 |
| Bill Clinton watched Strictly Ballroom six times in White House |
BAZ Luhrmann says you never know who is going to be a Strictly Ballroom fan.
"Forget that the Pope put it on his list of top five films,'' The Great Gatsby director said. "I remember the first time I met Bill Clinton ..."
The former US President was in the middle of an argument when he turned to Baz Luhrmann to say Moulin Rouge! was great, but when it came to Strictly Ballroom, he must have played it at least six times in The White House.
"And he leaned right over, he said, `how about that mother? What a piece of work, huh?' and then goes back to arguing with Richard Gere,'' Luhrmann told media in Sydney today.
1dc16c20-fda3-11e2-9e84-e97fbc5b6f85
director
Director Baz Luhrmann receives a kiss from his wife and costume designer Catherine Martin, after he outlined his vision for "Strictly Ballroom the Musical". AFP PHOTO / Greg WOOD Source: AFP
Strictly Ballroom began life as a play Luhrmann created while studying at NIDA, inspired by the ballroom dancing he did during his childhood. After being made for the screen, he was told it was the worst movie one film distributor had ever seen.
24a668d8-fda3-11e2-9e84-e97fbc5b6f85
director
Director Baz Luhrmann is joined onstage by dancers after he outlined his vision for "Strictly Ballroom the Musical". AFP PHOTO / Greg WOOD Source: AFP
The teacher behind Baz Luhrmann
Autoplay
ON
OFF
Watch
On The Great Gatsby red carpet
News Limited catches all the stars at the Australian launch of Baz Luhrmann's movie spectacular, The Great Gatsby.
Play
0:00 / 2:33Scrubber
mute
Share
Fullscreen
Baz Luhrmann hits Paris Fashion Week with daughter
Baz Luhrmann gets last laugh at the box office with Gatsby
Feeling "hurt, burnt and sad'' Luhrmann went up the NSW coast to a caravan park. He was standing in the rain, mid haircut, with a bucket on his head to protect him from lethal falling coconuts, when he got a phone call inviting him to the Cannes Film Festival.
From there, the little Aussie film went on to achieve global success and introduced Australia and the world to Luhrmann.
He would go on to make Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, Australia and most recently, The Great Gatsby, before making the decision to return to his theatrical roots to stage a musical version of his beloved film.
"Somehow the planets have aligned,'' he said of the timing.
0dd30eb6-fd9b-11e2-9e84-e97fbc5b6f85
Global Creatures
Baz Lurhmann at Sydney's Town Hall for the launch of Strictly Ballroom, The Musical; With performances at the Sydney Lyric from March 2014. Picture: Creatures James Morgan/global Source: Supplied
Luhrmann said a lot of going ahead with the production came down to teaming up with Global Creatures, the brains behind the creatures of King Kong and Walking With Dinosaurs productions, in order to bring it to life.
"None of the dancers will be real. The entire cast are puppets,'' Luhrmann joked.
But with new productions like King Kong raising the innovative bar, Luhrmann is promising something extraordinary.
"If we are not actually breaking new theatrical ground with it, than at my age, why would you bother?'' he said.
Luhrmann remained tight-lipped about casting, except that he had seen "the right kind of glimmer'' recently. However he did reveal that Strictly Ballroom will be a show where the audience can get involved.
"That the audience are actually at times, they are at the (dance) festivals,'' he said.
"So exploding out into the space, dancing in the space, dancing being all around you.
"One thing I can guarantee you, everything dances in this show.''
Strictly Ballroom The Musical will play at Sydney Lyric from March 25 with tickets on sale from August 12
34be14dc-fda3-11e2-9e84-e97fbc5b6f85
Global Creatures
Baz Lurhmann at Sydney's Town Hall today for the launch of Strictly Ballroom, The Musical with performances at the Sydney Lyric from March 2014. Picture: Creatures James Morgan/global
news sours
www.news.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment