is to my mind an act of the greatest significance.” -Mats Ek Not recommended for children under 12

(Emphasis in bold is mine.)

Take a look at this lovely trailer for the upcoming production:

From The Montreal Gazette:

In Ek’s modern conception, Princess Aurora is a wilful modern woman whose rejection of society’s norms brings her under a spell cast not by a spiteful witch but by a male drug pusher. Aurora’s deep sleep is a result of a drug injection. Her recovery depends on rather more substantial therapy than a prince’s kiss. 

Nowadays, modernizing classic ballets is nothing new... But in 1982, when Ek staged his first classic ballet reworking, Giselle, it was a radical move in the dance world. In its original 1841 version, Giselle loses her mind, kills herself and returns as a spirit in a forest. Instead of a forest, Ek put Giselle in a mental institution. In 1987, he created a Swan Lake with baldheaded swans and a hero unsure of his sexuality. Sleeping Beauty, his final reworking of a major classic to date, was made in 1996 for Hamburg Ballet following an unexpected encounter in Zurich. 

“He was walking outside the Zurich Opera,” Monika Mengarelli recalled recently. Mengarelli is a veteran member of Cullberg Ballet who was in Montreal with its former artistic director, Margareta Lidstrom, to restage Sleeping Beauty, aided by Les Grands’ ballet mistress, Margret Kaufmann. “There’s a park where drug addicts liked to meet or sit. Mats saw a girl on a bench who was clearly an addict.” 

The girl’s plight was the kernel that grew into Sleeping Beauty. It was typical of Ek. All of his works are sparked by experiences grounded in the real world.

Here's the official write-up for the production from Les Grands Ballets Canadiens:

One of the world’s most acclaimed choreographers of the 20th Century, Swedish maverick Mats Ek’s trademark black humour comes to Alberta for the first time with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal's riveting rendition of his Sleeping Beauty. Set to Tchaikovsky's spell-binding score, this adult fairytale takes Aurora on a quest for the unknown and is nothing short of astonishing. Created in an esthetic that is at once subversive, highly comical and yet deeply troubled, Mats Ek’s remarkable version of Princess Aurora’s mythical odyssey has been acclaimed and cherished around the world as one of the great choreographic masterpieces of the century. (Parental guidance is advised.)

If you love ballet and/or modern dance I recommend reading the full article at The Montreal Gazette which details some of the dancers' challenges in executing Ek's choreography and narrative as opposed to the traditionally grueling technical challenges of Petipa's traditional ballet version of Sleeping Beauty.

You can find information about tickets and times HERE.