Cholodenko Caves In
Out director Lisa Cholodenko has made films about photographers (High Art) and record producers (Laurel Canyon), so it's no
surprise she would take on rock singers for her next project. Cholodenko is writing and directing the screen adaptation of
Cavedweller, by acclaimed lesbian novelist Dorothy Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina), for Showtime. Cavedweller is about Delia Byrd,
a Georgia housewife saved from her bad marriage by a rock star who puts her in his band. She pays a steep price, however, when
she leaves behind her two young daughters to go on the road. After the rock star dies, she returns home to face her daughters and
her past. Kyra Sedgwick has signed on to play Delia, and word is her real-life hubby, Kevin Bacon, will co-star.
Judd for Sale
Ashley Judd, who played a little lesbo in Frida, is doing a little singing in her next film. Judd is currently shooting Just One of
Those Things, the Cole Porter biopic (previously reported on here as De-Lovely) that stars Kevin Kline as the famed queer composer.
In the film, Kline sings 14 of Porter's songs; Judd, who plays Porter's wife, Linda Lee, joins him in a duet of 'In the Still of the Night'
and then performs 'True Love' solo. Judd and Kline are in good company: Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, and Diana Krall will also
perform in the movie and add to the soundtrack. And one of Romeo's faves, sexy Brit bad boy Robbie Williams, will be singing the
Porter classic 'It's De-Lovely.' Also along for the ride is Caroline O'Connor (Moulin Rouge), who portrays the loudest singer in history,
gay icon Ethel Merman.
Tarzan Swings onto Stage
Disney queens, get ready for your next fix. David Henry Hwang is hard at work on the high-profile stage version of the Disney
animated feature Tarzan. The Tony Award-winning playwright of the transgender-themed drama M. Butterfly is handling book duties
for the show (not to mention a new Philip Glass chamber opera and another Broadway show called Largo—when does this guy
sleep?); Phil Collins will be doing the music. The Tarzan staging sounds like it could steal Cirque de Soleil's thunder, with a theater-
as-jungle set in the works, complete with trees sprouting from the aisles and cast members swinging on vines over audiences'
craning necks. Look for liability insurance forms to become a part of the ticket-buying process.
The Rocky Horror Wedding Show
Disastrous weddings are hilarious—as long as they happen to other people. You can expect funny goings-on from gay Australian
director Stephen Elliot's next project, titled (for the moment) Venetian Wedding. It's the story of a Sydney, Australia socialite who
marries a prince in a fairy-tale royal wedding ceremony-turned-fiasco—think Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier meet The In-Laws.
Elliot—who directed the smash hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the upcoming Fox TV movie adaptation of
The Rocky Horror Picture Show—is casting the feature right now with a December start date for filming. No word yet on whether the
wedding-guest extras will throw rice or toast.
E-mail Write2Romeo@yahoo.com .
