Exclusive: Tom Francis, the Olivier Award-winning actor who will reprise his West End portrayal of Joe Gillis in Jamie Lloyd’s West End production of Sunset Boulevard when the revival moves to Broadway this fall, has signed with Linden Entertainment.
Francis stars opposite Nicole Scherzinger, who plays Norma Desmond in the revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Don Black-Christopher Hampton musical adaptation of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film classic.
In addition to Scherzinger and Francis, West End cast members making the move to Broadway’s St. James Theatre include Grace Hodgett-Young (playing Betty Schaefer) and David Thaxton (Max Von Mayerling). Previews begin Sept. 28, with an opening night of Oct. 20.
Francis, who won the Best Leading Actor/Musical Olivier for his Sunset performance, can be seen on screen when he returns to Netflix’s You, currently filming its fifth and final season. His prior stage roles include &Juliet (Shaftesbury Theatre); What’s New Pussycat...
Francis stars opposite Nicole Scherzinger, who plays Norma Desmond in the revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Don Black-Christopher Hampton musical adaptation of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film classic.
In addition to Scherzinger and Francis, West End cast members making the move to Broadway’s St. James Theatre include Grace Hodgett-Young (playing Betty Schaefer) and David Thaxton (Max Von Mayerling). Previews begin Sept. 28, with an opening night of Oct. 20.
Francis, who won the Best Leading Actor/Musical Olivier for his Sunset performance, can be seen on screen when he returns to Netflix’s You, currently filming its fifth and final season. His prior stage roles include &Juliet (Shaftesbury Theatre); What’s New Pussycat...
- 6/21/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Pondering Will Smith’s recent triumph at a local Cinemark and Donald Trump’s post-conviction surge, I got to thinking about “movie-think.”
You know, the way we’ve become accustomed, after watching hundreds and hundreds of mainstream films, to thinking the way the movies do. The real villain is someone in power. Anyone too pretty, male or female, is suspect. Things will get worse, much worse, before they get better. Our hero is almost always an outsider — someone who is knocked off a pedestal, beaten down, and kicked around, all the way to the bottom of the second act, before rising in triumph or existential martyrdom (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) to win our hearts and minds forever.
From our heroes, real or cinematic, we forgive and even expect transgression — a misbegotten slap, a tawdry liaison and all that comes with it. In movie-think, we honor the renegades,...
You know, the way we’ve become accustomed, after watching hundreds and hundreds of mainstream films, to thinking the way the movies do. The real villain is someone in power. Anyone too pretty, male or female, is suspect. Things will get worse, much worse, before they get better. Our hero is almost always an outsider — someone who is knocked off a pedestal, beaten down, and kicked around, all the way to the bottom of the second act, before rising in triumph or existential martyrdom (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) to win our hearts and minds forever.
From our heroes, real or cinematic, we forgive and even expect transgression — a misbegotten slap, a tawdry liaison and all that comes with it. In movie-think, we honor the renegades,...
- 6/16/2024
- by Michael Cieply
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Natasha Behnam (The Girls on the Bus), Pete Ploszek (Parks & Recreation), Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard) and b (Station 19) are set for recurring roles in the fifth and final season of Netflix’s hit psychological drama You.
Based on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling novel of the same name, You revolves around the question, “What would you do for love?” The series follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a man who will do just about anything when love is at stake.
In addition to Badgley, they join previously announced Charlotte Richie, Madeline Brewer, Anna Camp and Griffin Matthews for Season 5.
Season 4 was set in London where Joe took on the new identity of Jonathan Moore, an English professor, while following Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) around Europe. Details regarding the focus of Season 5 are being kept under wraps.
Behnam plays Dominique. While appearing to be an aloof hipster, Dominique is in fact a passionate,...
Based on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling novel of the same name, You revolves around the question, “What would you do for love?” The series follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a man who will do just about anything when love is at stake.
In addition to Badgley, they join previously announced Charlotte Richie, Madeline Brewer, Anna Camp and Griffin Matthews for Season 5.
Season 4 was set in London where Joe took on the new identity of Jonathan Moore, an English professor, while following Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) around Europe. Details regarding the focus of Season 5 are being kept under wraps.
Behnam plays Dominique. While appearing to be an aloof hipster, Dominique is in fact a passionate,...
- 5/10/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The hit London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard is heading to Broadway later this year and bringing star Nicole Scherzinger and the rest of the West End principal cast with it.
As Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye revealed before Christmas, Scherzinger will make her Broadway debut reprising her acclaimed performance as Norma Desmond.
Although production dates and venue are still to be announced, producers said today that the musical will star Scherzinger along with her West End castmates Tom Francis (as Joe Gillis), Grace Hodgett-Young (Betty Schaefer) and David Thaxton (Max Von Mayerling).
In addition to preview and opening night dates, additional casting will be announced shortly. A fall 2024 opening has been widely speculated.
Directed by Jamie Lloyd (A Doll’s House) and produced by his Jamie Lloyd Company, Sunset Boulevard began performances in London last September, receiving critical acclaim for its streamlined reimagining and what The New York...
As Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye revealed before Christmas, Scherzinger will make her Broadway debut reprising her acclaimed performance as Norma Desmond.
Although production dates and venue are still to be announced, producers said today that the musical will star Scherzinger along with her West End castmates Tom Francis (as Joe Gillis), Grace Hodgett-Young (Betty Schaefer) and David Thaxton (Max Von Mayerling).
In addition to preview and opening night dates, additional casting will be announced shortly. A fall 2024 opening has been widely speculated.
Directed by Jamie Lloyd (A Doll’s House) and produced by his Jamie Lloyd Company, Sunset Boulevard began performances in London last September, receiving critical acclaim for its streamlined reimagining and what The New York...
- 1/4/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Jamie Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard will transfer to Broadway in 2024, with Nicole Scherzinger reprising her role as Norma Desmond.
The revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical moves to Broadway from London, where it has been playing since September. Scherzinger will be joined on Broadway by her London co-stars: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
Exact dates and a theater for the Broadway run have not yet been announced. The London run is scheduled to end Jan. 6.
This will mark the Broadway debut for Scherzinger, who was formerly a member of the pop group The Pussycat Dolls. She previously starred in Lloyd Webber’s Cats on the West End and has made appearances as a judge on shows such as X Factor and The Masked Singer.
Her performance and Lloyd’s stripped-down take on the production, which...
The revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical moves to Broadway from London, where it has been playing since September. Scherzinger will be joined on Broadway by her London co-stars: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
Exact dates and a theater for the Broadway run have not yet been announced. The London run is scheduled to end Jan. 6.
This will mark the Broadway debut for Scherzinger, who was formerly a member of the pop group The Pussycat Dolls. She previously starred in Lloyd Webber’s Cats on the West End and has made appearances as a judge on shows such as X Factor and The Masked Singer.
Her performance and Lloyd’s stripped-down take on the production, which...
- 1/4/2024
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Are swimming pools inherently scary places? Well, you might try asking the characters from A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 or Joe Gillis from Sunset Boulevard. Or the person who had to clean the retirement home pool after the pod-aliens were done in Cocoon. Now here comes Blumhouse, looking to make a late night dip look like a terrifying old time. The first trailer for Night Swim is now online…
Based on the 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Kerry Condon), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren).
Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be...
Based on the 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Kerry Condon), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren).
Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be...
- 10/5/2023
- by James White
- Empire - Movies
William Holden may have won his only Academy Award for Billy Wilder’s “Stalag 17,” but he wasn’t the first choice to play Sefton, the cynical sergeant who is a one-man black market at a German Pow camp. Originally, Charlton Heston was going to headline the film. Heston was red-hot at the time coming off his flashy starring role in Cecil B. DeMille’s Oscar winning 1952 circus epic “The Great Show on Earth.” But as Wilder and co-writer Edwin Blum were working on the script for the film, which premiered on July 1, 1953 in New York and two weeks later in Los Angeles, the character became darker and more disparaging; They realized Heston wasn’t right for the part
The AFI catalog noted that supposedly Wilder went to Kirk Douglas who had starred in Wilder’s 1951 “Ace in the Hole,” a masterpiece that flopped badly when released. After he turned...
The AFI catalog noted that supposedly Wilder went to Kirk Douglas who had starred in Wilder’s 1951 “Ace in the Hole,” a masterpiece that flopped badly when released. After he turned...
- 7/3/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
At this point, it's probably not a spoiler to say that a key "Yellowjackets" character is alive and somewhat well. That character is Vanessa "Van" Palmer (Lauren Ambrose and Liv Hewton), and if we're being honest, she's kind of living the best life out of all the show's plane crash survivors. Why is that? Well, she has her own video and DVD rental business, While You Were Streaming, smack dab in the middle of an undisclosed Pennsylvanian town. If you are even the slightest bit familiar with the work we do here at Slash Film dot com, it shouldn't be a surprise that we consider this the best possible fate to have.
What also isn't surprising is that Van has very good taste in movies, and also knows a thing or two about Hollywood's bizarre queer history. That's because While You Were Streaming is filled with Easter eggs to mainstream queer cinema,...
What also isn't surprising is that Van has very good taste in movies, and also knows a thing or two about Hollywood's bizarre queer history. That's because While You Were Streaming is filled with Easter eggs to mainstream queer cinema,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
“I’m what they call a straight shooter. If you say to me, ‘How am I?,’ I don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you.’ I tell you how I am, whether you want to hear it or not.” Discussing everything from California’s air quality index to toothbrushing technique proves to be perfect icebreaker for this particular straight shooter, actress Nancy Olson Livingston, the last living star of Billy Wilder’s storied Hollywood fable “Sunset Boulevard.”
Such a range of topics is fitting for the conversation at hand, about the memoir the Oscar nominee has written: “A Front Row Seat: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood and the Age of Glamour.” Livingston, now approaching 95, is not one to hold back or hide her opinions; she’s equally candid about her own life as she is about politics and the environment.
Her frankness gives insight into why Billy Wilder cast her,...
Such a range of topics is fitting for the conversation at hand, about the memoir the Oscar nominee has written: “A Front Row Seat: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood and the Age of Glamour.” Livingston, now approaching 95, is not one to hold back or hide her opinions; she’s equally candid about her own life as she is about politics and the environment.
Her frankness gives insight into why Billy Wilder cast her,...
- 4/17/2023
- by Michael Kogge
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
Late in 1971, a shaggy, 23-year-old college student and aspiring screenwriter was toiling away at his master’s thesis at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Born Feb. 2, 1948, in Waukegan, Illinois, David Ray Johnson displayed nothing particularly remarkable at first glance. He stood about 5-foot-7, had long brown hair and a thick mustache, and was “your basic Midwestern kid,” as one friend would later describe him.
But he was not entirely basic. Johnson was openly gay and rather flamboyant. He was entranced by drag queens. He spoke with a breathy, halting affectation. He’d often declare of things that met his approval, “What a hoot!”
And he was obsessed with Mae West.
The pioneering sex symbol was the subject of Johnson’s film studies thesis. The 72-page dissertation, “An Historical and Interpretive Analysis of the Development and Perpetuation of the Mae West Phenomenon on...
Late in 1971, a shaggy, 23-year-old college student and aspiring screenwriter was toiling away at his master’s thesis at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Born Feb. 2, 1948, in Waukegan, Illinois, David Ray Johnson displayed nothing particularly remarkable at first glance. He stood about 5-foot-7, had long brown hair and a thick mustache, and was “your basic Midwestern kid,” as one friend would later describe him.
But he was not entirely basic. Johnson was openly gay and rather flamboyant. He was entranced by drag queens. He spoke with a breathy, halting affectation. He’d often declare of things that met his approval, “What a hoot!”
And he was obsessed with Mae West.
The pioneering sex symbol was the subject of Johnson’s film studies thesis. The 72-page dissertation, “An Historical and Interpretive Analysis of the Development and Perpetuation of the Mae West Phenomenon on...
- 6/17/2022
- by Seth Abramovitch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Roy Kent is staying with Warner Bros. Fc.
Ted Lasso star, writer and co-exec producer Brett Goldstein has struck an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.
The Brit, best known for his on-screen role as the hardman of AFC Richmond, will develop and produce new series with the studio as part of the multi-year agreement. The deal, which covers writing, development and producing rather than acting, marks Goldstein’s first overall pact.
It comes as he is in hot demand. Goldstein is currently working on season three of the Apple TV comedy, which is set to start production soon, and recently set up Jason Segal-fronted therapist comedy series Shrinking at Apple, which gave it a ten-episode order, alongside his Ted Lasso boss Bill Lawrence.
Goldstein, who won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, previously created and exec produced AMC anthology series Soulmates with Will Bridges.
Ted Lasso star, writer and co-exec producer Brett Goldstein has struck an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.
The Brit, best known for his on-screen role as the hardman of AFC Richmond, will develop and produce new series with the studio as part of the multi-year agreement. The deal, which covers writing, development and producing rather than acting, marks Goldstein’s first overall pact.
It comes as he is in hot demand. Goldstein is currently working on season three of the Apple TV comedy, which is set to start production soon, and recently set up Jason Segal-fronted therapist comedy series Shrinking at Apple, which gave it a ten-episode order, alongside his Ted Lasso boss Bill Lawrence.
Goldstein, who won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, previously created and exec produced AMC anthology series Soulmates with Will Bridges.
- 1/31/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Emmy-winning “Ted Lasso” star Brett Goldstein has signed a multiyear overall development deal with Warner Bros. Television Group, the studio behind the hit Apple TV Plus comedy on which he plays gruff English football star Roy Kent.
Under terms of the deal, Goldstein — who is a writer and co-executive producer on “Ted Lasso” — will develop, create, and produce new television content for Wbtv for all platforms, including potential projects for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, other streaming services, cable and broadcast networks.
The financial terms of the development pact — which only includes Goldstein’s writing and producing talents, not an exclusive arrangement for his acting — were not disclosed, but Variety has learned that Warner Bros. signed Goldstein in a “highly competitive situation” with other studios for new television projects that Goldstein develops and produces.
Goldstein won the 2021 Emmy for supporting actor in a comedy for his performance on “Ted Lasso” Season...
Under terms of the deal, Goldstein — who is a writer and co-executive producer on “Ted Lasso” — will develop, create, and produce new television content for Wbtv for all platforms, including potential projects for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, other streaming services, cable and broadcast networks.
The financial terms of the development pact — which only includes Goldstein’s writing and producing talents, not an exclusive arrangement for his acting — were not disclosed, but Variety has learned that Warner Bros. signed Goldstein in a “highly competitive situation” with other studios for new television projects that Goldstein develops and produces.
Goldstein won the 2021 Emmy for supporting actor in a comedy for his performance on “Ted Lasso” Season...
- 1/31/2022
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
“Ted Lasso” star Brett Goldstein is staying in the Warner Bros. family, signing a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. TV Group, the studio behind the Apple TV+ hit series.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is a multiyear deal and the studio said Goldstein was signed “in a highly competitive situation.”
Under terms of the deal, Goldstein will develop, create and produce new television programming for all platforms, including potentially for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and the five broadcast networks. This deal does not include Goldstein as an actor.
“Much like the character Joe Gillis in ‘Sunset Blvd,’ I’ve always dreamed of having my own parking space at Warners, and it’s extraordinary to see that dream come true,” Goldstein said. “I do, however, hope the comparison ends there and I don’t wind up dead in a pool having been shot...
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is a multiyear deal and the studio said Goldstein was signed “in a highly competitive situation.”
Under terms of the deal, Goldstein will develop, create and produce new television programming for all platforms, including potentially for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and the five broadcast networks. This deal does not include Goldstein as an actor.
“Much like the character Joe Gillis in ‘Sunset Blvd,’ I’ve always dreamed of having my own parking space at Warners, and it’s extraordinary to see that dream come true,” Goldstein said. “I do, however, hope the comparison ends there and I don’t wind up dead in a pool having been shot...
- 1/31/2022
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. Pull up your mask – up over your nose – and we’ll hit the streets of Hollywood for this week’s diversion.
Fairy tales can come true, they can happen to you, if you keep a flamethrower in your pool house. Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 instant classic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, takes late ‘60s Tinseltown and spins a happy ending for one of the saddest stories of the era.
Plenty of Los Angeles streets are featured in the film, with a soundtrack provided by Boss Radio Khj, pouring forth from car radio speakers. El Cielo Drive serves as a constant point of reference throughout the movie, and as the natural setting for its climax.
There are plenty of cocktail options included in Once Upon a Time…, if you...
Fairy tales can come true, they can happen to you, if you keep a flamethrower in your pool house. Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 instant classic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, takes late ‘60s Tinseltown and spins a happy ending for one of the saddest stories of the era.
Plenty of Los Angeles streets are featured in the film, with a soundtrack provided by Boss Radio Khj, pouring forth from car radio speakers. El Cielo Drive serves as a constant point of reference throughout the movie, and as the natural setting for its climax.
There are plenty of cocktail options included in Once Upon a Time…, if you...
- 9/9/2020
- by Randy Fuller
- Trailers from Hell
Happy almost New Year, everyone! In these times of personal transformation, Jorge dives into one of the greatest screenplays ever written.
The all time classic Sunset Boulevard contains a multitude of scenes, and moments, and quotables to pick from and analyze in the page. But since we're close to a new year, let’s take a look at precisely that time in the film, when Joe Gillis decides to finally let go of his old baggage and step fresh into new things. Even if that old baggage is a possessive fading movie starlet...
The all time classic Sunset Boulevard contains a multitude of scenes, and moments, and quotables to pick from and analyze in the page. But since we're close to a new year, let’s take a look at precisely that time in the film, when Joe Gillis decides to finally let go of his old baggage and step fresh into new things. Even if that old baggage is a possessive fading movie starlet...
- 12/28/2017
- by Jorge Molina
- FilmExperience
There’s nothing more fun than getting to watch classic movies the way they were intended–on the big screen!
Now, I understand plenty of people don’t want to go to a theater, spend a fortune on tickets, popcorn, and a drink just to see the glow of cell phones and hear people rudely talking while someone kicks your seat from behind, but that’s not the experience you’ll get at Landmark theaters affordable ‘Crime & Noir’ film series. St. Louis movie buffs are in for a treat as Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater will return with it’s ‘Classics on the Loop’ every Wednesday beginning April 5th at 7pm. This season, the Tivoli will screen, on their big screen (which seats 320 btw), eight crime and noir masterpiece that need to be seen in a theater with an audience. Admission is only $7.
One benefits of the big screen is...
Now, I understand plenty of people don’t want to go to a theater, spend a fortune on tickets, popcorn, and a drink just to see the glow of cell phones and hear people rudely talking while someone kicks your seat from behind, but that’s not the experience you’ll get at Landmark theaters affordable ‘Crime & Noir’ film series. St. Louis movie buffs are in for a treat as Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater will return with it’s ‘Classics on the Loop’ every Wednesday beginning April 5th at 7pm. This season, the Tivoli will screen, on their big screen (which seats 320 btw), eight crime and noir masterpiece that need to be seen in a theater with an audience. Admission is only $7.
One benefits of the big screen is...
- 3/22/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Though she was popular nearly a century ago, Florence Foster Jenkins feels particularly relevant to modern art’s ongoing dialogue with awfulness as a version of the sublime. In another world, Xavier Giannoli’s prickly tragicomedy Marguerite could easily be an exercise in self-loathing in the same fashion as Rick Alverson’s films, but instead it’s a film whose virtues lies in a fierce neutrality towards its own subject. Even the characters who appear to be the most transparently kind or evil contain multitudes, and the film becomes a constant examination of its own tone.
As such, Marguerite is frantic and compellingly unpredictable, even as it heads into comfortable territory. Loosely based on the life of Jenkins, a ’20s-era socialite and Opera singer renowned for her supernaturally abhorrent voice (here’s a recording of her murdering every poor note of Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache), Marguerite follows Marguerite Dumont...
As such, Marguerite is frantic and compellingly unpredictable, even as it heads into comfortable territory. Loosely based on the life of Jenkins, a ’20s-era socialite and Opera singer renowned for her supernaturally abhorrent voice (here’s a recording of her murdering every poor note of Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache), Marguerite follows Marguerite Dumont...
- 3/10/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Hollywood diarist and Billy Wilder's co-screenwriter (1936–1949) and producer (1945–1949). Q&A with 'Charles Brackett Diaries' editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder's screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics such as The Major and the Minor, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment. The fact that Wilder was not the sole creator of these movies is all but irrelevant to graduates from the Auteur School of Film History. Wilder directed, co-wrote, and at times produced his films. That should suffice. For auteurists, perhaps. But not for those interested in the whole story. That's one key reason why the Charles Brackett diaries are such a great read. Through Brackett's vantage point, they offer a welcome – and unique – glimpse into the collaborative efforts that resulted in...
- 9/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Glenn Close is the latest Hollywood star to sign up for a West End production, following the likes of Bradley Cooper and Nicole Kidman in recent months.
The Us actress will make her West End debut as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the English National Opera's London Coliseum in the spring.
The musical version of the classic 1950 play was written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and first opened back in 1991.
Lloyd Price will direct a limited run of 43 performances from April 1 until May 7, 2016. The Eno orchestra will also appear on stage alongside the cast in the semi-staged production.
Close previously won a Tony Award for her role as the faded silent movie star Norma Desmond, famously played by Gloria Swanson in the original film from Billy Wilder.
Andrew Lloyd Webber said of the new production: "I am thrilled that London audiences will...
The Us actress will make her West End debut as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the English National Opera's London Coliseum in the spring.
The musical version of the classic 1950 play was written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and first opened back in 1991.
Lloyd Price will direct a limited run of 43 performances from April 1 until May 7, 2016. The Eno orchestra will also appear on stage alongside the cast in the semi-staged production.
Close previously won a Tony Award for her role as the faded silent movie star Norma Desmond, famously played by Gloria Swanson in the original film from Billy Wilder.
Andrew Lloyd Webber said of the new production: "I am thrilled that London audiences will...
- 9/22/2015
- Digital Spy
Long before the lurid "E! True Hollywood Story" series, there was "Sunset Boulevard" -- maybe the darkest, most cynical movie ever made about what Hollywood is really like.
Released 65 years ago this week (on August 10, 1950), director Billy Wilder's classic explored fame from the perspective of those who had it and lost it (like Gloria Swanson and her "waxwork" friends, playing lightly fictionalized versions of themselves) and those who never quite made it, like the struggling young screenwriter (William Holden) and the failed actress-turned-script reader played by Nancy Olson.
Even if you haven't seen "Sunset Boulevard," you may feel like you have, whether because of the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical it spawned, the movies that copied it (particularly "American Beauty," with its narration from beyond the grave), and the countless parodies of Swanson's final "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" scene. In honor of the film's anniversary,...
Released 65 years ago this week (on August 10, 1950), director Billy Wilder's classic explored fame from the perspective of those who had it and lost it (like Gloria Swanson and her "waxwork" friends, playing lightly fictionalized versions of themselves) and those who never quite made it, like the struggling young screenwriter (William Holden) and the failed actress-turned-script reader played by Nancy Olson.
Even if you haven't seen "Sunset Boulevard," you may feel like you have, whether because of the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical it spawned, the movies that copied it (particularly "American Beauty," with its narration from beyond the grave), and the countless parodies of Swanson's final "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" scene. In honor of the film's anniversary,...
- 8/10/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
5. The Empty Man (Boom!)
The Empty Man #1-6
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Vanessa R. Del Rey
Colorist: Michael Garland
Cullen Bunn is unique. If nothing else can be said about him, he is certainly unique. The Empty Man shows the full extent of Bunn’s ability. The series focuses on two detectives as they struggle to sort out the mystery surrounding a series of suspicious deaths and murders. The deaths are connected by the strange hallucinations experienced by the perpetrators, as well as their last words “The Empty Man made me do it”. The Empty Man is unpredictable because it follows so very few tropes. Nothing like this series has been seen before, and readers will be asking themselves the same question over and over: Who is the Empty Man? (Or “What the F*ck?”).
Bunn’s series is still in its infancy, so can be said without spoiling the twisting,...
The Empty Man #1-6
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Vanessa R. Del Rey
Colorist: Michael Garland
Cullen Bunn is unique. If nothing else can be said about him, he is certainly unique. The Empty Man shows the full extent of Bunn’s ability. The series focuses on two detectives as they struggle to sort out the mystery surrounding a series of suspicious deaths and murders. The deaths are connected by the strange hallucinations experienced by the perpetrators, as well as their last words “The Empty Man made me do it”. The Empty Man is unpredictable because it follows so very few tropes. Nothing like this series has been seen before, and readers will be asking themselves the same question over and over: Who is the Empty Man? (Or “What the F*ck?”).
Bunn’s series is still in its infancy, so can be said without spoiling the twisting,...
- 12/21/2014
- by Logan Dalton
- SoundOnSight
The Fade Out #1
Story by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
Colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover by Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Modern noir masterminds Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips begin their five-year deal with Image with the release of the first issue of The Fade Out, a sprawling saga of corruption and redemption set against a gritty West Coast backdrop. As the premiere storytellers of crime/noir comics, Fade Out actually marks their first trip into Hollywoodland, the never-innocent city of illusions. The Fade Out sees them return to the familiar conventions of ‘classic’ crime noir, and weaves a tangled web through the underbelly of a 1940′s film industry. In addition to unsettling narrative themes of ambiguity and violent death, certain stylistic characteristics immediately spring out: stark, angular shadows; the isolated feel of modern cities; conflicted anti-heroes and boiled down dialogue. The multi-layered plot grabs you immediately — and Brubaker...
Story by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
Colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover by Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Modern noir masterminds Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips begin their five-year deal with Image with the release of the first issue of The Fade Out, a sprawling saga of corruption and redemption set against a gritty West Coast backdrop. As the premiere storytellers of crime/noir comics, Fade Out actually marks their first trip into Hollywoodland, the never-innocent city of illusions. The Fade Out sees them return to the familiar conventions of ‘classic’ crime noir, and weaves a tangled web through the underbelly of a 1940′s film industry. In addition to unsettling narrative themes of ambiguity and violent death, certain stylistic characteristics immediately spring out: stark, angular shadows; the isolated feel of modern cities; conflicted anti-heroes and boiled down dialogue. The multi-layered plot grabs you immediately — and Brubaker...
- 8/22/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The obligatory movie catchphrase…memorable golden dialogue for the cinematic soul. What film fan does not enjoy reciting and repeating their favorite movie quotes? After all, there are countless catchphrases in films–some are famous, some are familiar, some are obscure. Still, paraphrasing movie quips has become an art onto itself?
So what are your all-time movie catchphrases? Perhaps it is Jimmy Cagney’s “You dirt rat…you killed my brother?”. Maybe it is Cary Grant’s “Judy, Judy, Judy”? Or how about Lauren Bacall’s “You know how to whistle, don’t you? Just blow…” Whatever movie catchphrases catches your fancy is fine so long as it brings up memories of the film or film characters tat have made a big impression on your cinema experiences.
The Lip Service: The Top 10 Movie Catchphrases selections are: (in alphabetical order according to film title):
1.) “Fasten your seat belts, it...
So what are your all-time movie catchphrases? Perhaps it is Jimmy Cagney’s “You dirt rat…you killed my brother?”. Maybe it is Cary Grant’s “Judy, Judy, Judy”? Or how about Lauren Bacall’s “You know how to whistle, don’t you? Just blow…” Whatever movie catchphrases catches your fancy is fine so long as it brings up memories of the film or film characters tat have made a big impression on your cinema experiences.
The Lip Service: The Top 10 Movie Catchphrases selections are: (in alphabetical order according to film title):
1.) “Fasten your seat belts, it...
- 7/12/2014
- by Frank Ochieng
- SoundOnSight
The end of the road. The scripts that should be studied, dissected, and taught for their quality, their timeliness, and their impact on the film industry as a whole. Some were perfect for their time and place. Some were ahead of their time. Some defined their generation. And one still rules all, forty years after it was written.
courtesy of hollywood.com
10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Written by David Newman, Robert Benton, and Robert Towne (uncredited)
You’re just like your brother. Ignorant, uneducated hillbilly, except the only special thing about you is your peculiar ideas about love-making, which is no love-making at all.
Nothing spices up a movie theater better than a little sex and violence; Arthur Penn’s 1967 film broke new ground on that front. Fictionalizing the partnership of famous gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the film starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the title criminals, while...
courtesy of hollywood.com
10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Written by David Newman, Robert Benton, and Robert Towne (uncredited)
You’re just like your brother. Ignorant, uneducated hillbilly, except the only special thing about you is your peculiar ideas about love-making, which is no love-making at all.
Nothing spices up a movie theater better than a little sex and violence; Arthur Penn’s 1967 film broke new ground on that front. Fictionalizing the partnership of famous gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the film starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the title criminals, while...
- 3/17/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
David Thomson's book of his favourite film moments is highly subjective and full of wit and insight
Born in London in 1941, resident in America since the early 1970s, David Thomson has been one of the liveliest, most literate, productive, provocative and daring movie critics for more than 40 years, his books ranging from a definitive biography of David O Selznick to an intrusively speculative monograph on Nicole Kidman. He has studied whole careers, single films and now he's down to choosing single key moments.
This would have pleased the gloriously named John Bickerson "Binx" Bolling, narrator of The Moviegoer, Walker Percy's philosophical novel that won the 1962 Us National Book award. Binx is a laid-back Louisiana stockbroker from old New Orleans money, and is, he says, "quite happy in a movie, even a bad movie". In fact, movies are more memorable to him than so-called real life. "Other people," he observes,...
Born in London in 1941, resident in America since the early 1970s, David Thomson has been one of the liveliest, most literate, productive, provocative and daring movie critics for more than 40 years, his books ranging from a definitive biography of David O Selznick to an intrusively speculative monograph on Nicole Kidman. He has studied whole careers, single films and now he's down to choosing single key moments.
This would have pleased the gloriously named John Bickerson "Binx" Bolling, narrator of The Moviegoer, Walker Percy's philosophical novel that won the 1962 Us National Book award. Binx is a laid-back Louisiana stockbroker from old New Orleans money, and is, he says, "quite happy in a movie, even a bad movie". In fact, movies are more memorable to him than so-called real life. "Other people," he observes,...
- 11/18/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Gloria Swanson's greatest role is a warning to our own celebrity culture. Now, as 'Sunset Boulevard' is rereleased, the star's daughter, in her first interview, remembers her own fear of her mother's alter ego
Each night during the filming of Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson would return to the rented house on Mulholland Drive she shared with her mother, Addie and the youngest of her three children, Michelle, then 16. As the 50-year-old actress swept into the grounds, Addie would turn to her granddaughter and say, 'Oh, here comes Norma', a reference to Swanson's role as the half-insane former silent star in Billy Wilder's film. 'After each day's shooting, she carried on talking in the voice of Norma Desmond,' remembers Michelle Farmer-Amon, now 70, 'and she stayed in that personnage for the duration of work on the movie.'
It wasn't until principal photography had been completed on Sunset Boulevard - which tells the story of the tragic affair between a struggling Hollywood screenwriter, Joe Gillis (played by William Holden) and an ageing, forgotten star Norma Desmond (Swanson) - that Swanson stopped bringing her alter ego home for dinner. On the last day of filming, she drove back to her house and announced to her family that 'there were only three of us in it now, meaning that Norma Desmond had taken her leave'.
Continue reading...
Each night during the filming of Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson would return to the rented house on Mulholland Drive she shared with her mother, Addie and the youngest of her three children, Michelle, then 16. As the 50-year-old actress swept into the grounds, Addie would turn to her granddaughter and say, 'Oh, here comes Norma', a reference to Swanson's role as the half-insane former silent star in Billy Wilder's film. 'After each day's shooting, she carried on talking in the voice of Norma Desmond,' remembers Michelle Farmer-Amon, now 70, 'and she stayed in that personnage for the duration of work on the movie.'
It wasn't until principal photography had been completed on Sunset Boulevard - which tells the story of the tragic affair between a struggling Hollywood screenwriter, Joe Gillis (played by William Holden) and an ageing, forgotten star Norma Desmond (Swanson) - that Swanson stopped bringing her alter ego home for dinner. On the last day of filming, she drove back to her house and announced to her family that 'there were only three of us in it now, meaning that Norma Desmond had taken her leave'.
Continue reading...
- 3/9/2003
- by Andrew Wilson
- The Guardian - Film News
Gloria Swanson's greatest role is a warning to our own celebrity culture. Now, as 'Sunset Boulevard' is rereleased, the star's daughter, in her first interview, remembers her own fear of her mother's alter ego
Each night during the filming of Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson would return to the rented house on Mulholland Drive she shared with her mother, Addie and the youngest of her three children, Michelle, then 16. As the 50-year-old actress swept into the grounds, Addie would turn to her granddaughter and say, 'Oh, here comes Norma', a reference to Swanson's role as the half-insane former silent star in Billy Wilder's film. 'After each day's shooting, she carried on talking in the voice of Norma Desmond,' remembers Michelle Farmer-Amon, now 70, 'and she stayed in that personnage for the duration of work on the movie.'
It wasn't until principal photography had been completed...
Each night during the filming of Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson would return to the rented house on Mulholland Drive she shared with her mother, Addie and the youngest of her three children, Michelle, then 16. As the 50-year-old actress swept into the grounds, Addie would turn to her granddaughter and say, 'Oh, here comes Norma', a reference to Swanson's role as the half-insane former silent star in Billy Wilder's film. 'After each day's shooting, she carried on talking in the voice of Norma Desmond,' remembers Michelle Farmer-Amon, now 70, 'and she stayed in that personnage for the duration of work on the movie.'
It wasn't until principal photography had been completed...
- 3/9/2003
- by Andrew Wilson
- The Guardian - Film News
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