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25.09.09
King of pop: director Kenny Ortega had access to 100 hours of rehearsal film
One-off: Brighton-based Rolemop company mounts this interactive installation and exhibition
BOOK NOW
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Odeon Leicester Square, W1, from 28 October. £16
This surely falls into the “when life gives you lemons …” category — when Michael Jackson died on 26 June, those associated with his 50-date O2 residency this summer must have taken a very deep breath. But they have made lemonade — or a film, rather — by utilising more than 100 hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage shot as the king of pop prepared for his London run.
The cameras were following Jackson and members of his creative team between April and June of this year as the show was being planned and dance routines put together, but how much of the final cut (directed by Kenny Ortega) is actual rehearsal performance (or even complete songs) remains to be seen on the night (the London premiere is in the early hours of the morning to synchronise with the Los Angeles screening, which is taking place at a more amenable hour locally).
The premiere is invitation only, but public screenings follow later in the day and continue for a fortnight, after which the DVD will be released. There's sure to be demand for the limited cinema run.
Tickets are on sale from this Sunday, 12.01am, from www.thisisit-movie.com.
Veronica Lee
MEET ME AT
Ranoush
43 Edgware Road, W2 (020 7723 5929, www.maroush.com) Open daily 8am-3am, £8pp ex-drinks (no alcohol)
Ranoush is an unfussy, late-opening pit stop. At the back is the juice bar, at the front is the kebab servery. Between is a counter full of other items from the menu. To eat here you need to know the menu and what you want, as you start by paying then take the relevant piece of the receipt to the kebab men at the front or the juice men at the rear.
From Charles Campion's London Restaurant Guide 2009, published by Profile Books
LONDON FOR FREE
PAST REPLAY PAST
P3, 45 Marylebone Road, NW1
The current London fashion for site-specific theatrical “happenings” reaches an apotheosis of sorts with this interactive installation and exhibition staged at a largely unknown location for a single night and day.
The venue is P3, a vast, 14,000 sq ft hangar behind an anonymous façade opposite Madame Tussaud's, which was formerly used to test concrete. The core of the event is the meeting, after 10 years apart, of a mother and daughter.
But spectators also take an active part, influencing the action by activating hidden sensors as they wander around the extensive set.
The event is the most ambitious project so far of Brighton arts company Rolemop, and is co‑ curated by Kerri McLean and Alexander Buckley. They, and other emerging artists, will also be showing work on the night as an adjunct to the main performance. The whole thing runs from 6pm-9pm tomorrow, and 11am-4pm on Friday. There's no advance booking and entry is free, although a donation on the door would be appreciated. In all senses, this is a one-off.
Nick Curtis
