| Home * Will Kemp * News * Articles * Multimedia * Collectibles * Links |
..... |
| ... May 2003 News willkemp.org |
 |
.. ..... |
| May 30th: A couple small bits on Will's next movie, 'Remains of the Piano'. In a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Director Eric Idle quipped: "It's a piss-take on the genre. It's got everything a Merchant-Ivory film has: lovely costumes, lovely sets, and lovely English acting. It's all set to go if producer Garth Drabinsky can ever find the final missing million. There's always a million missing in independent film. Somebody said trying to raise money for independent films is like trying to herd dogs." Also here is a little bit more about the film company behind this production, Stratus . Enjoy your weekend and we will see ya all next week. May 27th: Rex Features is 'Britain's leading photographic press agency' and they were at the recent Los Angeles premiere of 'The In-Laws'. Amongst all the usual Hollywood stars and glams, they got two photos of our Will, also apparently in attendance. And excuse us if we add, he looked more than mighty fine sporting those 'Helsing' locks, and clearly outshined everyone else there. (Yes, another one of those gushing fan moments, but quite understandable when you see the photos). A big thank you to the yahoo group member who gave us the heads up on these photos. Outstanding work. May 23rd: Go directly to jail. Do not pass go; do not collect $200.00. That's right, we are taking you back to jail with the latest Car Man captures. This is one of our favorite scenes as it shows off Will's tremendous range and abilities as actor and dancer all in one very perfect package. If you haven't joined Friends of New Adventures, we are hyping them up again as they've come out with their latest newsletter. Here are just a few of the names that appear in this recent issue: Adam Cooper, Neil Penlington, Ben Wright, the Ballet Boyz/ George Piper Dances, and lots of goodies about and from the man himself, Matthew Bourne. There are also some teasers in there about his next projects - 'Play Without Words', which will be back this fall (no dates or cast announced yet) and what we think will be one of next year's biggest events, the stage production of 'Edward Scissorhands', which will premier late 2004. We could not be more excited at the prospect of Matthew Bourne helming this project. Tim Burton created a masterpiece and Johnny Depp was superb. But our money is on Mr. Bourne to take this to a whole new level of genius and imagination. Of course, we do have one suggestion.....Will Kemp in the title role. Mandy and I both agree - HE IS SO PERFECT for this role. Of course who knows what Will's schedule will be like now that he is also making films. Still, fans can dream can't they?? Just one more thing regarding Friends of New Adventures. We would like to thank them for their mention of our site in their newsletter. We were surprised and happily so, as well as honored, to be included in their publication amidst the names of people we truly admire. Our sincerest thank you. Mandy has added a couple performance related items to Adam's newsbites section. And if you haven't done so already, Adam updated his diary earlier in the week, so check it out as he is his usual charming self with lots of little stories to share with you. Now, how about having Will around with that cup of Java or tea in the morning? Well, it appears the ROH store has added some items to their Wind in the Willows collection and our buddy Ratty has his very own mug. Not a bad way to start your day with Will on your coffee mug. Thanks to Keiko for the heads up on this one. Have an enjoyable holiday weekend everyone. Ciao. May 19th: Houston we have lift off! Mandy and I are pleased to announce that we have two new sections to launch here at willkemp.org on this fine Monday in May. The first is an expansion to our fan page for Adam Cooper. As we don't have a postboard (for a number of reasons), we decided the next best thing is to allow fans to contribute reviews of performances they have seen. It's a good way to share with other fans your thoughts and impressions of Adam in dance and to pay tribute to him as well. We will also keep a look out for newspaper or magazine articles on the super Mr. Cooper and post them in his news section. Now, before anyone says 'Hey wait a minute - what about Will' - we of course will have a similar page for our favorite dancer. But Mr. Hollywood is busy filming into the fall right now, so until he puts his dance shoes back on, we will hold off on that launch. Our second new section is a tribute page to dancers. Every so often we will introduce a dancer or dance company that we personally feel is a cut above the rest. Many of you reading this are already dance savvy to one degree or another and may know all about our choices. But some of you are new to it and perhaps daunted by who to see or why. Neither Mandy or myself is a dance expert of any sort. We both got interested in dance only after seeing Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. And like sooo many others - it changed our way of looking at dance and it pretty much hooked us for good. One purpose of this dancer's section is to honor the incredible artists who have brought so much joy to us through their consistently brilliant performances. It is also a way to help promote them by getting the word out to those of you who might not know of them. And it's a chance for us to meet other fans and talk about dance and dancers. That said, Matt Bourne and Adam Cooper are already on this new tribute page for obvious reasons. I got this month's pick to launch the section and have chosen, no surprise, George Piper Dances. They are the X-Men and X-Women of dance. Mandy and I both think they are wild and wonderful. Mandy gets next pick and I won't tell you who it is, but first clue is - better get the ice bucket out! Sorry Mandy, couldn't help it. Finally, I didn't forget about Will (like that would even be a possibility). One piece of Van Helsing news came out late Friday. A motherlode of set pics from comingsoon.net. Is it May 7th, 2004 yet????? May 16th: Leonard Bastard. We're still chuckling over that name and the image it conjurs up. But later. Several other movie news sources and sites have posted items similar to the ScreenDaily story which we linked to yesterday. Nothing different enough to note however. But you know we will do our best to keep you posted. By the way, are you as impressed as we are with the interesting films and roles Will has chosen so far in his young film career? He is something else! Of course, that is why we're here. Nobody quite like him. Everything old is new again. Two photos we have on this site already, but we've come into possession of them again, in different guises and sizes. One includes an article we hadn't seen with a photo of Will in one of those pouty GAP poses....steady people. The other is also a much larger version of Will as The Swan. Ohhhh yessss. And while we are swanning around, we have another photo of Will's handsome buddy Adam in his own Swan repose. Finally, music to every webmaster's ears! An email that starts out "I know where Will is"! And thanks to Will fan Kim, we all know where he is - or will be. The town of Downey, CA - about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. According toour pal Nic at Jackman's Landing, there is a huge facility there that was built to shoot some of the larger sets for Spider-Man. Our lucky girl, Kim, is about a mile from where Helsing has set up filming and has been able to watch some of the early goings on. Her first glimpses were of crew stacking large cargo containers, spray-painting them black and then adding giant chains to make them resemble the door to a castle. Movie magic folks. Hopefully she will get a glimpse of our Wolf Man as well. Thanks Kim and again, good Will hunting to you. Keep us posted. This week has turned out pretty darn good Will news-wise, don't ya think? Have a great weekend everyone. May 15th: LATE BREAKING NEWS It looks like our gorgeous Will really is going to sneak in another film before getting back to the stage. (Remember his hints on Roy's site?) We've been waiting and wondering what he'd pick next. The suspense is over and well worth the 'wait and wonder'. Check out the great ensemble cast who will be in this Eric Idle (co-founder Monty Python) spoof on Merchant Ivory costume dramas. Hope to have more for you on this great news tomorrow. May 13th: Van Helsing chatter from the Chicago Sun Times and icliverpool with thanks to the crew at comingsoon.net. Plus, a few more grabs from way back when during Cinderella rehearsals. And oh what the heck! The sharp cover page from last month's Dancing Times magazine, featuring George Piper Dances' Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt.....just cuz we like 'em so much. May 12th: Happy Monday Everyone. This should start your week off nicely. Many thanks to David in the Windy City for his help with this beauty. May7th: Webmaster's warning: You may very well need a tall glass of ice water handy after viewing our newest batch of screen captures from The Car Man. Having just seduced the garage owner's wife Lana, the seemingly tireless, testosterone charged Luca (Alan Vincent) turns his attentions to our vulnerable but willing Angelo, in this very steamy 'love him and leave him wanting more' scene. And that face of Will's...honestly, is there a more expressive face out there? No. There isn't. Silly question. Speaking of wanting more, this photo of Adam Cooper as The Swan definitely has us wanting more. Hands down we all agree he is pretty amazing in the expressive face department too - I mean who could resist those eyes? We must thank a very devoted Adam Cooper fan from Japan, for sharing this positively breathtaking photo. And we have one more thank you to send out to Japan. We received a heads up on this link to a Terry Davies site with his music from Play Without Words, which Will performed in last fall. If you didn't get to see the play, this music will be a nice way to get a feel for the production. The word out is that 'Play' may very well be back again late this fall. Fingers crossed for those of us who will not miss it a second time. Our thanks to Keiko for alerting us to this great find. Very swingin', Mr. Davies! It has been wonderful getting these emails with news and photos from all of you. It is sincerely appreciated and it goes a long way in helping us make this an even better site. So, please don't be shy. Let us hear from you. And of course, thanks for visiting!! May 5th: New York City. The city that never sleeps. And neither did I the whole time I was up there. Just got back and must apologize profusely because I have not had time to finish putting together clips, caps and photos for today's post. But the good news is, I will have them ready for Wednesday's post. So please bear with me. Oh and in case you were wondering, New Yawk was fabulous! I do have an announcement to make. My prayers have been answered and I am getting my own fairy godmother. Her name is Mandy. (As in Mandy who sent all the stuff for last week's update; as in Mandy who alerted me to the item in the 'newfriends' newsletter with Will's wedding announcement in it; as in Mandy who lives just outside London, is a frequent theatre patron, sends me reviews and photos and has helped introduce me to dance and dancers; as in Mandy who is the BIGGEST Adam Cooper fan of all (hear that Adam?); as in Mandy who has graciously accepted my offer (okay my begging and pleading) to become a willkemp.org staffer.) That Mandy. Along with her love of theatre and dance, she has great enthusiasm and a desire to help me not only improve this site by making sure we find all the Will news and photos out there so that we can better promote and cheer Will on (priority one); but she will also do the lion's share of expanding the Adam Cooper page (because you know we love him too); and she will be instrumental in helping me develop a new section on the website dedicated to dance companies, dancers and shows. As you know, I have been spoon feeding this idea to you a little at a time i.e. introducing to you some of Will's contemporaries and colleagues. Now there will be a specific section set up with photos and reviews on dancers and companies we have personally seen and would like to recommend to others. This is still in the developemental stages, but we hope to have the first items up in the next couple of months. So we will keep you posted on that. And to Mandy - welcome and thanks. Final note. I know people are frustrated that there is not more news out there on Will. I don't know Will personally, but I do know a great deal about him having followed him for so long. So this is my take on it. Will has a great deal of integrity about himself and his work. He chooses to keep a low profile for the purpose of his craft and also because he is a private person. While we would all like to see more on him, we must respect him for choosing to pursue his career this way. I personally find it quite refreshing in a sea of ego maniacs out there. I like his style and I makes me even happier to be a fan of his. So be patient and good things will definitely come our way. Besides, when something new does come out, it almost feels like Christmas, doesn't it? |