Per Variety Australia: Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey has been tapped to bring the life of legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti to the stage in a new musical based on the singer’s life.
The stage musical will reportedly be a condensation of key moments from the tenor’s life, featuring his most famous recordings.
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Gracey is best known for the 2017 film The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, and Rebecca Ferguson. The musical movie, which follows the story of American showman P.T. Barnum, became a global phenomenon, demonstrating Gracey’s ability to blend visual storytelling with musical narrative.
His background as a visual effects artist also proved instrumental in creating the film’s dazzling circus sequences and memorable musical numbers.
More recently, Gracey has been on a streak of biographical projects. He served as executive producer on Rocketman, the acclaimed Elton John biopic, and he directed Better Man, a groundbreaking film about Robbie Williams in which the British singer is portrayed as a CGI chimp.
Better Man was shot at Victoria’s Docklands Studio in 2022. Robbie Williams said of the project:
‘[the director] Michael Gracey came to see me and said “what spirit animal do you see yourself as?” and I was trying to find some self worth for myself, and because I’d watched fucking Tony Robbins or whatever that day, I was like, “I’m a lion”. And he was like “mmm, are you though?”
‘and then I was like “oh … am I a monkey?” and he went, “yeah, that’s right”.
ScreenHub: Better Man: Robbie Williams is a chimp in the Australian-made biopic
The Pavarotti Project
The Australian director’s latest venture moves away from the camera and into the wings. Gracey has secured the rights to develop a stage musical based on the life of Pavarotti, with the blessing of the opera legend’s widow.
The project has been in development for several years, with Gracey conducting extensive research to find the perfect narrative approach to honour the tenor’s extraordinary legacy.
During a masterclass at Italy’s Marateale Film Festival, Gracey revealed the genesis of the project: ‘The person who had the rights to do Pavarotti on the stage called me after he saw The Greatest Showman, but they didn’t have a way into the story. So I went to Bologna to spend time with Pavarotti’s friends and family to see if I could work out a way into the story, which I did.’
Luciano Pavarotti was born in 1935 in Modena, Italy, into a humble working-class family. His father worked as a baker and his mother laboured in a cigar factory.
Despite these modest beginnings, Pavarotti developed an early passion for opera, inspired by his father, who was an amateur tenor. This familial musical influence would prove instrumental in shaping one of the most celebrated voices in operatic history.
The singer quickly became renowned for his vibrant signature high Cs and natural showmanship, qualities that distinguished him from his contemporaries and made opera accessible to mainstream audiences. His ability to bridge the gap between classical opera and popular culture transformed him into a global icon, making him the most beloved and celebrated tenor since Enrico Caruso.
Unlike many opera singers who remained within classical circles, Pavarotti achieved remarkable crossover fame, appearing on television variety shows, recording popular music albums, and performing at major sporting events.
What will Pavarotti look like?
True to his background in visual effects, Gracey plans to incorporate cutting-edge technology into the Pavarotti musical. He’s said he intends to utilise sophisticated software developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that can separate Pavarotti’s voice from existing recordings of his performances.
This technological approach mirrors his innovative use of CGI in Better Man and suggests that the stage production will feature integration of Pavarotti’s actual vocal performances.
Nicoletta Mantovani, Pavarotti’s second wife, confirmed to Variety that development on Gracey’s Pavarotti musical progressing as planned.
No release details have been confirmed for Pavarotti.
Also on ScreenHub:
Better Man: Robbie Williams is a chimp in the Australian-made biopic
The first reactions are out for Melbourne-shot Robbie Williams film Better Man, which looks to be a crowd pleaser – even if it is very unusual for a musician biopic.
The film’s most unusual bent comes from Australian director Michael Gracey’s (The Greatest Showman) decision to depict Williams as a CGI chimpanzee for the majority of the story, which was achieved by using actor Jonno Davies performing in a mo-cap suit.
The film, which was shot at Victoria’s Docklands Studio in 2022, recently premiered at both Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Read more …
