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| 12-30-02 It's a wrap! And I don't just mean the year 2002. The complete Mindhunters' script is now available all wrapped up in lovely graphic holiday greetings from our pal, XiPHiaS. XiP, we remain your humble servants for sharing this with us, especially since Will's big screen debut in it, seems light years away to us. One thing that is not light years away is the possibility of meeting Will. Just check out this terrific photo which Dina sent to us. She came away even more impressed with Will after having met him. Talent and good looks aside, she underscores what we have come to hear, that he is also a very nice, down-to-earth person. With a new computer system and video editing toys under the Christmas tree this year, 2003 holds some exciting possibilities for willkemp.org, including at long last, screen captures from Swan Lake and The Car Man. It is, however, the support and help from those visiting the site that make the biggest difference. I would like to thank everyone who has sent me tips on articles or news, photos and general information that have brightened this site dramatically. Special thanks to Lily, Dina and Andrew. I would also like to thank everyone who has emailed me with their kind thoughts on the site - it is very much appreciated. My humble beginnings as a first-time webmaster have been made much easier by three people in particular. Their kindness, generosity and unfailing assistance has been invaluable. My heartfelt thanks to Roy Tan and to Pat and Nic at Jackman's Landing. Also, to all those hardworking webmasters whose sites I am able to get the lastest news from, particularly, countingdown, dark horizons, daily digest, aicn, coming attractions, jackman's landing and ballet.co, thank you a hundred times over. Another big thank you to 'Savvy' for great helmsmanship over at the yahoogroup. And of course, to Grace, who started this site and bequeathed it to me. I'm not sure I would have had the courage to start a site on my own. Your gift of it is priceless. Thanks also to my family and friends for their support; especially Bob. And to the very impressive, phenominally talented and quite irresistable, Will Kemp, what's there to say? We count ourselves fortunate to be fans of someone who is not only brilliant in his craft, but also has integrity, good grace, is a nice guy and okay, yes, whom we all think is drop dead gorgeous! And ooohhh does it feel good to step out of those 'webmaster shoes' and sound like a giddy fan for the moment! Happy New Year to everyone. Lily and I wish you every blessing, good health and much joy in the coming year and we will see you again in 2003! ~dani 12-22-02 Yes, I'm still here just caught up in the holiday madness, but I come bearing a couple reviews from the Independent - which offer a gallant Ratty and an audience cheering Ratty. I also have a special review from Will fan, Dina who also met the cast after the performance and kindly shares with us her conversation and impressions of Will. She also had a photo taken with him and will send that along first chance she gets. Thanks immensely Dina! Still on the WITW theme, click here to see the postcards and posters you can purchase from the production at the ROH Shop. I will have a much more elaborate page of photos from the production in the next few weeks, again thanks to my cohort Lily. From what I've heard there are some lovely pics of Will in the lot (like they would be anything but lovely!) On the Van Helsing front, The Hollywood Reporter now has a start date of January 20th for principle photography. And on the Mindhunters front, XiP has added yet more script pages; only a few pages to go. I for one thought I had figured it out twice...always the twist in plot in this thriller though. Dark Horizons and Ain't It Cool News both have a Mindhunter's script review posted on their sites (actually, from the same guy) - in case you want to compare your thoughts with someone elses. I will have one more post before year's end for last minute items, news on what to expect in 2003 and also a list of thank-yous I very much want to extend. Lily and I wish you and yours a joyous, safe, peaceful and loving holiday; with a special holiday wish to Will. |
| 12-16-02 "Even with his dinghy and oars wrapped around his midriff, Will Kemp's Ratty has a manly swagger with a dash of the saturnine purportedly fatally attractive to women and Philippa Gordon's Mole duly succumbs." So states Jeffery Taylor of the Sunday Express in his recent review of Wind in the Willows. This review comes with some much awaited photos, so on you go to ballet.co to delve in. The Financial Times offers, "Will Kemp is a superb Ratty, brilliantly catching both his bravery and his relaxed way with life." The Observer weighs in with a slighty grumpy review but a much lighter and happier London Times review (from their earlier offering) perhaps says it best in an all around way, "The simple joys of messing about". 12-14-02 I have two more reviews to share with you. A rather, snooty one (I thought) from The Times and one from The Evening Standard. This from Lily on the Standard's: Think this particular review, reflects the show very well, except the bit on Anthony Dowell. This appears to have been caused by technical problems with the sound on the opening night, causing some of his speech to be inaudible. This was later rectified, as when I saw it, I thought he was excellent. (I only found out today that he was a major ballet star some years ago, and is Director of the Royal Ballet!) - so it really was a stellar cast. Both the Times and Standard had photos of the production in their print editions which I will post once I receive them in a couple weeks. Per Lily on these photos: The Evening Standard's is half a page with quite a large (black and white) picture of Ratty and Mole dancing together. It's great as you can see the fabric river flowing in the background. The Time's picture is again a largish one with Ratty, Toad and Mole driving a makeshift caravan. Great pictures as their faces are so expressive. When I saw him, Will's beard was mainly make up - didn't appear to have much of a real beard, though he had sideburns and a pencil moustache....Looked so cute. And his hair was the usual, gorgeous Will hair... Speaking of photos, here is the first one I have found on Will as Ratty. But the best is yet to come as Lily has a couple copies of the programme, one which she will send to me for posting and advises that there are four color photos of Will in rehearsals, and as she puts it, "I must say, he looks better than ever in them." This will be a lovely Christmas present for us all I think. I know I can hardly wait, as rehearsal photos are my favorite. (Remember Lara Hartley's from The Car Man?) Whew!! Thanks Lily! |
| 12-13-02 The staff at willkemp.org has grown by one. I have a foreign correspondent now and in the best of all places - London. Lily has graciously agreed to join on as my 'London Bureau'. Will need not fear, however. She has no intentions of donning a trenchcoat and dark glasses, lurking behind trees ready to leap out, camera in hand, like some dreadful paparazzi. She will be doing the same thing I am doing - scouring the newstands, bookshops and internet, ear to the ground for 'all things Will'. But her ear is on the same ground as Will's dancing feet, so she may find far more goodies than I can from across the pond. Already she has collected reviews from newspapers that include photos - items not offered thus far in the online editions. Needless to say, I am very excited to have her join me. Lily, the pay's not great...well, uh, actually, there is no pay. But the payoff when you find something to share with everyone is enormously satisfying. Welcome aboard! That said, Lily will be sending me all the clippings once the show ends and I will get a proper scanning of all articles and photos posted for you. Until then, I am having to cut and paste from emails and faxes I get from the papers and what I find online. So it's a bit of a rough look in the beginning but it will give us something to look forward to end of this year, beginning of next. I do hope to have three more reviews, along with one photo of Will as Ratty, ready to post this weekend so check back. On the movie end of things, Jackman's Landing scores coast-to-coast with Van Helsing news. First, the New York Times spoke with Shuler Hensley about his upcoming role as Frankenstein's monster and the LA Times reports that cost cutting measures at Universal may affect Van Helsing's big budget. Sommers supposedly has offered to cut his upfront fee. Cash that check pronto Will!! And finally, XiP has xapped us five more pages from the Mindhunter's script. We are down to the wire now. Did you guess the villain correctly? 12-12-02 Three more reviews in. One from the Telegraph. One from a very lucky Will fan and Will Kemp yahoogroup member, Lily, who posts a delightful review with, of course, details on Will. And from the ballet.co website, what, no doubt, will be an ongoing series of personal reviews and forum on Wind in the Willows throughout its run. |
| 12-11-02 Last week a snow storm, this week an ice storm. A winter wonderland here in Washington, DC. But it doesn't matter because helping us feel warm and toasty is the first review for Wind in the Willows. It reveals a 'classy' but 'sexy' Ratty. Of course, we already knew that. No photos, unfortunately, but keep your fingers crossed. Some odds 'n ends........for those of you dabbling on the Hollywood Stock Exchange (see archived news from 11/25 for info), Will's name will be added to their list of celebrities as soon as his first film comes out. This is from HSX after I inquired as to his addition. I'm wondering if enough people emailed them expressing an interest in 'owning a piece' of Will, they might reconsider and add him earlier; you just never know. In any case, you can still buy and trade virtual shares in his upcoming movies, Mindhunters and Van Helsing. If you haven't checked there recently, ads.com is no longer with us. Apparently they couldn't raise the funds to keep the site up. It's too bad, as the guys that ran it were pretty funny in that great, sarcastic way you should be when it comes to most commercials...I mean they can't all be like Will's. Last check before the site went down, Will's spot was Number 8. That's not bad seeing as it hadn't been aired in nearly two months. Of course, we are all in agreement it should remain Number One forever, at least until he does a new one. Finally, at least two magazines, Metro and Genre, have listed Will in their end of the year review of Men We Love/Most Beautiful People lists. I will be watching to see if anymore come aboard ..... shouldn't they all....and post the lot in January. Nearly done revamping this site....just a few more adjustments. I thank you for your patience with my remedial skills and trying to find the right 'face' for the site....well, maybe that's not the best way to put it......the face, as we know, is already perfect. |
| 12-10-02 Opening night for Wind in the Willows. Have a great time Will!. 12-07-02 Just a few short days until Wind in the Willows opens. This article appeared in today's Guardian and is written by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion who also wrote the narration for the production. If you haven't a clue what WITW is about, or need refreshing, there are links after the article to the complete text of Kenneth Grahame's classic as well as to Arthur Rackman's beautiful illustrations. As you will see from reading WITW, Will's role of Ratty is absolutely delightful and I can just imagine how cleverly he will put that character to dance. ... |
| 12-05-02 So, back the next day on the Dark Horizons site and we find that Croc Dundee was actually up for the role of Carl, which David Wenham apparently has secured. However you look at it, lots of Brits and Aussies in this film. Always a plus in my book. And if you haven't, check out the Dark Horizons site. It's dazzling...even though they referred to Will as a 'model' (eek). The guys over at ain't it cool news are pretty entertaining. And they did give Will a mention as being 'active in experimental dance theatre'. Last but definitely not least, I would like to give special thanks to the engaging 'Cleolinda' over at the daily digest, a wonderful movie site chocked full of goodies that links movie news to fansites. Her help and time in getting my site linked is much appreciated. So, the construction and renovation continues on willkemp.org - along with the news hunt. Please 'pardon my dust' as they say. Someday I will get this site where I want it to be, although Will may well be married and with grandchildren at the pace I am going. 12-04-02 Found this bit of news on the Dark Horizons site: the Alberta Daily is reporting that Crocodile Dundee (that would be Paul Hogan) is in talks to play a monster (of sorts) in Van Helsing. The Royal Opera House will be selling a full compliment of items from Wind in the Willows. Items should be available online after December 10th. I will do my best to put my hands on a program and with any luck, a Playbill, and get some images posted on this site. Let's hope the UK papers also have some photos for us. I'm quite curious to see what the character's costumes and make-up are like, as well as the set design. Too bad there is no webcast! 12-01-02 Yes, this is the right place, but a little different look. Bear with me while I try to fine-tune in the next several days. Nothing new to report on the Will front but only 9 days until Wind in the Willows opens. And I know one lucky girl who gets to go see it. Hopefully she will post a review and tell us all about it. Will seems to be having a great time in rehearsals and it sounds like it will be a wonderful and intimate experience for performers and audience alike as the Linbury Studio Theatre is small. Pea green with envy am I. Catch ya'll later. |