... |
| .. |
| ... June 2004 News willkemp.org |
| Home * Will Kemp * News * Articles * Multimedia * Collectibles * Links |
 |
| June 30th: Redecorating tip for the day right here. Or, there are a few other very nice wallpaper swatches to choose from as well, right here. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Mitori, who sent me these links found in the Official Japanese Site. Will's press trip is mentioned in this window and it notes that one of the events he will attend is on July 9th. He will reign over (my words) the opening of a new theatre with a special showing of the film. Mitori, I hope you win one of those invitations that go to 150 very lucky fans. Fingers crossed. Also on the Van Helsing front, trick or treat. Fangoria has the specs on the film's DVD release (October 19th) and what goodies we can expect to find packaged neatly inside. Thanks Nic. And let's not forget Mindhunters. Yet another tease, unless you live in Germany where the film opened last week.There is also a little more on the film from InternationalMedia, the German distributor for the film. Thanks Bo. June 29th: Birthday Boy! Happy 27th Will. Have a wonderful birthday and a terrific time in Japan. On behalf of all the fans who visit this site, I wish you every happiness in the year to come. We hope that you will derive as much enjoyment from your filmwork and your dance as we will from watching you in performance. We wish you all blessings Will. End of this week, Will bytes. More from my conversation with Will. Acting, dancing and pumping up. June 25th: Remains of the Prince. So, here is an interesting bit of news I did not know....which is probably a good thing in retrospect: Will was talking about the incredible disappointment he felt after Remains of thePiano fell through, when he noted he had felt a similar disappointment when this year's Swan Lake tour got postponed. Apparently he was due to dance the role of the Prince!!! What?!?! Back when Will was dancing The Swan, Matthew had (probably still has) these yearly chats with everyone and asks them how they think they are doing in the company and if there are other parts they would like to play. At that time, Will said he had been playing The Swan for a long while and told Matthew he would really like to play The Prince. Matthew was very enthusiastic about it but there was the problem of finding a Swan to play to his Prince, and in the end they decided to wait until the production came around again. Jump forward several years, Swan Lake’s 10th anniversary revival is announced for summer 2004. Will still very much wants to dance that part and he is available. Everything is set. And then the plug gets pulled on the tour and it is postponed. It has since been rescheduled, set to start late November in the UK (tickets are on sale now – see Matthew’s site for details). But Clear Channel, who is producing, has requested that Matthew require the entire company, including principle roles, to commit to a minimum of nine months on the tour. This has, in essence, left Will out of the running because he is not able to make that kind of commitment at this time. So, as you can imagine, he is kind of bummed about that. Aren't we all now. And what a Prince he would have made too, eh? Well, never say never. Things can always change. So no Prince this summer, but he did play a King. In addition to being The Narrator in The Soldier’s Tale, he also played the King - and with great comedic gusto I might add. Here is part of what Will had to say about his role as the Narrator in the production. “This was a big challenge – playing the narrator of the piece. Originally it wasn’t a character - I was just the narrator, the person who tells the audience what’s happening. All the other parts are characters. For me, I went through all sorts of sleepless nights on it. It’s an awkward text and it’s not a play per se. It’s the most frightening thing, just being able to talk to an audience. But also, I was aware that just talking wouldn’t work because it has to have an edge, it has to have a particular timing and a particular flavor to it. What was so fantastic about this production is that we all had to go against what comes incredibly natural for us. I came from doing things pretty naturalistic - character roles - to having to pile it on a bit thick, thicker and thicker. I was feeling so over the top. We all really went through such a steep learning curve.” More on Will’s thoughts on The Soldiers Tale at a later date. But looky here, I do have the programme and more photos from the production. Also, if you haven't already, check out the reviews, I have several now. Finally, as you know, Will created one of the original Anthony’s in the premiere season of Matthew Bourne’s award winning Play Without Words. PWW is in Japan right now on a one month tour. Attention to those in the good old US of A, it is coming your way next spring (again see Matthew's site for the schedule at the bottom of News Page). If you have never seen PWW, I can finally give you a little taste of this jazzy, sexy, very sharp and edgy production which was inspired by Joseph Losey’s film The Servant. This clip appears on the official Japanese PWW website. There is also a second clip of cast members Richard Winsor and Scott Ambler during a press junket this past May. Enjoy. Do you not love the music? Catch you all sometime next week. Take care until then. June 22nd: Pretty Slick. In The Soldier’s Tale, Will once again creates a role as memorable as it is remarkable. With his greased back hair, smarmy moustache, expressive eyes and striking voice, he lit the house up the minute he hit the stage. The whole cast, in fact, was positively spot on fabulous. I have much to say regarding Will’s performance, that of Matthew Hart, Zenaida Yanowsky, Adam Cooper, and the production as a whole. I have exclusive photos taken from the dress rehearsal; I have the programme which I shall scan for you; and, oh yes, I have Will. Well, I don’t have him, but I have his thoughts on working on this production, as well as what’s on his calendar, and a host of other topics we discussed during my visit. So, let’s take care of the calendar bit right now. First off, Will is headed to Japan on a press junket on July 2nd to promote Van Helsing which opens there in September. He is actually the only VH member to be going; the Japanese promoters specifically asking for him. Of course, his reputation precedes him as he already has a huge fan base from his AMP/NA performances. Ironically, also headed to Japan this week is Matthew Bourne’s Play Without Words. So Will shall get to catch up with some of his mates while he is there. When he gets back in mid-July, he is looking to work on a couple of British films. You know the drill. Until contracts are signed, sealed and delivered, he cannot really comment beyond that. But he hopes to be doing filmwork through the end of the year. For 2005 the plan is to spend the entire year dancing for Matthew Bourne......... (yes that is me weeping with joy). While nothing is set in stone at this point, it looks very good for Will to dance the role of James in Highland Fling next spring. There is currently a UK tour penciled in, with some time in London and on to Japan. I had a chance to sit and chat with Matthew as well and have some additional info on this production which I will post over on his site shortly. Finally at the end of 2005, again if everything falls into place and please let it, there is Edward Scissorhands. Will makes no bones about it; he still very much wants to do that role. In fact, one of the reasons for his doing Highland Fling is to get back into proper shape and be ready for Scissorhands. The start up for this production has changed many times, but things are getting worked out and there is a strong possibility it really could happen by the end of next year. And you better believe it will be huge. So that is Will’s calendar at the moment. I realize I have been a bit cryptic in spots but that is because a large part of my interview is being written up into an article for a future ballet.co magazine. My apologies for that, but I believe it will be worth the wait. In interviewing him, I found Will to be charmingly forthcoming, incredibly easy to chat with and possessing a terrific sense of humor. And yes. He’s gorgeous. I put that last comment in because he teased me about not wanting to run an 'oh my god he's so cute, so gorgeous, so hot' kind of website. Funny guy. In any case, I do have three lovely photographs of our rakish Narrator, courtesy of Mr. Tan, which I will share with you now. I will have more photos and the programme up at the end of the week. And I will also have an excerpt from my conversation with Will regarding The Soldier's Tale. I must thank Will for his graciousness, for his time, and for his support of this website. I am very fortunate to do a site for someone who is as phenomenally nice as he is talented. My thanks also to his parents, Rosi and Barry, for their warm welcome and kind words throughout my visit. And to Roy, I love ya! Thank you again and again and again...... June 11th: Intrepid Correspondant. I am London-bound again. One reason, of course, is to see 'The Soldier's Tale'. Another is to find out what will be happening in Will's World for the rest of 2004 and into 2005. As I will not be posting any of the reviews from TST until after I return, please check in with ballet.co.uk and criticaldance.com for all reviews and related articles throughout next week. And, what can I say? I gotta call this one for what it is: just plain, darn cute. It's also one for the road. Take care everyone. June 7th: Congratulations to Will's Van Helsing mate, Hugh Jackman. Hugh won the Tony for Best Actor in a musical for his portrayal of the legendary Peter Allen in 'Boy from Oz'. And he didn't win it just because he pulls off leopard and gold so well. I believe his last performance is September 12th, so if you are in or near New York City, I highly recommend you make it your mission to see this show. Hugh got one of the few standing ovations last night and there is a reason for that. In the meantime, be sure to check in with Jackman's Landing, the ultimate all Hugh, all the time, source. June 4th: A match made in heaven. That would be Will Kemp dancing in a Matthew Bourne production. The last time for that was the fall of 2002 --- Play Without Words. Well, it just may be that these two creative phenoms will be working together again as I have heard that Will may be dancing in Matthew's revival of Highland Fling. This is a fantastical production and it would be tremendous to see Will take on the role of James. There is so much emotion and turmoil in that character and who expresses that better in dance than Will? Click here for a brief bit about the original production. And keep your fingers crossed. The Soldier's Tale is in rehearsal now - it opens June 15th. The ROH2 have put up some photographs from a shoot and from rehearsal. Sadly, there are really none of Will. He's caught in the background on one, but it's very blurry. Hopefully, more photos will turn up. Fabulous weekend to all. June 2nd: Practice makes perfect. Will disregarded the old adage 'don't try this at home' by rehearsing his werewolf transformations at home in his kitchen. Thanks Pat P. and Nic An article and a little artwork from 8 Days, a magazine which is published in Singapore. Nothing really new, but it's good to see Will coverage around the globe. |
