News
Romeo & Juliet
by William Shakespeare
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY, Maidment Theatre 22 July - 14 August
Romeo and Juliet live in a world where passions run high; a city torn apart by bloody and bitter family feuds. They should be deadly enemies. But they fall in love and decide to marry in secret. However, their joy is short-lived. Juliet’s father has another future mapped out for his teenage daughter and Romeo’s fatal mistake sees their young lives and irresistible love spiraling down to heart-breaking tragedy.
Mike Whalley (She Stoops to Conquer) as Romeo and Brooke Williams (Go Girls, The Crucible) as Juliet head a large ensemble of exciting young talent and seasoned performers.
This boldly theatrical staging features sensational design, emotionally charged music and hot blooded poetry. This is Shakespeare for here and now.
featuring Mike Whalley, Brooke Williams, Stuart Devenie, Gareth Reeves, Geraldine Brophy, Elena Stejko, Peter Daube, Catherine Downes, Kip Chapman, Dan Musgrove, Benjamin Farry, Sam Bunkall.
direction by Willem Wassenaar
for further information and to book tickets visit the Auckland Theatre Company website.
watch Brooke and Michael on Good Morning here.
"The production scores a sensational hit with an electrifying performance from Brooke Williams who creates a compelling Juliet for our times. Capturing the jittery energy of adolescence she presents a feisty teenager, aching for excitement and totally in control of her own destiny." - Paul Semei-Barton, NZ Herald. Read the full review here.
"I have seen a few versions of Romeo and Juliet on film and stage. Given the gusto and action of this timeless romance the attention has commonly been weighted to the boys. However Willem Wassenaar has directed the play away from the more familiar course by paying more attention to the heroine, Juliet.
"Played delicately by Brooke Williams, Juliet is almost entirely centre stage in full view of the crowd. Adding to this more feminine command is the jovial Nurse raised majestically by Geraldine Brophy revealing clear as day that the ladies have the reins in this piece. This interpretation is an absolute joy to experience, and the pleasure does not stop there." - Tamati Patuwai, Theatreview. Read the full review here.
International Film Festival starring Auckland
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2010
Article taken from NZ Herald. Written by Russell Baillie.
"When it opens in Auckland in a month, the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival will have a decidedly domestic flavour. It's always been global in its reach during its 42 years as the annual highpoint for the city's film buffs. But this year it is also focussed on Auckland like never before. Even the programme, which is launched next week, has its own section titled "Auckland Erupts" dedicated to the five features set in the city having their world premieres at this year's event.
Inevitably, those films involve some familiar faces as well as familiar territory.
Both After The Waterfall and The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell feature Outrageous Fortune stars in leading roles - Antony Starr in the former and Robyn Malcolm in the latter.
Starr plays a park ranger living on the West Coast, whose life is up-ended with the disappearance of his young daughter, while Malcolm is the wife of the titular Gazza (played by Aussie actor William McInnes) whose life in Howick with their two teenage sons Marc and Ed comes under pressure from Dad's efforts to make motorsport heroes out his boys..."
Read the full article here.
Read the full festival line up on Flicks here.
Guillermo Del Toro departs The Hobbit
NEW LINE CINEMA, produced by Peter Jackson.
Article taken from TheOneRing.net.
Guillermo Del Toro announced today that he is no longer directing the two movies based on J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but will continue to co-write the screenplays. Out of respect to the legions of loyal Tolkien fans, both Guillermo and Peter Jackson wanted to break the news to The One Ring first. They are both committed to protecting The Hobbit and will do everything in their power to ensure the films are everything that the fans want them to be.
“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, says Guillermo. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wlsh the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.
Read the full article here.
'Only Son' to screen at Fantastic Fest
Auckland based production company thedownlowconcept took top honours at the 48 Hour FIlm Festival this year with their hilariously deadpan ghost story Only Son, beating out 650 other short films to be crowned V48HOURS Grand Champions 2010.
Now the short film has been officially invited to screen at this years Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas (Variety's Ten Fests We Love) amongst studio premieres and festival flicks from around the globe.
Only Son features Auckland Actors Josh Thomson Andrew Munro and Elizabeth McGlinn alongside Mick Innes, Ian Gordon and Cori Gonzalez-Macuer.
Directed by Ryan Hutchings, Jarrod Holt, Nigel McCulloch.
To view the film click here.
Loss of SkyCity Theatre venue
Taken from the HZ Herald article by Bernard Orsman.
The SkyCity Theatre looks set to become a cabaret space or sports theatre, leaving a gaping hole in venues for the city's performing arts. SkyCity chief executive Nigel Morrison said: "We are probably not into cultural space. People expect casinos to be a bit more sports and entertainment."
He said SkyCity had made it clear that theatre users could book the theatre until the end of the year, but thereafter it could become a cabaret space with booths and tiered seating, or a sports theatre. Some works, like Four Flat Whites, a light-hearted play about two couples holidaying in Italy, had worked well but not serious culture. With an eye on doubling the number of days the theatre was used from 100 to 200, SkyCity was looking to more entertainers, singers, illusionists, magicians and celebrities.
Auckland Theatre Company general manager Lester McGrath said he understood SkyCity's business focus was changing, but losing access to the theatre would have serious implications for the region's flagship acting company...
Read the full article here.
August: Osage County
by Tracy Letts AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY, Maidment Theatre, 2 - 25 September.
Beverley Weston is an academic and poet of some renown.
When he suddenly goes missing, the clan gather at their family home in Osage County, Oklahoma,to confront their secrets, lies, abberations and the lacerating tongue of Beverly's wife, Violet.
With thirteen of New Zealand's finest actors, three acts and enough revelations to power several soap operas, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is a corrosively funny, brilliant, bitter indictment on where the American Dream went wrong.
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has electrified audiences in New York and London, winning five Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
with Jennifer Ludlam, Stuart Devenie, Alison Quigan, Hera Dunleavy, Gareth Reeves, Peter Daube, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Andi Crown, Nancy Brunning, Andrew Grainger, Kevin Keys, Alistair Browning, Elizabeth McMenamin.
direction by Colin McColl
V48 Hours 2010
Auckland Actors is proud to announce the winners of V48 Hour Film Festival:
The Downlow Concept with their film Only Son which features the following actors on our books; Josh Thomson, Andrew Munro & Elizabeth McGlinn.
The Downlow Concept will walk away with the Grand National Champion APEE, a year supply of V, $6000 cash courtesy of Wingnut Films, $5000 cash courtesy of NZ Film Commission, $10,000 value courtesy of Rocket Rentals, one week hire of Panasonic Viracam Digital Cinema kit, $5000 in services courtesy of Park Road Post, $5000 of recording time at York Studios for a local singer/band to write an original track for their next short film, a Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma TV, cds & dvds courtesy of Loop Records & a bonus prize of an iMac 21.5 .
Runner up was Idiotvision with their film Confessions of a Fabricator featuring Simon Ward.
Idiotvision will take home the Grand National Runner Up APEE, $3000 cash grant courtesy of Wingnut Films, $3000 cash grant courtesy of NZ Film Commission, $6000 value courtesy of Rocket Rentals & one week hire of Panasonic HPX-502 P2 Digital Cinema kit.
Congratulations!
To watch Only Son click here.
For full results visit the V48 Hour website.
Radiradirah
from The NZ Herald, by Jacqueline Smith
This time last year Mitchell and bro'Town co-creator Oscar Kightley bid the kids of Morningside "laterz", wiped their brows, and asked each other, "what next?"
Kightley was keen to get his sketch comedy group the Naked Samoans back on television. Mitchell was a bit hesitant. Sketch is just one of those genres that screams "risky".
"I was like 'hmm ... sketch show'. I don't know, there was something about the phrase, and we kept trying to think of a new word for sketch but couldn't really find one. But then you look at things like Little Britain and Monty Python and you don't really think of them as sketch shows," she says.
One meeting with TV3 later she was convinced to go ahead with the format, which quickly evolved from being a solely Naked Samoans show into a collage of what she calls sub-shows.
It was named Radiradirah because bro'Town's Mack (the gay character) was particularly fond of the phrase and, as Mitchell says, it's kind of silly and open to anything....
Read the full article here.
Radiradirah features Auckland Actors Madeleine Sami, Shimpal Lelisi and Mario Gaoa alongside Oscar Knightly, Rhys Darby, Taika Waititi and John Clarke.
Half-Caste Broadcast
from The NZ Herald, by Jacqueline Smith
Introducing your new Maori satirist. Or is he an activist? He's a full-blooded half-caste, ex-Grammar boy and born-again Maori in any case. And he boils blonde dolls in his new Maori Television bulletin.
Toi Iti, son of Tuhoe activist Tame Iti, is now the host of Half-Caste Broadcast, a new satirical segment of Willie Jackson's Newsbites, a weekly current affairs show screening in on Friday nights.
Iti is a producer and researcher for Maori Television, and has worked with Jackson for a number of years, starting at Radio Waatea. But he hasn't always been so in touch with his Maori half, and in fact describes his younger self as a bit of an oxymoron.
Raised by his Australian mother in Edgecumbe, Iti didn't see a lot of his famous father while growing up, other than when his face was splashed across the front page of the local rag.
While he was always accepted by his Maori relatives, Iti was brought up speaking English and attended Auckland Grammar School as a boarder.
It wasn't until recently when he realised his 2-year-old daughter spoke better te reo than he did that he decided to rediscover his roots through Maori immersion classes....
Read the full article here.
Starz confirms Spartacus Prequel
PACIFIC RENAISSANCE PICTURES
production to begin late 2010
Pre-production is underway on a six-part prequel to Starz’ hit original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Production on the second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand was postponed this spring to allow Andy Whitfield, who played the title character in the first season, to be treated for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in New Zealand. His doctors indicate that the actor is responding well. Whitfield will appear in the prequel briefly.
But Lucy Lawless and John Hannah take center stage in this story of the rise of the House of Batiatus and its champions before Spartacus arrives as a captured Thracian slave. Other cast members from the cable series to be seen in the prequel are Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Antonio Te Maioha, Nick E. Tarabay and Lesley-Ann Brandt.
Article taken from Deadline | Hollywood. Read the full article here.
Additional information also available from The Wrap here.