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Thursday, March 22, 2012
ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO
For Al Pacino, The (Wilde) Play Is The Thing
Al Pacino during an interview on the Castro Theatre red carpet in San Francisco
yesterday evening.
Omar P.L. Moore
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Thursday, March 22,
2012
One hundred and thirty years after Oscar Wilde visited San Francisco,
Al Pacino brought his documentary "Wilde Salomé" to the City By The Bay at the
Castro Theatre for its U.S. premiere last night.
Mr. Pacino loves Oscar Wilde and his fascination with the Irish playwright goes
back many years. He played King Herod in Mr. Wilde's "Salomé" on Broadway
in 2003 and in 2006 in Los Angeles at the Wadsworth Theater.
The 2006 production is the subject of the New York stage actor's ambitious
docudrama, in which he films the play and tries to make the film he shoots of
the play theatrical in and of itself. Mr. Pacino also investigates Mr.
Wilde's play, its history, the logistics of filming while rehearsing it and the
background of the esteemed playwright and dramatist. Estelle Parsons
directs the theater edition, and "Wilde Salomé" features both Mr. Pacino and Ms.
Parsons butting heads over creative issues and staging and film versus play
direction in full view of the rehearsing cast, which includes Jessica Chastain
as Salomé.
"Wilde Salomé" is equal parts documentary, rumination piece, comedy, adventure,
education and theatre, in much the same vein as Mr. Pacino's "Looking For
Richard", which had a limited U.S. theatrical release in 1996.
Last night before a packed audience, and just after throngs of San Franciscans
had besieged the 71-year-old on the red carpet to the Castro Theatre, Mr. Pacino
danced a little Fred Astaire dance on stage. He collected a proclamation
from the city's mayor Ed Lee for "Wilde Salomé Day". Mr. Pacino thanked
San Francisco for giving him a mock Oscar during the time of his "Scarface"
portrayal, when he did not receive an Oscar nomination for his work as Tony
Montana.
"The people of San Francisco made an Oscar for me, about this high," he said,
gesturing with his hands a foot apart. "And I will never forget that."
As cheers erupted from the capacity crowd he added, "It sits in my trophy room
in my house in New York."
"Wilde
Salomé" producer Barry Nevidi with the film's star and director Al Pacino last
night on the red carpet at the Castro Theatre.
Omar P.L. Moore
"I've done about four or five of these," Mr. Pacino said, referring to films
he's directed, specifically those about famous plays that have caught his
interest. "I did one called 'Chinese Coffee'. Some of them haven't
seen the light of day, except 'Looking For Richard', which some of you may have
heard of."
Some applause rang out. "Wilde Salomé" is my exploration of obsession and
when I first saw the play "Salomé" and as I read his work I thought that this
man spoke to me. I could feel something in this man. I
wanted to meet him. When I found out that it was Oscar Wilde who did these
works I said, 'oh well, no such hope in that happening.'"
Mr. Wilde, who passed away in 1900 at the age of 46, was a revolutionary and
controversial figure in the eyes of some. He was jailed in Reading,
England for breaking "laws against nature". Mr. Wilde had married, had
children, and later had an affair and relationship with a younger man. The
British government however, used his homosexual relationship to imprison him,
even though the ideas expressed in his work was at the heart of their fear of
him.
Mr. Pacino, a man of the stage above all other artistic pursuits, a stage that
he said he "loved", spoke with passion about Mr. Wilde, and heralded "an
actress Jessica Chastain, that when you see her, she does an amazing job as
Salomé. You may know her," the actor noted casually, as applause rang out
for the Northern California-born actress.
The award-winning playwright Tony Kushner was supposed to join Mr. Pacino on
stage at the Castro Theatre last night for the "Salomé" event, billed as "An
Evening With Al Pacino". Event producer Mark Rhoades began the evening
with sad news: Mr. Kushner's father had passed away several days ago, he said,
and would not be in attendance. Mr. Kushner is seen in Mr. Pacino's
documentary. Dita Von Teese and Jean-Paul Gaultier were among numerous
celebrity figures in attendance last night, as was one of the film's producers,
Barry Nevidi, who is spotlighted in "Wilde Salomé".
The night's event organizer, Jessica Engholm, had brought Mr. Pacino to the
stage in the darkness of the Castro Theatre, amidst an atmosphere tailored for
rock stars. The actor bounded to the stage with vigor, and left it in the
same way, to more cheers.
"An Evening With Al Pacino" was held to raise money for the GLBT Historical
Society, which houses one of the world's largest museums of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender art, history and artifacts. It is the first
stand-alone museum of its kind in the U.S.
Note: This story can read
here at San Francisco Indie Movie
Examiner on Examiner.com (includes a 25-picture photo gallery)
Al Pacino
speaking on stage at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco yesterday evening.
Omar P.L. Moore
COPYRIGHT 2012. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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