Luciano Pavarotti is the subject of a new musical show.
His widow Nicoletta Mantovani, and daughter Alice — who was just four when her father died 14 years ago — have joined forces with Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman, and wunderkind composer Jacob Collier to pay tribute to ‘one of the greatest voices of all time’.
As yet, the production has not been named and it is expected to open in West End by the fall of 2023.
The pioneer in the acceptance of new genres and modes was Luciano. . . ‘He wanted to bring his songs to everyone,” Nicoletta said, inadvertently referring to Collier, a North London-based 27-year old, and four-time Grammy winner. He will use technical wizardry to create the illusion that Pavarotti is performing on-stage.
His widow Nicoletta Mantovani, and daughter Alice — who was just four when her father died 14 years ago — have joined forces with Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman, and wunderkind composer Jacob Collier to pay tribute to ‘one of the greatest voices of all time’.
Collier worked with Ben Bloomberg, a sound tech wizard at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create a software program that isolates Pavarotti’s voice from audio recordings of Pavarotti’s performances. This allows Pavarotti to sing a range of arias with no accompaniment.
Nicoletta explained that the show would bring Luciano’s singing to life and capture the same spirit of emotion as his songs.
The revolutionary art of Shoreditch was created by her and her daughter.
On Wednesday, Alice — who said her father’s voice ‘was touched by God’ — explained that the show will feature a character called Sofia, ‘a kind of fictionalised version of me’, who will bring her father to life through correspondence he received from ordinary people who were passionate fans. Each letter will lead to an aria, or song about him.
Collier, with nearly 5 million YouTube and Twitter subscribers, was awarded for his arrangements. How do you pay tribute to the most powerful voice on the planet? He asked. “And in a manner that you have never heard of before?”
Fond memories: Alice, her mother Nicoletta
Collier replied that he wanted to “axe the orchestra”. Collier said, “Let’s replace this familiar sound with many voices accompanying big man’s vocal, live onstage.” The backing of a singer would consist of their vocals, which could be used to represent brass, woodwind or strings. Only a few actual instruments will be included, including the Harp.
Ok, it’s true, I was also a bit dumbfounded when I first saw the entire process at the workshop. Pavarotti sang using an extremely powerful digital keyboard. Live singers added harmony to Pavarotti’s songs, which was once performed by an entire orchestra.
Collier exclaimed, “We’re making musical instruments in the room with the great men!” Collier was enthusiastic.
Pavarotti’s voice was, according to him, “the perfect tool” and had the ability to draw audiences into their seats.
John Berry, a producer for Scenario Two, was granted stage rights and permission from Pavarotti to use fan mail addressed to him.
Universal Music was their partner and will soon release a recording.
Pavarotti’s best-known arias will also be included. Nessun Dorma, did you wonder? Berry joked, “It would have to be strange if it did.”
It’s a perilous situation for the West End at the moment, with many shows cancelling performances due to Covid scares among cast and backstage members. The number of unvaccinated thespians is not well-known, with some refusing to get jabbed.
Surprised that actors could be so selfish about the livelihood and health of their co-stars. Producers can’t require all crew and cast members to be vaccinated, as Broadway does. To ensure that shows run smoothly and to provide jobs, producers are now remortgaging homes. However, I was told that one must respect anti-vaxxers. It’s a pity, but it’s what I have to do.
Cumberbabies come first, says proud dad Benedict
Benedict Cumberbatch is a family man, even with the three main movies.
The actor is dominating the big screen with his roles in The Power Of The Dog and Spider-Man: No Way Home. He insists that Sophie Hunter, Sophie’s wife, and their young children, come along when filming takes place on-location.
While he was promoting Avengers: Endgame in Los Angeles, the Oscar-winning director Jane Campion came a-calling to discuss a project — The Power Of The Dog — and was charmed by the sight of the Cumberbatches en famille at their rented home.
Campion later recalled that he saw him as a father and was able to tell me his identity in an instant. We chatted at a reception hosted by Netflix during the Venice Film Festival.
No audition was held. Campion was simply looking to meet her Phil. This is Phil Burbank, the complex and complicated cattle rancher. He was portrayed in her dramatic adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel set in Montana in 1920s.
The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain will be presented by Will Sharpe. Cumberbatch will portray the artist movingly.
Campion chose to film the film in New Zealand. The South Island’s grassy plains, craggy mountains and lush greenery filled in the vast expanses of America.
Cumberbatch was forced to stay in the south hemisphere by lockdown for eight more months. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. [Sophie and the boys]I was wrong in the beginning,’ he explained to me. “Too far, too far away.”
He is also full of admiration and respect for Jessie Buckley, his best friend in The Courier, currently performing the role of Sally Bowles opposite Eddie Redmayne in Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club. He admitted that he is “aching” to return to the boardrooms.
I have three children. [aged six and under]. He said, “It’s just too much at the moment.” I’ll wait till they get a little more mature.
Cumberbatch will be back in front of the camera again in January with another “great director” (though he declined to reveal further details).
In the meantime, The Power Of The Dog, hailed as one of the year’s best films, is storming through awards season — collecting a string of precursor honours for the Netflix picture, for Campion, for co-stars Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons and Cumberbatch himself.
To add to his nomination for Best Actor Oscar for The Imitation Game, he’s now on the verge of a second Best Actor Oscar nomination.
The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain will be presented by Will Sharpe. Cumberbatch portrays the eccentric artist who was known for creating whimsical photographs of cats anthropomorphic.
Wednesday’s launch saw Spider-Man: No Way Home. Doctor Strange is a time-travelling character who attempts to free Spider-man from the web of problems. Marvel Universe will continue its adventures with Doctor Strange in The Multiverse Of Madness, which is due to be released May 2.
Cumberbatch even has his own production company, SunnyMarch, which has developed a number of his films — Louis Wain, The Courier, The Mauritanian — and enabled him to combine work and family duties. He doesn’t cut corners, however. He was cast as Phil in The Power Of The Dog by going to Montana’s ‘City Slickers School’. There he learned skills such as herding cattle and playing the banjo, and he also got into the ‘circadian rhythm’ that sees the sun rise and set.
He stated that it was “probably my furthest stretch, from the things I was brought up and lived through as a child,” when referring to the role.
Campion and Phil hired Kim Gillingham (a Jungian analyst) to help them in their’subconscious work.
Cumberbatch kept an eye on her dreams and wrote them down. ‘I talked to her about what I could remember — if I could remember — of my dreams; and it was remarkable. Although the questions are somewhat private they are related to Phil as well aspects of him that I like or don’t like. I was able to really focus on his character.
“He is a troubled soul, who looks to the past constantly and feels left behind by both the present and future.”
Although filming seemed like it took forever, there were many rewards. Cumberbatch, along with Cricket, would take dogs and horses to the ranch, where he marvelled at the harmony among the diverse species. . . “Man, horse and cattle doing their respective things”
Phil Burbank was only a small world from Louis Wain. Cumberbatch was aware of Wain’s work, but not until he began on The Electrical Life. . . He didn’t know anything about the artist’s and illustrator’s “quietly heroic” existence in Victorian London and Edwardian London where he had to struggle to support his family. He stated that “He was thinly stretched and overworked.” He said that he had two sisters who were constantly in need of money. He was very fragile mentally. He was still able to do so much.
Will Sharpe’s film has a beautiful quality in that Wain and all of his quirkiness are so lucidly presented. Claire Foy’s scenes with Emily Richardson (his wife) are the most moving. Cumberbatch spoke of the screen marriage as a “lifelong love affair” and said that it was a lifetime commitment.
This is actually Foy’s second marriage. A decade ago, they were married in Wreckers.
This was even before the pair became superstars. She first played Queen Elizabeth in The Crown. He thanks to Sherlock, and many other movies.
“We have both seen each other, and we’re now going: “Yeah!”He said, “He’s right!”