In Celebration is still moving. And is that Orlando Bloom acting?
posted by Jas, 07/26/07
Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days, I was avoiding the internet to read the new and the last Harry Potter book, I didn't want to accidently come across any spoiler, anyway, Times Online has another nice review of Orlando's performance in In Celebration
Storey's portrait has no class axe to grind and is full of empathy. Healy is wonderful as the old miner, proud of his sons, but baffled by their restlessness. And what of Bloom, the principal attraction? He may make an acceptable elf, but can he really act? Yes, he can. His accent sounds well-nigh perfect, at least to these soft southern ears, and his movements have a matching bluntness, turning more hesitant as the play progresses. Rather than stage presence, he exudes absence, but that is a compliment. He is in character as Steven, wrapped in sad, wounded speechlessness. Full review
In Celebration reviews
posted by Jas, 07/17/07
Reviews of In Celebration from various sources, some photos from the first night here. Orlando's stage debut in London's West End has met with a broadly positive response from critics.
Orlando Bloom has wowed audiences at the opening night of his new West End drama In Celebration. The 30-year-old Pirates Of The Caribbean star plays one of three sons, who return home to Yorkshire for a family reunion, but the celebration is fraught with long-held grudges. Denise Welch, whose husband Tim Healy plays Orlando's father, said: "The performances are excellent. I was interested to see Orlando, because of all the hype. It's a very brave decision of his and I think it's working especially because he hasn't got the biggest part."The actress, who has appeared in TV dramas including The Bill and Holby City, added that Orlando looks up to Tim and had even promised her son Louis a sword fight. "Tim has been a mentor [to Orlando] and he's really enjoyed working with him and bringing him on and I think it's really sweet. "From what he's told Tim, he just finds his whole movie star existence quite surreal still so he just wanted to remind himself [of the stage]," she added. -- Metro
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This revival of David Storey's 1969 drama exactly doubles the number of straight plays by living British dramatists in the West End. Even then, one assumes it owes its life largely to Orlando Bloom's theatrical debut. It is a melancholy situation - but one can report Storey's tough and sturdy play stands the test of time, and that Bloom should guarantee it a young audience.And what of Bloom's debut? Critics seemed to agree that the pencil moustache is a bad look (surely it's no worse than his Pirates goatee?) but disagreed over the power of his performance in a rather muted role. Michael Billington applauded his "haunted taciturnity and withdrawn moodiness" but de Jongh deemed that the heartthrob's "sexual charisma and androgynous prettiness before the camera vanishes clean away on the stage's more distant perspective". -- The Guardian
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While some first night critics were underwhelmed by Bloom's stage debut, it was as much due to his chosen role – as the largely silent, introverted brother – as his performance. The choice of play, viewed as something of a period piece, was also questioned and opinions as to the evening's entertainment overall ranging from something "richly satisfying" to something "you'd only recommend … to your worse enemy". There were good notices for Bloom's co-stars Paul Hilton, Tim Healy and Dearbhla Molloy, although the highest praise was reserved for the show's ever-prolific producer Sonia Friedman, hailed by one critic as "our last, serious hope of keeping straight plays alive in a West End deluged by musicals".In making his stage debut as the youngest of three brothers returning home to Yorkshire for their parents' fortieth wedding anniversary, Orlando Bloom exhibits a faultless modesty. His character Steven, a discouraged teacher, stuttering novelist and father of four, is a silent, moody introvert. He says very little and rarely commands the stage. He succumbs to a little light weeping, but does that in the safety of the darkness -- What's On Stage
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Director Anna Mackmin, with the help of suitably dreary designs by Lez Brotherston, certainly doesn't short-change the audience when it comes to wretchedness, while a brilliantined and moustached Orlando Bloom spends the entire evening looking pale and interesting. It's not a challenging role but he remembers his lines and doesn't bump into the furniture. -- Daily Telegraph-------------------
Probably the most telling compliment that can be made about this revival of David Storey's witty, engaging social drama is that Hollywood star Orlando Bloom, dressed down in a dowdy brown shirt, tie and cardigan, merges into the background. That Bloom is just another part of that family is testament to how complete is this theatrical experience and to Anna Mackmin's energetic yet sensitive direction Casting more than plays its part.While Paul Hilton as the deeply damaged Andrew wears his anger and bitterness on his sleeve, as youngest brother Stephen, Bloom?s is an internalised performance and all the more impressive for that. -- The Stage
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There are some impressive performances - in particular Paul Hilton as Andrew, the tortured failure who tears back all the pretence of family unity. But sadly Orlando Bloom, in his London stage debut, is disappointing. This is not entirely his fault. The part of Steven is too small and lacks the opportunity for spreading any dramatic wings. -- Daily Express-------------------
Is David Storey alive and kicking? Anna Mackmin's revival of his second play with the fashionable Orlando Bloom taking the role created by Brian Cox 40 years ago, gives a less literal answer to that question: Storey's work isn't just alive but has a kick capable of separating today's audiences from their emotional teeth. Bloom is Steven Shaw.... superficially it's an unrewarding part, because he spend most of the time looking wan and saying little... but an important one. -- Times Online-------------------
Don't be misled by the title that In Celebration is light-hearted. It is a gloomy northern coalmines affair with a pulverisingly slow, first half. Good cast here. Tim Healy, familiar from TV's Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Coronation Street... could speak more clearly, but he embodies the dignity and toughness of the north-eastern miner. Movie pin-up Orlando Bloom shows fine sensitivity with this part. -- Daily Mail-------------------
Enter Orlando Bloom. Yet it's still a gamble to put a man largely cast for his ability to deliver looks -- not lines -- into a play all about things spoken. That the gamble doesn't really pay off artistically, however, is not entirely Bloom's fault. You have to hand it to him. Most movie stars shift to the stage in star vehicles redolent of previous screen success. But Bloom has elected to make his legit debut with a role in an ensemble drama. Furthermore, he is required to ditch his pretty persona in favor of a role as an inwardly distressed thirtysomething struggling to come to terms with his troubled family background. As Steven, Bloom wears a moustache in a (failed) attempted to age up so he is believable as the father of four children, but he spends the evening in diffident moody introspection. He indicates his character's gathering distress but lacks the skill to reveal the reasons for it. -- Variety
First Look at Orlando Bloom Celebration
posted by Jas, 07/13/07
What's on Stage has some production photos from In Celebration
Blooming Marvellous: Orlando on Stage
posted by Jas, 07/12/07
What's on Stage has an article about Orlando and The Telegraph has an interview with writer, David Storey.
'No, I'm not getting my clothes off'
posted by Jas, 07/12/07
Don't know how, where or when the rumour started but Orlando does not and will not be taking his clothes off in his stage debut, In Celebration, don't bother going if you expect to see him naked on stage.
Orlando Bloom has a confession to make. When he was first sent the script of the David Storey play In Celebration, he "didn't know who David Storey was". And the ignorance, it seems, was mutual. "No, I'm afraid I hadn't heard of Orlando," the playwright happily confesses. As Bloom prepares to star in a West End revival of Storey's work, this parallel blankness is perhaps unsurprising, these two theatrical collaborators coming from contrasting branches of culture. The 30-year-old actor has never appeared professionally on stage, having spent his whole decade as an actor in epic films, including Troy and Kingdom of Heaven, with a special line in high-octane trilogies: as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings, and as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean.The hero of Lord of the Rings and Pirates almost wasn't in this revival at all. He celebrated his birthday towards the end of the marathon shoot for the Pirates trilogy: "I reached 30 and thought time was a bit more precious. What did I actually want to do? Since I was 25, I've basically been making Pirates movies. And, because of the success of those films, that has become the focus. 'Oh, he's the guy from the Pirates movies.' And I had to think, 'Is that what I want?'"
Deciding that he "really needed to do some theatre because I was feeling a bit thin", he was offered the part of Steven, the quietest of the three brothers in In Celebration, but initially said no. "I was, like, 'You want me to play Steven? Why? He doesn't say much, does he?' I just didn't get it." He asked for the showier role, Andrew, but realised the character was too old, and was persuaded that Steven was a good entry into theatre. He believes now that the modesty of the role is an advantage. "I saw the potential for a great ensemble play. I was very conscious of not wanting a star vehicle. I wanted to crack this perception of, 'Oh, it's Orl ...'" His own name trips him up, as if he's wary of becoming one of those performers who refer to themselves with ease in the third person. "You know, that it's 'Orlando Bloom.'" He completes the name, but with exaggerated distance, as if it were a fictional character "doing some theatre".
Some theatregoers may be disappointed at what they see: one of the Bloom fan sites claimed he would be appearing naked on stage, following Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe's stage debut in Equus. In fact, the only undressing stage direction to be found in Storey's text is a hospitable invitation to Steven to take off his coat if he's staying. Is it possible that the new staging reinterprets this scene so radically that Bloom keeps on going once he's got his coat off? The actor has bad news for anyone hoping for Last Tango in Wakefield: "I heard what they're saying. But you've read the play. Where would I possibly get my clothes off in it? It's bizarre."
The rumour seems most likely to have been wishful thinking by the teeny-screamy element of Bloom's fan club. Does he ever resent such attention? "No," he says. "It was those fans that gave me the chance to star in Kingdom of Heaven." Still, Bloom will at least be sounding, if not looking, unfamiliar - as he grapples with a northern accent, having been trained by a dialect coach. (He's from Kent.) So how does a dialect coach work? Was he given tapes of rugby league commentaries? "We work on sounds: the dark ell sound, the round oh-sound." Dark ell? It sounds like a minor character in The Lord of the Rings. What exactly is it? "Are you asking me to get technical? I hate it when actors go on about that stuff. The dark ell is a heavier sound. The oh-sound is about how you open the mouth."
Reassuringly for the cast, Storey says he isn't especially worried about precisely where the voices land on the map: "On This Sporting Life, Anderson was worried that Richard Harris had an Irish accent, but it turned out that it was fine. I'm much more interested in characters than accents." The new version of In Celebration rehearsed at the National Youth Theatre's rooms in north London, a nostalgic location for Bloom: it was at the NYT that he did his first serious acting, as a spear-carrier in Chiwetel Ejiofor's Othello. The story of Bloom's childhood, in Canterbury, is a familiar one among performers: pretending to be others gave him release from the tensions of who he was. "Drama class was one of the only areas at school I responded to. Until I was 11, I'd struggled at school, and they thought I was just being stupid. But then I had a dyslexia test and it turned out I had a healthy IQ, but had a problem with reading. We found a school that could help me."
Bloom's adolescence was further complicated by the revelation that the man he knew as his stepfather was in fact his father. Given that In Celebration turns on parent-child tensions, was Bloom able to draw on his own upbringing? "Well," he says, "what's interesting about this play is that there's no such thing as a conventional upbringing. The father keeps saying, 'Family, lad, it's about family.' But I think the play is saying, 'What is a family? What do we mean by that?' And I love it for that."
Encouraged by his mother, first towards the NYT and then the British American Drama Academy, Bloom assumed he would be a stage actor, but others quickly saw him as camera-ready: he was cast as a skinhead self-mutilator in Casualty and then signed for a one-liner as a rent boy in Wilde. Next, he was offered an understudy contract on an RSC world tour but then the role of Legolas for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings came along.
In retrospect, he cringes at his initial cockiness: "I remember my first screen test. I did it as Orlando. In costume, with a bow and arrow. But as Orlando. And I was totally at ease, cracking jokes. And I went to see that screen test - the first time I'd ever seen myself on screen - and I freaked out. It was, like, what are you doing? I was devastated. It was so big and I wasn't doing anything. I realised I had to learn how to be an actor for film."
With the exception of the quick turn in Wilde, he is unusual in having played lead roles throughout his career and was constantly conscious of the pressure: "Being afraid to fuck it up, basically." He finished Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven on one day and started filming for Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown the next. It began to feel like a marathon relay. In Celebration is a deliberate change of pace.
Bloom is a Buddhist. Does its philosophy of serenity help him with the pressures of acting? He becomes suddenly tense. "The philosophy of Buddhism is connected to everything," he says. "So it probably does have some connection with acting, yes." What drew him to Buddhism? "It's not something I talk about. I was brought up with sins and harms, I mean hymns and psalms, getting some of it but it not being enough. I found the philosophy of Buddhism attractive."
Bloom belongs to a new generation of actors whose entire careers are available on DVD. If they wished, they could carry all their work around with them on a video iPod. Is he tempted? "No," he says. "I've never even watched one of the DVDs. I sometimes think it would be nice to show your kids one day. Sometimes I catch a glimpse in hotel rooms or on planes, and think, 'Eurggh, is that what I was doing?' ".
Troy Director's Cut 2-disc DVD out on Sept 18
posted by Jas, 07/12/07
Warner Home video will release Troy Director's Cut on a 2-disc DVD on September 18, it will also be available on UCE, HD and Blu-ray DVD
On September 18, Warner Home Video will debut Wolfgang Petersen's all-new, unrated version -- not seen in theatres -- of his epic film Troy. With 30 minutes of new footage, Troy Director's Cut, including special features from its first DVD release, will be available in collectible O-sleeve packaging and will sell for $20.97 SRP. HD DVD and Blu-ray disc versions will debut simultaneously at $34.99 SRP.Also offered will be the Troy Ultimate Collector's Edition ($39.92 SRP), which will include collectible memorabilia such as "The Art of Troy" photo book, behind-the-scenes photos and select pages from the shooting script of the Academy Award®-nominated director (The Perfect Storm, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire, Das Boot). Orders are due for all August 14.
DISC ONE
Feature Film
Troy Revisited: An Introduction by Wolfgang Petersen DISC TWO
Troy in Focus In The Thick of the Battle: Discovering how Troy's epic battle sequences were created, from thousands of warrior-extras training in the scorching heat of Mexico, to fierce one-on-one duels to the death From Ruins to Reality: Exploring how the ruins of ancient Troy were unearthed and how Troy's production design magicians created their own version of this breathtaking, legendary city Troy: An Effects Odyssey: Secrets of Troy's stunning visual effects are revealed, from conjuring a staggering 1,000 ship armada on the open seas, to producing the bone crunching sound effects of brutal ancient warfare Attacking Troy Greek Ship Towing Theatrical Trailer
Win tickets to see In Celebration
posted by Jas, 07/05/07
Here's your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Orlando in In Celebration, simply send email to competitions@akauk.com with subject heading: In Celebration/Orlando Bloom Media, state your name and contact details. Competition closes on July 31 and is opened to UK residents only. Winning tickets will be valid Monday to Thursday evening performances until August 17. Subject to availability. Tickets held at the Box Office for collection.
Star Summer Jobs
posted by Jas, 07/05/07
Watch a video clip of Orlando talking about his first job
Meanwhile, over in London "Pirates" star Orlando Bloom made his first paycheck working on a shooting range. "I was a clay trapper," he told us. "You'd have these gentlemen who'd go shooting and I'd pull back the arm on a clay trap machine. Put in clay discs, let them go and they'd fly off. I'd let them go and they'd shoot them out of the sky." Of course, the cash was a far cry from his current multi-million dollar paydays in Hollywood. "Not very well paid, not back then," he laughed. "For me it was very well paid. I was kind of young and it was my first job. So any money was good money at that point."
Orlando nominated for Teen Choice Awards
posted by Jas, 07/05/07
Orlando has been nominated for Teen Choice Awards for his role in Pirates 3. He's nominated in the following categrories, Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure, Movie Liplock, Movie Rumble and Male Hottie. Pirates 3 has been nominated for Choice Movie: Action Adventure.The event will be aired live on August 26 at 8/7 pm central on Fox.
Interview with Orlando
posted by Jas, 07/05/07
This is London has an interview with Orlando where he talked about his stage debut in In Celebration. Capital 95.8 has an audio interview with Orlando which you can listen here or download here. Catz has posted a clip of Orlando's appearance on T4, download here
