Monkeys of Bollywood

Dreamworks:
Inspired by the great Indian epic tale of The Ramayana — but retold through the point of view of its monkeys — Monkeys of Bollywood revolves around two common monkeys who become unlikely heroes in a last ditch effort to stop an ancient, thought-to-be-mythical demon from conquering the world.

Paul Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Stephen Schwartz, A.R. Rahman.

Executive producer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Prince of Egypt, Enchanted), executive producer and composer A.R. Rahman (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Bombay Dreams), and writers Gurinder Chadha & Paul Berges (Bride & Prejudice, Bend It Like Beckham) are together this week at DreamWorks Animation's headquarters in Glendale, California to continue their collaboration on the feature project.

"To reunite with Stephen Schwartz and work with such a celebrated team of artists on DreamWorks Animation's first-ever CG animated feature musical project is incredibly exciting," said DreamWorks Animation's Chief Creative Officer, Bill Damaschke. "Together we will create a movie that is full of magic, fantasy, adventure, comedy and emotion in which inspiring songs and dances will delight audiences everywhere."

Wikipedia: “The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. The name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of R?ma and ayana (“going, advancing”), translating to “Rama’s Journey”. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (k???as) and 500 cantos (sargas), and tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu preserver-God Vishnu), whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the epic explores the tenets of human existence and the concept of dharma.”

My Fairytale - A musical

A musical about HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
Original idea & concept by FLEMMING ENEVOLD
Music & Lyrics by STEPHEN SCHWARTZ
Book by Phillip LaZebnik

"From the darkened stage of the Royal National Theater in 1846, Hans Christian Andersen is launched on an epic adventure through the timeless landscape of his own imagination. What he discovers there not only changes his life, but the world. His life’s fairytale, illuminated by beauty and longing, was the genesis for some of the world’s most beloved stories. My Fairytale was first produced by Flemming Enevold as Mit Eventyr in 2005 as part of Denmark’s bi-centennial celebration of Andersen’s birth. This gorgeous new musical is both a delightful revelry in the stories from Andersen’s imagination, an enlightening journey into the soul of the artist, and heartfelt celebration of the wonderful influence of the Danish spirit on the world."(Press release)

Will be playing at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in California in August 2011.

More FAIRYTALES

Lea Michele - Dorothy of Oz & Wicked

Lea Michele to play Dorothy AND the wicked witch? Yes, please.

From Broadway.com, news that Stephen Schwartz is considering Lea for the role of Elphaba in Wicked movie.

"Lea Michele is fantastic and it'd be silly to say she wouldn't be under consideration [for the role of Elphaba]."

Schwartz also revealed to Broadway.com that the movie version may require audiences to put on 3D glasses to see the witches of Oz fly.

"It'll probably be in 3D because that's where all [movies] are going," Schwartz told us. "We're talking to a lot of potential directors, as a lot of people know, and I think we'll make a decision pretty soon." Among the considered directors is Glee creator Ryan Murphy, who already has experience adapting popular books for film with Running with Scissors and this year's Eat Pray Love. "We like Ryan and had a great meeting with him," Schwartz said of the director. "I've always been a big fan of his."

I love the casting choice of Lea for Elphaba, especially once I came to the realization that Idina Menzel would be too mature to play the part. If I had one wish granted for the Wicked movie, it would be that Lea play the green-skinned wicked Witch of the West! (and also that Idina and Kristin have cameos.)

But Mr. Schwartz, please not in 3D!!! Cast that thought from your mind...

* * * * * * *

In the meantime, Lea is already providing the voice of Dorothy in upcoming animated Dorothy of Oz which is expected to hit theaters in spring of 2012 so if the Wicked role pans out she'll be both Dorothy and her nemesis!