Wednesday 16 May 2012

Alan Cumming - Macbeth news | City Secrets update | Victor and Barry video








Curse of Macbeth strikes Alan Cumming
The curse of Macbeth has struck Hollywood actor Alan Cumming.

Just hours after starting his first day of rehearsals with the National Theatre Scotland, the X-Men 2 star cut his finger on one of the set’s props.

Theatre actors are notoriously superstitious about the famous Shakespeare play, making sure they don’t say ‘Macbeth’ on stage.

Referring to “The Scottish Play,” actors believe even uttering the title of Macbeth invites bad luck.

Cumming’s accident came four hours after he took to his Twitter page to announce he was starting rehearsals in Glasgow.

The 47-year-old, who will be performing a one-man version of the famous play in June this year, tweeted his 70,000 followers yesterday evening.

“First NTSMacbeth injury! Cut my finger on a toy robot I was using to represent Lady Macbeth in a little theatre game. Blood will have blood,” he said.

‘Blood will have blood’ is a famous line from the Shakespeare, said by Macbeth to show his guilt over murdering King Duncan and former ally Banquo.

Hours before suffering an injury on set, Cumming was clowning around with the production team, and tweeted: “First day of NTSMacbeth rehearsals. Here I am with the production team. #itreallydoestakeavillage.”

Performing Macbeth, or speaking its title in a theatre is said to invoke an ancient curse.
The curse will strike actors or other people associated with the performance, and has its roots in the play’s occult storyline of witchcraft, murder and ghosts.

Superstition has plagued the theatre since the first documented production on Aug 7, 1606, in the Great Hall at Hampton Court.

On the night of the performance, a 13 year-old boy, Hal Berredge, who was playing Lady Macbeth, came down with a fever and was unable to perform. Shakespeare himself had to stand in for the role.

In 1937, when Laurence Olivier took on the role of Macbeth, a 25 pound stage weight crashed within an inch of him, and his sword which broke onstage flew into the audience and hit a man who later suffered a heart attack.

Charlton Heston, in an outdoor production in Bermuda in 1953, suffered severe burns in his groin and leg area from tights that were accidentally soaked in kerosene.

Source: Deadline News 




Hollywood actor Alan Cumming unearths Liverpool secrets for new Sky show
He's probably best known for his role in The Good Wife, and he was one of the notable Brit pack to break America. But now Emmy-nominated actor Alan Cumming has turned his attentions to snooping around Liverpool.

Alan has been tasked by Sky Atlantic to meander around the UK, rooting out little hidden gems for its new eight-part series City Secrets due to be screened in the summer.

And as part of his quest, he’s been in Liverpool, wandering off the usual tourist trail to explore a more unusual and interesting side to the city.

Along the way the Scottish-born Hollywood star crossed paths with a few well-known local names who offered their views on what gives us our unique character and appeal.

Alan, who’s appeared in films such as X-Men and Spy Kids, seemed to be making the most of his two days here as he was spotted on a Shiverpool tour and visiting the Liver Building, Town Hall and Philharmonic pub.

There, the actor was more than impressed with the famous toilets, Tweeting a pic of himself with a highly decorative loo background.

He also headed over to the party launch of the inaugural Liverpool Art Show at Camp and Furnace where he chatted to one of the organisers, photographer Matt Ford.

Matt tells Insider: “Sky originally got in touch with Lucy from dot-art about another event we had, and she suggested the Art Show. It was very last minute, though, we literally found out the day before they were coming to film.

“Alan interviewed me and Lucy and walked around the gallery, discussing the artwork which is about Liverpool and why it’s such a great creative space.

“He was lovely, and he seemed really interested in what we were doing.”

Source: Liverpool Echo

 

In other news ...

STV have shared an entertaining video from their archive - a classic moment from Victor and Barry (starring Alan Cumming)
Watch it here: STV
"It's a cultured city and we don't mean penicillin."

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