Tag: Gypsy

Everything’s Coming Up Barbra!

Barbra Streisand to star in the movie remake of GYPSY…does that sound like a good idea?

It’s a tremendous idea! Barbra would be breathtaking as Mama Rose and a project like this has the potential to be one of the greatest adaptations in film history, not to mention it would be a great bookend performance for La Streisand. And the score won’t have to be altered for a less capable actress/singer.

Ok so Barbra’s on board – but who would direct? It has to be someone strong enough to direct Barbra in her first musical in over 30 years. It’s a daunting task for even a seasoned director – she’s a handful…and on a musical?!?

Barbra Streisand has met with Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents to discuss starring as Rose, the mother of all stage mamas, in a film version of their 1959 musical “Gypsy,” the two men said in telephone interviews on Wednesday. Mr. Laurents, who wrote the book for “Gypsy” and directed its 2008 revival on Broadway starring Patti LuPone, said that Warner Brothers and Joel Silver were attached as producers, but that no director had been chosen.

Contrary to a report in The New York Post on Wednesday, Mr. Laurents said that Ms. Streisand would not direct the film; she once wanted to, he said, “but playing Rose is enough to make her happy.” Ms. Streisand, who won an Academy Award for best actress in 1968 for the film musical FUNNY GIRL, has been interested in doing GYPSY for many years, Mr. Laurents said, “but now things are serious and a movie is truly in the works.”

As for the rest of the casting, Tom Hanks’ name has come up for the role of Herbie, the former agent turned manager. I would’ve gone for Dustin Hoffman as Herbie, but Tom Hanks is good. He’s the perfect type – it was Jack Klugman in the original Broadway production with Ethel Merman; and Karl Malden in the 1962 movie with Rosalind Russell (so you can see where they are going with this).

Natalie Wood starred as the shy older sister Louise in the movie. I think Anne Hathaway would be perfect in this role. She is the right type and she can really sing! And while I’m granting myself wishes, Baby June should be played by Kristen Bell; and Tulsa, the boy she elopes with would be a perfect vehicle for the talents of Joseph Gordon Levitt – “Make ‘Em Laugh” on SNL anyone? Genius. Well, here’s hoping!

Source: NY Times

Warner Bros. Photos Spotlighted In Exhibition At AMPAS

Warren Beatty, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor and the stars of the HARRY POTTER films are but a few of the subjects featured in the 165 photographs that will next grace the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Grand Lobby Gallery. Opening to the public on Thursday, September 16, “Up From the Vault: 85 Years of Treasures from the Warner Bros. Photo Lab” will run through December 12. Admission is free.

The exhibition includes a broad range of photographs, some famous and many extremely rare or unseen – from glamour portraits to set reference stills, from ad art and publicity photos to behind-the-scenes shots and scene stills. New prints of images taken in black-and-white and color, and in nearly every photographic format, from early 4×5 negatives to the latest high-resolution digital photos, will be on view.

“Up From the Vault” will feature some of the most iconic stars of the last nine decades, including Judy Garland, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Marlon Brando, Natalie Wood, Vivien Leigh, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Keanu Reeves, Denzel Washington and Heath Ledger. Shots taken on various sets by film legend and aspiring photographer James Dean are also included.

Classic and recent films will be represented, such as “Casablanca,” “Rebel without a Cause,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Batman Begins,” “Little Caesar,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “A Star Is Born,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Sergeant York,” “Gypsy,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “The Searchers,” “All the President’s Men,” “The Matrix,” “The Exorcist,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Million Dollar Baby.”

Click on thumbnail to enlarge picture.

The Warner Bros. Photo Lab originated in the early days of the studio, circa 1930, and remains the longest continuously operating studio photography department. Its purpose was, and still is, to process the unit photographers’ images into proofs and prints for publicity and advertising. Staffed by printmakers, archivists and digital designers, the Warner Bros. Photo Lab works with millions of original negatives, photographic prints and digital images owned and archived by Warner Bros. Studios, composing what is perhaps the most complete visual record of any studio’s film production and promotional activities that exists.

The exhibition is organized by the Academy in association with guest curators Greg Dyro and Leith Adams.

Also opening on September 16, in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery, is “Ingmar Bergman: Truth and Lies.”

The world premiere exhibition will delve into the career and personal life of the legendary Swedish director. Original scripts, notebooks, film schedules, sketches, posters, photographs and other paper materials will complement items such as set models and costumes. Film projections and specially created montages will allow the visitor to explore the full range of Bergman’s work, from his earliest films to his major international successes. Admission is free.

Presented in collaboration with the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, Svensk Filmindustri, the Swedish Film Institute, the Swedish Institute, Swedish Television and the Royal Dramatic Theatre Stockholm.

The Academy’s galleries are located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and are open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. The galleries will be closed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend (November 25 through 28).

For more on other Academy events, visit their official website Oscars.org as well as their Facebook page here, or see their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/oscars.