Kevin O’Hare faces the possibility of ever more complicated cast changes on the Covent Garden stage when filming of the adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage musical musical Cats begins as another Royal Ballet dancer is chosen for the movie cast.
Soloist Olivia Cowley will be joining her colleagues Francesca Hayward and Steven McRae on the set of Universal Pictures and Working Title’s project which has Judi Dench (Old Deuteronomy), Ian McKellen (Gus The Theatre Cat), Idris Elba (Macavity), Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Taylor Swift and James Corden among the cast.
English dancer Cowley was promoted to Soloist in 2013 and has created numerous roles for Wayne McGregor, including Raven (Raven Girl) and roles in Multiverse, Carbon Life and Acis and Galatea. It is not her first time away from The Royal Ballet – she appeared in Nicholas Hytner’s production of Timon of Athens at the National Theatre in 2012.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
Gosh is the Royal Ballet going to have any dancers left for the next few seasons? I dearly hope Frankie comes back for RnJ!
Sometimes is good to have another experience on stage. To grow up! Congratulations!
OLIVIA COWLEY Royal Ballet is the finest dancer in the company and should have had a more prominent role in Cats the movie.