December 2004 Archives

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: HOW THE FILM WAS MADE; ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S LYRICIST, CHARLES HART

By Ellis Nassour on December 22, 2004 1:01 AM

POTO SCENE STEALER: MINNIE DRIVER as La Carlotta.
[Photo: Alex Bailey/Warner Bros.]

The critics and movie-going public - and a legion of Michael Crawford fans - are weighing in on the fate of the $70-million film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera . There are some especially vicious pans so who knows if it will resonate with audiences around the world to capture and enthrall you, have them wishing they were there - or anywhere esle - again, drive them to the point no return or have them humming the dark music of the night?

Director/co-screenplay writer Joel Schumacher says, "I was compelled to make the film because of the millions who cannot afford to see Phantom in a legitimate theatre. There are millions who love Andrew's music, and now they'll have the opportunity to see a version of it."

If you build it, they will come. And, man, oh, man, did they build it on the sound stages of London's Pinewood Studios, with ALW as the main producer - and co-screenplay writer.

There's been no outcry over the casting of little known Emmy Rossum as Christine Daae? Didn't that British songbird Sarah Brightman go on to bigger things after all she could ask of ALW?

ALW and Schumacher rightly point out that in the Gaston Leroux novel, Christine is a teenager. Rossum, who trained with the children's chorus at the Met [the accredited acting school she studied with is not mentioned] and went on with some of the biggest stars in the opera world, was only 16 when she auditioned for the part.

Yet there are some who are refusing to see the film because Crawford, who originated the title role in the West End and on Broadway, at 65, isn't playing the role. Why? How many tickets, buckets of popcorn and half-gallon containers of Coca-Cola would Crawford's name above the title sell to those "millions" who love ALW's music and haven't been able to afford to travel to a theatre near them to see POTO onstage.

As ALW's POTO lyricist Charles Hart [see below] says, It's Andrew Lloyd Webber's name above the title that fills the seats.

There's quite a long list of moviedom precedent for Crawford not repeating his role onscreen. The Merm, no spring chick at the time, didn't get to play Rose onscreen. Mary Martin, no teen at the time, didn't get to play Maria onscreen. Julie, who did, didn't get to play Eliza, for whatever reason some very stupid person came up with. The cast of ACL didn't get to play themselves in the unacclaimed screen adaptation. Did Dottie get to portray Mrs. Hannigan when Annie was disastrously brought to the screen?


Director Joel Schumacher and Andrew Lloyd Webber
on the set at London's Pinewood Studios.

[Photo: Alex Bailey/Warner Bros.]

Schumacher, who came up the ranks as a costume designer and screenplaywright [Car Wash, The Wiz], and ALW decided early on the film adaptation would have to be "sexed up" because they were unsure audiences would sit for opera arias and pop opera. You may have noticed nothing remotely operatic is heard in the trailers and TV spots.

"The choice to use young people - Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum," says ALW, "makes it more real."

Says Shumacher, "Christine's relationship with Raoul is her romantic awakening as a teenager, but her pull towards the Phantom is a very sexual, very deep, very soulful union. Perhaps, if he wasn't disfigured or so violent and insane, someday they could have been together."

Maybe that's what the lyrics of the new song, "Learn To Be Loney," written for the film - actually for the end credits crawl - is all about.


Butler's most daunting task was singing with half a mask covering his face. It took some nine hours daily in makeup for the look that is eventually exposed under the mask. "They glued my lower eyelid down and kept it in place with a piece of string that wrapped around my face and down my back." He adds that it was excruciating when makeup from the hot lights and perspiration got into his eyes. To cleanse his eye, dabs of alcohol were applied. "By the end of the day, I was screaming."

Rossum claims that wearing tight corsets 14 hours at a time "has probably deformed me for life! I was 16 years old and still growing when we shot the film. There were moments when I could barely breathe." She reports that on one occasion she actually hyperventilated and almost passed out.


Oh, what they did for love!

When Butler would ask for advice or suggestions from the director, "the most frequent thing I heard was, 'Keep it sexy.' Sometimes that was difficult, because the story is so sad. "


Can you imagine a gloved Crawford with 18-year-old Rossum in his stranglehold and rubbing all around her torso and thighs? The cops would be raiding theatres showing the film in Boston and throughout the South!

On the other hand, the 35-year-old Butler said it was "exciting" making screen love to young Emmy. She said she didn't mind it at all either ó nor with younger Patrick Wilson [Raoul]. She even based her May-December sensual attraction to the Phanton on an affair she was quite familiar with: the romance between choreographer/mentor George Balanchine and his ABT diva ballerina Suzanne Farrell.

The big screen doesn't hide age as well as stage lighting, make-up and the distance from the proscenium. Overlooking that, Crawford should be eternally banished for shaming his stellar reputation by appearing in the "Broadwayized" Dance of the Vampires and insisting on some of that vulgar shtick derided by the critics and many of his fans. [However, he's back: stealing the show on the West End in ALW and David Zippel's The Woman in White as Count Fosco, the charismatic Italian villian.]

This writer recalls running into a woman coming out of the Minskoff in tears and asking if she'd been hurt. Her response: "Yes, by Michael Crawford. After seeing him a dozen times in Phantom, I've been a devoted fan. Now, I feel so betrayed."

Crawford may have had lots of fans outside the theatre, but not so many backstage. Some theater insiders wonder how much of La Carlotta [especially Minnie Driver's spin on her in the film!] is actually based on Crawford - his backstage antics and demands, keeping his dressing room door always closed so that even his leading ladies had to make an appointment to see him.

It turns out, none of it. "I spent a lot of time when I was younger with my family in the Bay of Naples, and we were always running into this woman, who was beautifully dressed and with her dogs, who frantically yelled demands to her husband. I sort of channeled her. "

The casting of the POTO film wasn't the only thing Lloyd Webber rethought. He had always envisioned his score backed by a full symphony and here, under the supervision of veteran conductor/musical director onstage and film Simon Lee and ALW's collaborator, orchestrator David Cullen he got his wish. At London's Abbey Road recording studios, Lee led an orchestra that varied from 28-pieces to, when ALW felt the urge, 105 strong. The sound of the music of the night is as sumptuous as the authentic period look of the film.

Since films have much more underscoring than stage musicals, Sir Andy had the opportunity to compose more than 15 minutes of new music for the film the new backstory and other sequences.

You may agree - and then you may chose not to - that one of the real stars of the film is production designer Anthony Pratt, who brilliant look of the stage original by the late Maria Bjornsson to a new degree of detail and opulence.

Pratt says he was drawn to the daunting project because of the great design possibilities. For research, he culled through the works of such artists of the period as John Singer Sergant, Caillebotte and Degas - and toured the Paris Opera House for concepts suitable for such a sweeping gothic romance.

Speaking of gothic romance, someone must have based Patrick Wilson's look as Raoul on those famous romance novel covers featuring the now forgotten Fabio and his flowing locks and heaving chest.

Actual locations, such as famous opera houses of Europe were not good enough for this film. Pratt built sets, including an 886-seat opera Opera Populaire, loosely based on the Paris' Opera Garnier, the largest opera theatre in the world, on eight stages at London's Pinewood Studios.

"The Paris Opera is beautiful," notes Schumacher, "but it's a huge municipal building with a bureaucratic feel. I wanted the Opera Populaire to be intimate, to feel like a sexy female character, rather than just a building."

Pratt noted that he endeavored to establish a macabre quality in every set. You'll notice that especially on the sensuous gold-hued figures with lyres that entwine, as they do in the stage production, around the proscenium.

One of the most spectacular details of the auditorium design is the chandelier that we all know will eventually come crashing down in the Phantom's wrath. Three versions were created: a "hero" piece for day-to-day filming; a "stunt" replica for shooting the crash; and the magnificent electrified version outfitted with 20,000 Swarovski crystal pendants.

A stunning aspect of the film are Schumacher's tracking shots upstairs, downstairs and throughout the backstage world and auditorium of the Opera Populaire. These sets were build in a Pinewood Studio service passage, which allow cinematographer John Mathieson [Gladiator] to move his camera seamlessly between the action taking place onstage, in the fly space and in the bustling workshops.

Fourteen sculptors created the oversized Paris rooftop and cemetery statues that bear a striking similarity to those of Rodin.

Pratt, impressed with Bjornsson's clever designs for the Phantom's lair onstage, designed a long corridor and a seemingly endless spiral staircase. "The deeper the Phantom descends with Christine," he says, "the richer and more macabre the architecture, illuminated by torches [and candles that burn as they emerge from the subterranean river], becomes."

Costumer Alexandra Byrne also did heroic work, especially with the over-the-top haute couture for reigning diva La Carlotta played with great fervor by Minnie Driver, who walks off with every scene she's in. "It was quite a challenge to do anything wearing those fifty-pound dresses and thirty-pound wigs," said Driver.

Some back story: ALW's musical phenomenon The Phantom of the Opera is the largest grossing stage or screen production in the world, having garnered worldwide box office receipts over $3.2-billion.

Since its 1986 debut in London's West End at Her Majesty's Theatre, the musical has reached an estimated 80 million people. More than 65,000 performances of Phantom have been staged in 18 countries. Productions of Phantom have earned over 50 major awards, including three Olivier Awards, seven Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critic's Circle Awards.

The still-running Broadway production at the Majestic, now starring Hugh Panaro, opened in 1988 and has been well-maintained. It's the second longest running musical in Broadway history [after ALW's Cats], seen by more than 10 million. At the end of January, it enters it 17th year.

Panaro sees the Phantom as a tragic figure. He explains that there are circumstances in his own upbringing that gave him insight into how to portray him. "Growing up in Philadelphia, I was chunky and teased constantly about my weight. I was made fun of and called some vicious names. It's something that stays with you, something you don't forget. I can tell you the name of every kid on my block who made fun of me! If I was as extreme as the Phantom, I'd probably have thrown darts of flame at them!"

The POTO West End Original Cast Album, featuring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman as Christine, with sales in excess of 40 million copies is the biggest selling cast album of all time.

Long after the film version has seen it's run and makes the transfer to DVD, a POTO will still be seen somewhere, everywhere. A plan is afoot to create an even more lavish stage version for Las Vegas' Venetian Casino and Hotel, where in 2006 a 90-minute version opens in a $25 million state-of-the-art theatre, built specifically for the production. Among other cutting-edge effects, it will boast an onstage lake for the Phantom's lair and an exploding chandelier.


"Phantom is a very personal piece in my career," says ALW. The idea of transferring it to film has been in the works for some time. "After taking Phantom to Broadway in 1988, I approached Joel [Schumacher] about helming a feature film version, I was impressed by his vampire thriller. The Lost Boys. Joel had an incredible visual sense and his use of music in the film was exceptional. One of the great joys of collaborating with him is that he has a great ear for music. He really gets it. He understands how the music drives the story."

In the wake of ALW's divorce from muse and original Phantom co-star Brightman, he postponed production of the film. At various stages since, he asked Schumacher to collaborate on the adaptation, but the director was unavailable.

Fate and good timing finally collided in December 2002, when they met again. ALW proposed they launch the long-delayed production. "I'd just done a series of gritty, more experimental films than the mainstream blockbusters I'd been associated with in the past," Schumacher says [8mm, Flawless, Tigerland, Veronica Guerin and Phone Booth]. "I've done so many different genres, but never a musical. It seemed like a huge challenge and I like that."

My last sit down with ALW was in 1994 [Disclosure: I was Director of Artist Relations at MCA/Univlersal Pictures at the time of the concept album Jesus Christ Superstar and worked closely over a year and a half with Lloyd Webber (and Tim Rice). They were the subject of my first book, Rock Opera], at which time he announced with some fanfare that he planned to take a hiatus and concentrate on doing something he's long wanted to do -- an original movie musical.

That hasn't happened. [It was going to be Starlight Express, which ALW originally envisioned as an animated feature, "but," he says, "it was shot down by those who advised there was no future in animated films!"]

At the time, he spoke quite frankly, wondering if he could follow the enormous success of POTO. His next show [1990] was radically different, small and sophisticated, Aspects of Love, based on David Garnett's 1955 novel about multiple infidelities. He was a great fan of the book. Lloyd Webber said that Aspects was his personal favorite, "but I don't think we quite got it right. Christopher Hampton [Les Liasons Dangereuses, book of Sunset Boulevard] told me that if I ever do a movie of Aspects, it should be a bit sharper, sexier, and funnier and not so stark. That's probably it! Hindsight is 20/20!"

He expressed his immense dislike for the "Folies Bergeres" concept of his first Broadway blockbuster, Jesus Christ Superstar, written with Tim Rice. "There was no relevance [in the avant garde staging by Tom O'Horgan] to the music we'd written," he explained. Lloyd Webber said

The failure of Jeeves, his 1975 book musical with Alan Ayckbourn based on the P.G. Wodehouse character, he admits has taught him many lessons, "especially about the importance of visuals. After Hal [Prince] saw it, he told me 'You can't listen to a show. if you can't look at it.'" Of his two collaborations with Prince, he noted, "Hal has always been absolutely spot on. We've had a very charmed experience."

After their Evita success, Prince, who had earlier attempted to secure the rights to JCS [he missed out by having the wrong address for a meeting with ALW], was anxious to work with ALW again. However, when they discussed Cats, recalled ALW, "Hal didn't think it was the best idea. After the politics of Evita, he wanted to know if there was going to be an Israeli cat, and so on. I told him, 'No, it's just about cats.'"

It didn't get easier. Everyone asked, "A dance musical, based on poems [by T.S. Eliot]?" Before England's choreographer Gillian Lynne and director Trevor Nunn came aboard, ALW was turned down by "a long list of American choreographers and directors."

He also disclosed that representatives of Warner Bros. [the North America distributor of the POTO film] pulled out their 50,000 pounds after he played the score. He told them, "Just remember, fifty percent of the world hates cats and fifty percent loves them. I'll happily go with the fifty percent who love them."

He did, but had to mortgage his home to secure the financing. Cats became - depending on which 50% you spoke to, the most loved or most hated musical of all time. But, now and forever, ALW will be laughing all the way to the bank.

In a smart move, which didn't turn out too smartly, he took his Really Useful Company public in the 1980. He made an elaborate deal with Polygram for his song catalog, only to spend nearly a hundred million in 1999 to buy it back. ALW has admitted one incentive for finally POTO onscreen pay off loans of his organization.

He's not bragging when he says, "I'm a bad businessman and I've not always been very well advised."

Don't cry for him, anyone, for he not on the way to the poor house. He owns a chain of West End theatres and a huge wine collection. Though he quips that he hasn't been in a financial condition to buy the type of art he loves lately, what he has is the envy of a nation: a collection worth in excess of $380-million.

Asked if he had changed his mind about writing sung through musicals, he replied "In some musicals, there are circumstances where the dialogue must take over. I enjoy using music as a color within to underscore dialogue." Though he loves orchestrating, he's had to turn more and more of it over to long-time collaborator David Caddick because of time restraints.

At the time, his old nemesis Frank Rich, formerly The New York Times chief drama critic, had moved to the Op-Ed page, a move he certainly championed. Of the countless pot shots Rich took at his work, ALW stated, "I don't know how to explain it, except that he must hate me."

Asked to comment on the oft-made suggestion that he copies elements of the great composers, ALW said he has never "consciously tried to. There are so many people around me who are pretty knowledgeable, they would tell me if something was really, really familiar. The saddest thing is that I don't have much time to listen to music."

Charles Hart, the lyricist for the majority of the POTO [and later, with Don Black, Aspects of Love] score, at 25 was eking out a living as a theater and opera vocal coach when he became ALW's "chosen one" to work on POTO.

"I knew something about musicals, not that I had seen that many. But as a pit keyboard player, I heard some of the West End's best and worst musicals.

Hart had theatrical ambitions and had written music and lyrics for an unproduced musical based on Defoe's 18th Century Moll Flanders.

He entered a musical writing competition of which Cameron Mackintosh was a judge. "When I met Cameron, Phantom was already announced and well on its way to a precedent-setting box office advance. Cameron gave me some advice. He said, ëBe a composer by all meant, but bear in mind, lyricists are much rarer beasts.' Then, out of the blue, he asked if I'd be interested in taking a melody of Andrew's and writing lyrics to it.'

"I was thinking, he adds, ëYou'd have to be sick in the head to think twice about an offer like that.' But I gulped and replied, ëSure, if I can find the time.' What gall!"

Maybe Mackintosh, who was co-producing POTO, admired Hart's cheekiness because he threw Hart for quite a loop when he rang and told him he'd set up a meeting with the composer.

The day came when Hart was to drop by ALW's office and turn in "the goods." He says, "I was on pins and needles, a nervous wreck all the way home."

Then ALW rang and very excitedly said, "We really must work together." Hart told him he would love that but imagined he was quite busy with POTO. "Actually, dear boy," responded ALW, "it's Phantom I'm talking about. Can we meet tomorrow?"

For three months, in his non-air-conditioned flat in NW London, Hart toiled at his keyboards toward a first draft. "My flat was adjacent to the rail yards," recalls Hart, "and though I'd been given an advance, I still considered myself poor. It was terribly hot, but I couldn't open the windows because the trains were so loud, so I sat with nothing on sweating over Andrew's music."

Hart says that all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. POTO was to be a much ballyhooed show, ALW and Mackintosh were among the biggest names in show business and he was an unknown. What if he fell on his face?

"I'd seen all his shows and was a fan," explains Hart. "He was one of my gods and I was about to enter his rarefied world. It was quite daunting. Of course, I didn't want him to know that because I feared he get domineering one me!"

Whether ALW ever found out or not is unknown, but he did get very domineering. "Andrew is used to getting his way," states Hart, "but if you argue a point, he'll listen. He is powerful and will have terrible battles with anyone. He can get his way. But he'll take on intelligent suggestions. You just hope to God you make an intelligent suggestion!"

In 1999, with composer Howard Goodall [Blackadder], Hart wrote book and lyrics for The Kissing-Dance, a commission of Britain's National Youth Music Theatre, based on Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer.

Has he resented POTO always being "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera"? "Somewhat," he answers honestly, "but that's marketing. What's the point of billing a show as Charles Hart's Phantom or Aspects of Love? It is, after all, Andrew's name that pulls people into the seats."

Sadly, even in the production notes for the film Hart isn't even given a bio. To many he could just as well be the late British actor of the same name who was the son of William Hart, a nephew of William Shakespeare.

= Below: POTO lyricist CHARLES HART (L); HUGH PANARO and as Broadway's long-running Phantom: =

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Showstopping Holiday Gift Suggestions: Part 2

By Ellis Nassour on December 19, 2004 1:01 AM


Part Two

There's never been a holiday season with so much theater-related product in the market place. You'll have no problem finding a theater or arts gift for that special someone - or yourself! The list is long: books, DVDs, CDs and more. There's something for everyone - even if you're on a limited budget. If you're not, you're going to have some festive holidays! Of course, there's the gift that never fails to please: tickets to a Broadway or Off Broadway show!

Need a break? The holidays: rush, rush; wrap, wrap; and then it's all over in a flash and you're eating turkey for the next week. For 22 years, Gerard Alessandrini has been an unstoppable force in parodying the creations and creators of Broadway's biggest shows - flops and hits.

The latest installment of his always-good-for-a-few-hundred-laughs Forbidden Broadway [Douglas Fairbanks Theatre, 432West 42nd Street] takes a nod from TVs Law & Order franchise for its not so subtle subtitle, Special Victims Unit.

Ron Bohmer, Megan Lewis, Jason Mills and Jennifer Simard are a multi-talented ensemble - all excellent vocalists - keep busy doing impersonations, singing their anthem ["There's No Broadway Like Our Broadway"] and scathingly and hilariously shewer leading men/ladies from Annie to Dracula to Wicked, and Avenue Q to Fiddler to Wonderful Town. David Caldwell is the non-stop piano-man. Credit must also go to Paul Riner, the breathless wardrobe supervisor, and creative costume designer Alvin Colt.

Bohmer comes to Forbidden Broadway: SVU from starring roles in the national tours of Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard and POTO, Broadway's Scarlet Pimpernel and Paper Mill's Of Thee I Sing.Tickets: Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. For more information, visit www.forbiddenbroadway.com

Add to your Broadway's Lost Treasures collection with Volume 2 [Acorn Media; 90 minutes; $20 VHS, $25, DVD; Tower Records, Borders, Playbill.com].

The rare footage [from Tony Award telecasts produced by the late Alexander Cohen] includes Brent Barrett and Michael Jeter, Grand Hotel; George Hearn, La Cage Aux Folles; Gregory Hines, Jelly's Last Jam; Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha; Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, Mame; Patti Lupone, Anything Goes; Robert Morse, How To SuceedÖ; and Jerry Orbach, Chicago.

Bonus tracks include production numbers by Tom Bosley, Fiorello!; Katharine Hepburn, Coco; and Robert Lindsay, Me and My Girl.

Next August will see the release of Volume 3.

So you think you are a collector of Broadway show tunes? Well, match what you've amassed to The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings [Back Stage Books, $20; 400 pages with 70 black and white photos]. Included are reviews of more than 1,000 Broadway, Off Broadway and West End original cast albums, studio cast albums and film soundtracks by 16 contributing writers, including Gerard Alessandrini and Peter Filichia; and notations on favorite musicals by the likes of Charles Busch, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Fred Ebb and Arthur Laurents. Jerry Herman contributed the Foreword. Composer/lyricist index.

The one-night-only live broadcast on CBS in 1957 of an original Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Cinderella, starring Julie Andrews, who was the toast of Broadway starring in Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady, has been one of home video's most requested titles. The December 2004 PBS broadcast marked the first time the musical had been seen since March 1957 when it attracted 115 million viewers. Amazingly, the color film was lost and only recently a black and white "kinescope" surfaced. It has been transferred to video and DVD [Image Entertainment; $20 VHS or DVD] in a package that will delight any collector of theater memorabilia. It's certainly not digital or high-definition quality, but there are numerous compensations.

NBC had enormous ratings with their live 1955 and 1956 telecasts of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. CBS needed a ratings blockbuster. Interestingly, with such masterpieces as Oklahoma!, South Pacific and The King and I under their belts, Rodgers and Hammerstein responded to CBS' offer because they felt they were being slightly eclipsed by Lerner and Lowe. The Columbia Records cast recording was released a week after the broadcast and has been a perennial ever since.Cinderella's cast included such stellar names as Broadway's veteran husband and wife team Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney as the king and queen, Ilka Chase as the stepmother, Alice Ghostely as stepsister Joy and John Cypher as the prince.

In the new bonus documentary, Edie Adams, who played the fairy godmother, said of doing a live TV broadcast, "A lot of things could go wrong and I thought it would be the biggest train wreck in the history of television!"

Andrews, feeling enormous pressure, "knew everything depended on getting it right just once."

Comic veteran Kaye Ballard, who played stepsister Portia, says, "When I auditioned, they said "Do you want to be one of the ugly sisters?' I said, ëOh, yes!' I knew I was a part of something exciting and different. The real thrill was that first day of rehearsal when Richard Rodgers gathered us all around the piano with Oscar Hammerstein. He couldn't really sing, but recited lyrics to the music. And I tell you I thought I was in heaven. We rehearsed it, then did one dress rehearsal. Then the performance was live, and that is terrifying. I thought [director] Ralph [Nelson] would have a heart attack!"

Klea Blackhurst made big impressions with her stellar chops in Off Broadway's Radio Gals and Oil City Symphony, but it was her 2002 cabaret salute to Ethel Merman that had the critics raving about this Utah gal who's just biding her time until she clicks in a starring role ina Broadway musical.

Voices like Blackhurst's don't come along every day.On her new CD, Everything the Traffic Will Allow [Lunch Money Productions/Sh-K-Boom Records; $20], with 18 Merman showstoppers, you'll swear she's channeling the Merm.

The disc is aptly subtitled The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman. Recorded live with Michael Rice and the Pocket Change Trio providing backup.For more information, visit kleablackhurst.com.

What's all-singing, all-dancing, all musical? Why, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's three That's Entertainment documentaries. Now, gathered in one complete DVD collection [Warner Home Video] where you can have it your way: wide screen theatrical versions on one side of the disc and full-screen on the other.

Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor are among the hosts guiding you through the M-G-M sound stages and back lot and introducing dazzling musical sequences from over 100 films.

Among the many stars showcased: June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds and Esther Williams.The DVD set includes five hours of bonuses on a fourth disc, Treasures from the Vault, with three documentaries introduced by Robert Osborne, film historian TCM host.

Among the extras: musical outtakes and salutes to the filmmakers from the Golden Era of the Hollywood's legendary dream factory.

Speaking of M-G-M, it produced one of the most endearing family classics of all time, a fantasy adventure that has stood the test of time for 65 years, The Wizard of Oz. , based on the series of books by L. Frank Baum.

Now you can go behind the scenes and follow the yellow brick road, so to speak, in the step-by- step creation of the film in this anniversary year expanded and revised edition of The Wizardy of Oz: The Artistry and Magic of the 1939 M-G-M Classic by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman [Applause Books, 262 pages, over 300 color and black and white photos and illustrations; $20].

Shopped out? But you still have one more on the list who's impossible to shop for - the person who has everything. The Theatre Development Fund has a solution and you even have the option of shopping it right at home: tkts gift certificates - and if you're a real friend, you'll even stand in line for them! But let them choose the show they want to see.

The certificates are available in $25, $50 and $100 denominations at 1) at the tkts booths [cash or traveler's checks only] at Broadway and West 47th Street and South Street Seaport [Front and John Streets]; 2) on- line at TDF's website, www.tdf.org [credit cards only]; and 3) by phone, by calling (212) 221-0885 Ext. 446 [credit cards only].

They work like cash at TDF's tkts booths at for the purchase of same-day discount tickets to the 40 + shows available daily.

You've taken the kids to Beauty and the Beast twice and to The Lion King three times, and you're looking for something that will really hold their attention for more than five minutes. Well, there's a new family musical at the Virginia Theatre - yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!: Sutton Foster, in her first role since her Tony-winning performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and the golden-voiced Maureen McGovern, finally returning to the stage after much too long a hiatus, in the musical adaptation of Little Women. Tickets: TeleCharge, (212) 239-6200.

You think the kids might want something a bit more intense. Well, they'll get it and you'll get it, with a few Russian clowns thrown in for good measure, at Slava's Snowshow. It's great fun and has those extreme special effects kids love - and, yes, it snows, really snows, every performance. But that's nothing compared to the grand finale, when they roll out the heavy duty stuff.Tickets: Union Square Theatre box office, 100 East 17th Street or Ticketmaster, (212) 307-4100.

Want more clowns, but in a circus tent? Then there's one of New York's most cherished holiday traditions returns: The Big Apple Circus in the one-ring Big Top at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, through January 9th. Picturesque, the 27th edition of this intimate circus is billed as "all-new"; and except for one of our favorite clowns, Grandma, it is.

It's the best edition ever, packed with stellar acts - ranging from performing cats [yes!], dogs and birds to jugglers extraordinaire and Arabian horses.Three acts alone are worth the admission price: Russia's gravity-defying 13-member Kovgar troupe of teeterboard aerial acrobats; Spain's sensational juggler Picaso Jr. [no relation to Picasso]; and Ukraine comic Vallery.

There are no bad seats at Big Apple. Of course, some are better - and more comfortable - than others. If you want to literally be in the show, go for the ringside seats. Depending on performance, tickets are $18-$37 to $30-$74. Go to the box office off Lincoln Center plaza or call Centercharge, (212) 721-6500 or Ticketmaster, (212) 307-4100.

No clowns or cotton candy for you? You're tired of the "holiday" TV specials and having a difficult time deciding which of the year-end glut of adult films to see [because you've seen Sideways and Million Dollar Baby] or if you're a desperate housewife, feeling your life's going so well, the perfect tonic is Closer, adapted by Patrick Marber from his West End [1997 Olivier Best Play Award] and Broadway [Tony-nominated for Best Play] hit, and directed by Academy Award/Emmy-winning director Mike Nichols.

The La Rondine-like story follows four strangers - excellently portrayed by Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and, especially, a captivating Natalie Portman) - through chance meetings, instant attractions, love, lust and betrayals so casual they could be opening a door or an envelope. No surprise that Nichols, with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Carnal Knowledge to his credits, was attracted. It's gritty, raw, sometimes funny and mostly brutal.

Portman [The Diary of Anne Frank], who previously worked with Nichols onstage in Chekov's The Seagull, says the director's rehearsal approach was different when they were preparing for Closer. "Onstage, it was much more about the process of rehearsals. Mike sat back and let everything grow. For this film, he took a much more hands-on approach, with suggestions and leading conversations into certain areas. It was like being in a really interesting class, analyzing the play and bringing all sorts of literary references."

Marber, who was reluctant to have his play adapted for the screen until Nichols expressed interest in directing, says the title is open to interpretation. "I wanted something ambiguous that might give you a sense of mood without closing down the possibilities of what the story might mean. I see Closer as a love story. It's about other things, of course ó sexual jealousy, the male gaze, the lies we tell not only ourselves but also those we're most intimate with, the ways in which people find themselves through the process of using others. But in the end, it's really just a nice, simple love story. And as with most love stories, things go wrong."

Translation: No happy endings. You'll come out and rush to Macy's Toyland for a good dose of "holiday" cheer - and probably break out the spiked eggnog when you get home.

Gone with the Wind is one of the celebrated motion pictures of all time - the winner of 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actress. In adjusted 2004 dollars,it still,holds the record for the biggest worldwide box office gross in movie history.

What's amazing - considering the popularity of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel and readership's notions of who should play whom [would you be surprised to discover Tallulah Bankhead, Katharine Hepburn and, get this, Mae West, were actually considered for Scarlett?], the revolving door of writers, the technical limitations of the era and, three directors including credited Victor Flemming, that the film even got made, much less became one of our endearing masterpieces.Thank your lucky stars for the all-consuming zeal of David O. Sleznick, who actually wasn't that interested in obtaining the film rights when he heard the price of the then astronomical $50,000.

The film transfer to video has sold more than 8.5 million units, but just released is a four- CD box set that may triple that number [Warner Home Video, $40]. Why? Because of a new patented process called Ultra-Resolution Technology. Amazingly, since three-strip Technicolor was in its infant stages in the late 30s, the color negatives have held up well. But the meticulous frame-by- frame restoration corrects many technical errors [such as the carriages entering Twelve Oaks planation for the barbeque, quivers on dual matte process shots and has even restored such clarity that you see the texture of garments, such as Scarlett's barbeque dress.

No matter how many times you've seen GWTW, viewing the restored film on DVD will be a revelation. Though the soundtrack has not been tampered with, cleaning and digital restoration has Max Steiner's score [as classic as it has become, you would think it won the Oscar, but, it was only nominated!], sound better than ever.

The film is on two discs, with the option of commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer, and over five hours of bonus material on the other two. Extras include screen tests, the two-hour plus 1989 doc The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind, narrated by Christopher Plummer [with some pointed observations from outspoken featured actress Butterfly McQueen, who played Prissy] a fascinating, in-depth doc with the film restorers, explaining how parts of the film had faded or detoriated; Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone with the Wind, a new doc with the star's ecollections; and docs on Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Also included is a mini-reproduction of the souvenir book from the 1939 Atlanta premiere.

In addition to Gable, Leigh, de Havilland, the film also starred Englishman Leslie Howard. In featured roles, Jane Darwell and, especially, Laura Hope Crews steal every scene they're in. However, as so many have forgotten, the black actress Hattie McDaniel has the major featured role, as house servant Manny. This was precedent-setting casting and she performed brilliantly, particularly her dramatic moments toward the end of GWTW. It was, at that time, perhaps the largest role a black actor had in a major studio release.

McDaniel and her retorts to Scarlett, not to mention her reaction expressions, is delightful. And, in a stunning upset for the era, she beat out favorite de Havilland for the Supporting Actress Academy Award - not only the first black to be nominated, but also the first to win. Oddly, the press materials for the set, do not even mention her name, much less her achievement. [I recall the disastrous 1967 trasfer of the film to the widescreen process and the fact that McDaniel was giving major feature billing for the first time. That seems to have disappeared.]

GWTW has three other stars - on the technical side: production supervisor William Cameron Menzies, who was the guiding light behind the look of the film; costume designer Walter Plunket [there was no Oscar category for costumes in 1939] ; and Lyle Wheeler, Oscar-winner for Interior Decoration [Art Direction].

Other releases of interest: The still-radiant Jane Powell, a bundle of energy around New York City if there ever was one, gloriously provides the beauty and the stellar, late Howard Keel provides the brawn in the two-disc special edition DVD of Stanley Donen's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Warner Home Video; $27]. Michael Kidd provided the athletic choreography, highlighted by the "Barn-Raising Ballet."

Extras: remastered soundtrack for Dolby Digital which sweetens the Johnny Mercer/Gene de Paul, behind-the-scenes doc with interviews with Powell. Trivia: filmed in both CinemaScope and widescreen, both presented here.

The legendary Gwen Verdon recreates her Tony-winning role as temptress Lola in George Abbott [who directed it onstage] and Stanley Donen [Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides...]'s film adaptation of Damn Yankees [1956 Tony, Best Musical]. Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' score includes "(You Gotta Have) Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Who's Got the Pain."

Co-stars are then teen-idol Tab Hunter, who acquits himself quite nicely, as Joe Boyd, Tony-winner Ray Walston, recreating his role as the devil. Jean Stapleton and Bob Fosse, who choreographed, are featured [Warner Home Video, 110 minutes, $20].

Hot off the DVD presses: Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate remake [Paramount, 120 mins., widescreen; $30], starring Denzel Washington, Live Schreiber and Meryl Streep, in a scenery-chewing, show-stopping performance that's alone worth the price. Extras: Demme commentary, Making Of doc, five extended/deleted scenes and outtakes.

James Cagney's tour de force performance is the highlight of the film adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime [Paramount, 155 mins., widescreen; $15]. Bonus features: Commentary by director Milos Forman and a deleted scene.

Russian diva Anna Netrebko is quickly soaring up the operatic soprano strata. Just released are her new CD, Sempre Libera [Deutsche Grammophon; $17] with arias from, among others, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor and Othello, including Verdi's stunning "Ave Maria"; and DVD, Anna Netrebko, The Woman - The Voice [Deutsche Grammophon, 16 mins.; $30] with MTV-like videos of her renditions of arias from Faust, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, and others.

And, for that special theater lover, don't forget these must have books and DVDs: Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time by Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik [with a foreword by Jerry Orbach], worth the price alone for the more than 850 photographs - the majority in glorious color - and delicious gossip. This 336-page book is the bargain of the year - an unbelievable top suggested $34.95 [Black Dog & Leventhal].

PBS' three-part series, Broadway: The American Musical, is available as a three-disc DVD set [Paramount Home Entertainment/PBS Home Video, suggested list price $60]. And if the this is not enough, there's the CD set of the majority of the music; and the lavish companion book [Bulfinch Press; $60].
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THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA -- DOES THE FILM ADAPTATION WORK?

By Ellis Nassour on December 12, 2004 1:01 AM
POTO director Joel Schumacher on the London film set of the "Masquerade" sequence.
Will the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera [premiering today in New York for a December 22nd opening] capture and enthrall you? Will it have you wishing you were there again, drive you to the point of no return or humming the music of the night? It depends on what you're looking for, and how big a fan of the stage production you are.

Director/co-screenplay writer Joel Schumacher says, "I was compelled to make the film because of the millions who cannot afford to see Phantom in a legitimate theatre. Many people don't live in an area where they can get to a theatre where the musical is playing. Think about films such as The Sound of Music, West Side Story and Chicago. How many people have actually seen them on the stage, compared to the millions who've seen the films? There are people who love Andrew's music, and who've wanted to see Phantom onstage. Now they'll have the opportunity to see a version of it."

With Andrew Lloyd Webber's company co-producing and ALW co-writing the screenplay [with Schumacher], you might expect the film adaptation to closely follow the stage production. However, with the filmmakers using that script as an almost scene-for-scene storyboard, the result is a virtual revisit. For those who know the property well, there'll be few surprises. There's nothing - although there is someone - to keep you on the edge of your seats.

Those unfamiliar with the stage production may get drawn into the story [partly because of the lavish production values, 99% of which were created on London soundstages] and some of the added - and sometimes laughable - thriller elements. For either group, the film is a guaranteed spectacular eyeful of color, splendid period production detail and lavish costumes. And, of course, there's the Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart [with Richard Stilgoe] score that has been stunningly orchestrated and arranged for multi-channel sound.

Schumacher's examples of stage musicals which have been made into blockbuster film musicals are interesting. The SOM was opened up with scenic wonders - one in particular being Julie Andrews; WSS had Jerome Robbins' brilliant choreography; and Chicago had sex appeal and lots of Fosse's rakish choreography.

At the interval of the London opening of POTO, I''ll never forget a theatergoer who blurted to his companion, as he sprinted up the aisle to the bar, "I thought you said this was a musical. It's not a musical! How can it be a musical without dancing girls?"

The film adaptation of POTO, like onstage has dancing girls and a bit more choreography. None of it is on a level of Fosse or Robbins, but there are other compensations amidst the dramatic crescendos, soaring passions, fierce jealousies and the monster's obsessive love. And, thankfully, it's not a disaster as was the film adaptation of A Chorus Line.

Gerard Butler, as the Phantom; Emmy Rossum, as innocent, naive chorus girl Christine Daae; Patrick Wilson in the expanded role of the Vicompte Raoul de Chagny; and ALW's score are the stars. But they're not the only ones.

Production designer Anthony Pratt, costumer Alexandra Byrne [Neverland, Elizabeth], cinematographer John Matieson and editor Terry Rawlings deserve to top billing, too. And bravo to Simon Lee, the music supervisor.

Oh, that chandelier is still there - weighing in at over two tons and festooned with over 20,000 full cut Swarovski crystal pendants. But there's been a big change in when it crashes -- and lots of added after shock and awe.

"It's a big change from the stage," said the composer, "and I hope loyal fans won't notice it. Coming as it does now, the Phantom, by that one action, is destroying the world he loved. It's very different from his motivation in the theaterpiece, which is a vague act of revenge toward Christine."
[Trivia: Originally, in the London previews, the chandelier's "entrance cue" was not until the end of the first act, which is came "crashing" toward the stage and Christine, with all sorts of safety devices in place. None the less, a female patron was so frightened, she suffered heart murmurs and had to be rushed to the hospital. So it was decided to show the chandelier going up into the ceiling -- a move that certainly lessened the impact of the finale, but which has nonetheless thrilled audiences for years.]
In theatres, that crashing Chandelier not only gave people something to rave about during the interval, but also had the type of impact to steal the show. That honor goes to Minnie Driver as fiery opera diva [in this instance, "diva" might well translate as "rhymes with witch"], La Carlotta.

Though she is a singer, her operatic moments are performed by Margaret Preece. However, Driver, in some of the most splendidly colorful and outlandish costumes in cinema history, proves to be a daft comedienne. She gives "over the top" a new definition, but is so much fun you really don't care. She is so entertaining and gives the film such a lift that it would have behooved ALW and Schumacher to expand her role [instead of expanding that of Madame Giry, portrayed by Miranda Richardson].

The "Notes" sequence [not included on the Sony soundtrack] and the overlapping vocals of the soaring, melodious "Prima Donna" work well in the film and have better clarity than onstage. At the end of the latter scene and a breathtaking tracking shot through the extremities of the opera house, there is a hilarious twist in the form of a new line. Listen closely, then watch the expression on La Carlotta's face. It's one of those MasterCard priceless moments.

Driver has made a few professional missteps since winning her Supporting Oscar for Good Will Hunting [1997]. When it was announced that she would play Carlotta, just based on the role in the musical [originally, brilliantly and quite differently played by Judy Kaye, who won a Feature Actress Tony], a lot of heads wagged in disbelief. Wag no more. Minnie's back and what a "comeback"!

In the best of all possible worlds, Driver's performance would garner an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

"In Carlotta's mind," laughs Driver, "everybody else exists as a satellite around her. In 1870, the diva of the opera house had the effect of David Beckham, Madonna and Kylie Minogue all rolled into one, so I channeled my inner diva! Joel pretty much just wound me up and let me go!"

When she and Schumacher discussed Carlotta, he said, "Nobody ever paid to see under the top." The director adds, "I could tell that Minnie was perfect for this role - she's funny, statuesque and out-diva'd the divas. But she even surprised me - and, I think, herself with how fantastic she really is. She has a wonderful sense of humor and some of her best moments are ad-libbed."

In adapting their screenplay from the musical's book, Schumacher and ALW delve further into the backstories of the key characters. "Onstage, we touch on the Phantom's childhood," notes ALW, "but we don't visually go back in time to explore it as in the film. It's a very important change, because it makes his plight more understandable.

"The film looks and sounds fabulous," he continues, "and I think it's an extraordinarily fine document of the stage show. While it doesn't deviate much from the stage material, the film gives it a deeper emotional center. It's not based on the stage production visually or direction-wise, but it's got exactly the same essence. And that's all I could have ever hoped for."

As only can be done on film, especially in recreating that memorable stage sequence known as the "travelator" [when Christine and Raoul escape to the roof for the Act One finale "All I Ask Of You"], they've incorporated the gritty, busy backstage world of the opera house into the main story.

"Where the stage show concentrates on the Phantom, Christine and Raoul," explaines Schumacher, "for the film, we wanted to give audiences more insight as to how these characters arrived at the opera house. So we wove the backstage activity - the plasterers, prop makers, wig makers, scenic artists, dancers and singers - into the fabric of the story."

"In the film," elaborates Schumcher, "the Phantom is seen as more of a tragic lover and a sensitive romantic, not just a creature of horror to be feared. We've made his relationship with Christine much more of a love affair than it is in the original story."

Schumacher says it was the character of the Phantom that initially attracted him to the project. "One of the reasons this tragic love story has been part of our culture since Gaston Leroux wrote his novel is because we identify with the Phantom," he says. "The Phantom is a physical manifestation of whatever human beings feel is unlovable about themselves. He's a heart-breaking character - much like the hunchback of Notre Dame and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast."

Schumacher states his collaboration with ALW was rewarding because of a mutual trust and respect developed over the course of their fifteen-year friendship. "We have a very good marriage creatively because I take care of the filming and Andrew takes care of the music. Like a lot of very intelligent people, he doesn't pretend to know about things he doesn't. He's an expert on music, so he focused his talent on those aspects of the film, and gave me an enormous amount of freedom and his full support to create what I thought should be done with the material."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There are millions of people who cannot afford to see Phantom in a legitimate theatre, and many people don't live in an area where they can get to a theatre where the musical is playing ... Now they'll have the opportunity ... " - Joel Schumacher, above on the set with ALW, on why he made the film
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Schumacher notes he envisioned the film as a sexy young love story, and set out to cast fresh new actors in the principal roles. And though ALW entrusted the casting process to him, he emphasized, "It was absolutely crucial we have people who could really sing, because song drives the entire piece. The actors had to possess the vocal chops."

For Christine, related the director, "we needed to find a young woman who could exude a genuine youthful innocence and longing and, with Raoul and the Phantom, two wildly charismatic actors to play the two men she's torn between."

The role of Christine went to Emmy Rossum, a then-16-year-old who portrayed Sean Penn's daughter in Clint Eastwood's Oscar winning Mystic River, and young Audrey Hepburn in ABC-TV's The Audrey Hepburn Story [2000]. More recently, she co-starred in the icy disaster blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow.

"Not only is Emmy an exquisite actress" enthuses Schumacher enthuses, "but, from age seven, she actually trained at the Metropolitan Opera. She came in at the last second and almost didn't screen test because she had to go to a family reunion in Las Vegas. I had to talk her out of it!"

A week later, she was singing for ALW at his house. "It was nerve-wracking! I was warming up with the accompanist when Andrew walked into the room, sat down without even introducing himself and said ëShall we?'" And, obviously, he was impressed.

To prepare for her role, Rossum took dance lessons, toured Paris' Garnier Opera House and studied Degas' paintings and sculptures of ballerinas, many of which were based on the Garnier dancers. "The biggest challenge," she explains, "was finding a balance between my voice and my acting. I had to find a place where my voice and acting meshed in a way that felt natural."

Rossum says that, as infectious as ALW POTO compositions are, "the songs are quite sophisticated and difficult to sing properly. The preparation I had from the Met was invaluable. I couldn't have done it without the discipline that was instilled in me there."

For the Phantom, Schumacher and ALW wanted an actor who radiated a charismatic intensity and had a bit of a rock ën roll sensibility. "He's got to be a bit rough," states Lloyd Webber, "a bit dangerous; not a conventional singer. Christine's attracted to him because he's the right side of danger, so we had to find an actor who could deliver that vocal quality."

You might be more than surprised that they found the goods in Scottish actor Gerard Butler, who made his U.K. stage debut at age 12 in Oliver!, later appearing in British actor/director Steven Berkoff's production of Coriolanus at Glasgow's famous Kings Theatre. In 1996, he portrayed Renton in the acclaimed stage production of Trainspotting at the Edinburgh Festival. Butler made his feature film debut in 1998's Oscar-nominated Mrs. Brown, playing Billy Connolly's brother. Here, he's best known to filmgoers for his starring role opposite Angelina Jolie in the 2003 box office bonanza Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

"Gerry has got a great rock tenor voice," reports Lloyd Webber. Schumacher was first impressed when he saw Butler in, of all things, Dracula 2000. "He had such incredible screen presence, I wanted to meet him," recounts the director. "He's a wonderful actor and I knew he would make a stunning Phantom."

Butler said something very much along the lines of what Hugh Panaro, the present Broadway Phantom, said in a recent interview: "One reason audiences around the world consider The Phantom of the Opera such a powerful piece is because they identify with the Phantom's pain. The older you get, the more you develop baggage - things you don't want to let go of, things you fear that if you open them up to the world, the world will find you repulsive and ugly."

That pain, laughed Butler, was nothing compared to what he felt when the day came for him to sing for ALW. "I'd taken voice lessons on the sly, and rehearsed with our musical director Simon Lee. And then, suddenly, there I am standing in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber, in his home. Simon was playing the piano, reminding me to breathe, and I thought, ëI'm about to sing ëMusic of the Night,' one of the most famous songs of all time, for the composer.' My legs started shaking."

The role of the dashing, and now swashbuckling, Raoul went to Patrick Wilson, star of Broadway's Oklahoma! and The Full Monty, and an Emmy nominee for his performance in the HBO miniseries Angels in America.

"I'd seen Patrick onstage and knew he sang beautifully," says Schumacher. "He's a very talented actor and he has the voice of an angel." ALW was familiar with Wilson's Broadway pedigree, so he expected great things; and says he wasn't disappointed. "Patrick's one of the great natural lyric tenors from the theatre. I mean, he was Curly in Oklahoma!"

Wilson says the role was more challenging than he anticipated - especially that running rear mount on the horse [like Roy Rogers used to do] and gallopping bareback at speeds of 30 miles an hour. He underwent a five-hour prosthetics process to age him some 40 for sequences that take place in the prologue and epilogue, set in 1919.

~~~
MINNIE DRIVER,
DECKED OUT IN OUTLANDISH FINERY AS FIERY DIVA CARLOTTA
NOT THE CRASHING CHANDLIER, STEALS THE MOVIE.
~ ~ ~

Stay tuned for more on The Phantom of the Opera: The Movie,
notes from ALW, an interview with Charles Hart
and the amazing account of how the $120-million plus movie was made.
__________________________________

Photos: Alex Bailey/Warner Bros.
__________________________________




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