USA: KENNETH BRANAGH PREPARES FOR AMERICAN PREMIERE OF HIS LATEST FILM -SINGING AND DANCING VERSION OF "LOVE LABOURS LOST"

Record ID: 389474

  • Title: USA: KENNETH BRANAGH PREPARES FOR AMERICAN PREMIERE OF HIS LATEST FILM -SINGING AND DANCING VERSION OF "LOVE LABOURS LOST"
  • Date: 22nd May 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 22) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) KENNETH BRANAGH SAYING I wanted to be part of the spirit of something like Fred Astaire, part of that effortless, gracious, joie de vivre, that terrific insoucient delight in easy movement and fun and it's just, it was such a pleasure to look at some of the old movies to prepare for this,
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, US AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1SSOC83L2MNB9QG24QGA7XC6
  • Story Text: After making a splash at this year's Berlin Film Festival, actor/director Kenneth Branagh brings his unorthodox take on Shakespeare's "Love's Labours Lost" to America, along with his young co-star Alicia Silverstone.
    Following up on his screen adaptations of such Shakespeare classics as "Henry V," "Much Ado About Nothing"
    and "Hamlet," Branagh has turned his attention to one of the Bard's lesser-known works, the light-hearted romantic comedy "Love's Labours Lost."
    The play is the story of the King of Navarre and three of his closet friends, who swear off women in favor of three years of intensive study. However, their oaths are threatened with the arrival of the Princess of France and three of her ladies, with whom they immediately fall in love.
    In Branagh's version, the story has been updated to 1939, on the eve of World War II. But the biggest change is the addition of ten songs written by such legendary icons of movie musicals as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. They include such classics as "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Cheek to Cheek" and "I Get a Kick Out of You."
    All of the songs are sung by the cast members, which include Branagh, Nathan Lane, Natascha McElhone, Adrian Lester and, in perhaps the most unexpected bit of casting, "Clueless"
    star Alicia Silverstone.
    In addition to singing, the cast members also had to brush up on their dance steps. To this end, Branagh enrolled all of them in a three-week period of intensive rehearsal, which he affectionately labelled "musical theater boot camp."
    Following the rehearsal process, all three disciplines of acting, singing and dancing came together in an eight week shoot, which took part entirely on soundstages in order to heighten the artificial and theatrical style common in the movie musicals of Hollywood's so-called Golden Age.
    For Branagh, turning Shakespeare into a movie musical seemed a natural progression, since the Bard's plays have always included many references to song and dance and because of the fact that they've been transformed into operas for many centuries. He also notes that the light-hearted tone of "Love's Labours Lost" matches the lyrics of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin perfectly.
    After meeting with varied reactions around the world, American audiences get their chance to sample Branagh's unorthodox version when it opens in theaters on Friday, June
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register