New DVD release from The GODDESS ODYSSEY TELEVISION SERIES, takes AC/DC’s legendary front man BRIAN JOHNSON to remote Sparta Greece. Horizontal jogging, women running naked through the streets, a history lesson like you have never seen from one of rock-n-roll’s finest. Brian travels through remote areas of Greece seeking out the shrines, temples, and paths of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships and whose passion led to the downfall of a civilization.

The myths, the legends, the realities uncovered on a modern day journey. A Geordie who speaks no Greek and a Mayor who speaks no English, the gypsies, throat slitting threats, orgy sites, getting banned from museums, isolated in the middle of nowhere with only the local plonk. A fun, wild trip with great music.

The DVD contains the original television episode, music from Brian’s upcoming theater production HELEN OF TROY, scenes from Brian’s home video camera and x-rated, over the top footage not shown on TV.

Available at Amazon USA

Bruce Vilanch has been added to the cast of the June 13 concert reading of Helen of Troy, a new musical with a score by Brian Johnson of the Australian heavy metal band AC/DC.

Vilanch, known as a Hollywood jokeman non pareil and as the current Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, will play Zeus, the king of the Greek gods.

He joins Eden Espinosa, Alice Ripley, Cary Shields, Brandi Chavonne Massey, Klea Blackhurst, Will Swenson and Shannon Connelly at the Canal Room event.

Johnson's collaborators on the project include fellow musician, Brendan Healy, and the book writing team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, screenwriters of the film "The Commitments." The score is described as a mix of rock and roll, R&B and pop.

As the title amply suggests, the show takes as its inspiration from the classical tale of Helen, for whom a thousand Greek ships sailed to war against Troy.

AC/DC is the long-standing rock outfit known for dressing in prep school outfits, cranking up the volume to "10," and penning cheeky songs with titles like "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)," "Highway to Hell," and "Hell's Bells." The group hit a high point in the early '80s with its million-selling album "Back in Black."

His background notwithstanding, Johnson said in a statement, "I love musical theatre, especially the classic stuff, like Rodgers and Hammerstein."

Source www.playbill.com

Also due to perform at the Canal Room event are Cary Shields, Brandi Chavonne Massey, Klea Blackhurst, Will Swenson and Shannon Connelly.

Johnson's collaborators on the project include fellow musician Brendan Healy, and the book writing team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, screenwriters of the film "The Commitments". The score is described as a mix of rock and roll, R&B and pop.

As the title amply suggests, the show takes as its inspiration from the classical tale of Helen, for whom a thousand Greek ships sailed to war against Troy.

AC/DC is the long-standing rock outfit known for dressing in prep school outfits, cranking up the volume to "10," and penning cheeky songs with titles like "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)", "Highway to Hell", and "Hell's Bells". The group hit a high point in the early '80s with its million-selling album "Back in Black".

His background notwithstanding, Johnson said in a statement, "I love musical theatre, especially the classic stuff, like Rodgers and Hammerstein."

For tickets ($25) to the reading, call (212) 868-4444 or visit Smarttix.com.

Source www.playbill.com

Brian Johnson, recently spent a week in Greece filming an episode for the syndicated television series GODDESS ODYSSEY. On the trail of HELEN OF TROY, the renowned rock singer traveled through remote areas of Greece seeking out the shrines, temples, paths and journeys of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships and whose passion led to the downfall of a civilization. Brian also shared music from his upcoming musical theater production "Helen of Troy". A woman wronged, a legend before her time or a shipbuilder's best friend: the myths, the legends, the realities uncovered on a modern day journey by one of rock-n-roll's finest.

The episode is planned to be aired in the Fall (Autumn) in the United States.

For more details and pictures Click Here

At 11.20 p.m. on Friday 14 November 2003

Geordies in Hollywood is the theme of this week’s programme.

HIGHWAY TO HELEN is a one hour special which charts the early days of getting a Broadway Musical off the ground. We get front row seats in a show, which sees the collaboration of ACDC’s frontman Brian Johnson with the creators of Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Dick Clements and Ian La Frenais.

Gateshead-born Brian, has spent the last six years working with North East entertainer Brendan Healy on a musical based on the story of Helen of Troy. From the very start they dreamt of the show opening on Broadway. In between World tours and albums for Brian and UK gigs and pantomimes for Brendan they would steal time together in locations as varied as Haydon Bridge to Las Vegas to realise their dream.

During the past twelve months the dream moved closer to reality when the Hollywood based writers Ian La Frenais and Dick Clements agreed to come on board. When British actor Malcolm Macdowell put his weight behind the project they took music off the page and into the recording studio.

HIGHWAY TO HELEN had exclusive access to the creative process when this remarkable team came together in Hollywood. The programme takes us into the studio as Macdowell sings one of the main songs from the show. With the Geordie rock god taking on the role of musical producer and the quintessentially English actor making his debut in the recording studio the programme promises some unmissable moments, especially as Dick and Ian are still writing the lyrics!

From The Sunday Times' Maurice Chittenden

IT is less head-banger, more Nutcracker. Brian Johnson, the gravel-voiced singer with hard rock group AC/DC, has composed an orchestral piece of music that is being developed for the stage as both a ballet and a West End musical.

The Tyneside-born Johnson, 55, who credits his talent for screaming out rock lyrics to his army sergeant-major father, began writing Helen of Troy as a distraction from performing such heavy-metal anthems as Given the Dog a Bone and Rock'n'Roll Ain't Noise Pollution.

The singer, famous for never removing his cap in public, says he got the idea while watching a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats.

"One day I was sitting through a boring musical and thought: 'I can do better than this.' I thumbed through the program and there was an advertisement for a bank with gold coins tumbling out of a wooden horse.

"That triggered the idea for Helen of Troy. It was as simple as that."

Johnson, who collaborated with British composer Brendan Healy on the piece, has been holding workshop performances for potential backers at Cameron Mackintosh's Prince Edward Theatre on London's West End with Gary Griffin, director of Stephen Sondheim's musical Pacific Overtures.

Helen of Troy is tipped to make its UK debut in November and Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer with Irish group the Cranberries, may play Helen, who is kidnapped on her wedding night by Paris, with the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Meanwhile, the Sarasota Ballet in Florida, where Johnson has his main home, is planning a dance version for next year's season. Malcolm McDowell, the actor who came to fame in A Clockwork Orange, is likely to play Zeus, who narrates the performance.

Robert de Warren, artistic director of the Sarasota Ballet and former head of the Northern Ballet in Britain, says: "I would like Brian to play Helen of Troy's father, King Tyndareus, a non-dancing role. He can wear a crown or a laurel wreath instead of his cap."

The Australian

I ran into another Johnson -- AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson -- on Main Street last week. He was just back from Toronto, where the band performed with the Rolling Stones in an outdoor concert that attracted hundreds of thousands.

However, Johnson was most excited about a recent trip to London, where a workshop performance of his musical, "Helen of Troy," was staged for potential backers.

In the audience was Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of "Les Miserables," "Phantom of the Opera" and "Miss Saigon."

"The show isn't quite there yet -- we need to tinker with the second act," Johnson said. "But people were excited."

A "Les Miserables"-style musical with rousing anthems, tender ballads and minimal dialogue, "Helen of Troy" is a longtime project for Johnson, a musical-theater fan. He wrote the music and lyrics with British composer Brian Healy.

"Helen of Troy" was to have premiered at the Van Wezel last spring, in a collaboration with the Sarasota Ballet. But financing problems caused that production to be scratched from the ballet's season.

The ballet still hopes to mount a production here eventually.

by Charlie Huisking

Source www.heraldtribune.com

Thanks to Gozone1 - www.geocities.com/gozone1

www.geocities.com/gozone1
http://wizard1.0catch.com (may be down)

'Helen of Troy' on hold

Article By CHARLIE HUISKING 20th August 2002

SARASOTA -- That much- ballyhooed collaboration between the Sarasota Ballet and AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson has short-circuited.

Citing fund-raising problems, the ballet has postponed its $1 million production of "Helen of Troy," a blend of song, dance and spectacle that was scheduled to open in March at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

"Because of the drop in the stock market, some of the investors that Brian was counting on haven't come through," said Robert de Warren, the ballet's artistic director and chief executive officer. "Also, some of the artists had scheduling conflicts."

In season-ticket brochures mailed in the spring, de Warren called "Helen of Troy" the "piece de resistance" of the season. It is unusual for Sarasota arts groups to postpone such major productions.

De Warren is substituting "Swan Lake" for "Helen of Troy," which has been pushed to November 2003.

Johnson, who belts out rock songs like "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" with AC/DC, wrote the music and lyrics for "Helen of Troy," along with British composer Brian Healy.

A "Les Miserables"-style musical with rousing anthems, tender ballads and minimal dialogue, the project has been a longtime dream of Johnson, a musical-theater fan.

A resident of Sarasota's Bird Key, Johnson became friends with de Warren after attending Sarasota Ballet performances. De Warren was to have directed and choreographed the production.

"We finally got to the point where we couldn't wait any longer for the money to come in," de Warren said. "We were ready to commission sets and costumes, and I couldn't put the ballet company in danger."

A love story set against the Trojan War, "Helen of Troy" calls for a large cast of Sarasota Ballet dancers, as well as a stage full of singers, acrobats and fire-eaters.

Malcolm McDowell, the star of such films as "A Clockwork Orange," was to have starred as Zeus, the show's narrator.

"But he got a movie deal and couldn't do it in March, so that was another reason to postpone," de Warren said.

"The delay is disappointing, but the show is still going to happen."

Johnson is in London and could not be reached for comment.

Subscribers who have already ordered tickets will be notified of the change by letter. Single tickets for "Helen of Troy" had not gone on sale.

Source www.heraldtribune.com

By CHARLIE HUISKING at the www.heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- With help from an AC/DC band member, the Sarasota Ballet of Florida is preparing a 2002-2003 season full of spark and sizzle.

Brian Johnson, the lead vocalist for the rock band, is collaborating with Sarasota Ballet Artistic Director Robert de Warren on "Helen of Troy," a lavish blend of mythology, dance and musical-theater spectacle.

The $1.2 million production, announced last week, will open at Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in March 20, 2003.

It is a dramatic love story set against the backdrop of the Trojan War, with characters ranging from courageous soldiers to bickering gods and goddesses. Actor Malcolm McDowell is scheduled to play the role of Zeus.

Johnson has written the music and lyrics with partner Brendan Healy. De Warren will choreograph and direct.

The innovative season will feature two additional world premieres.

"Gigabyte," de Warren's humorous look at the world of computers, will debut April 25. "It's about what happens when a computer seems to have a mind of its own," he said. Laughing, he added, "There will be a computer virus involved."

From Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2003, the company's resident choreographer, Jim Buckley, will present "Anne Frank," a dramatic work based on perhaps the best-known victim of Nazi persecution.

"Jim is such an original choreographer," de Warren said. "He's done mostly abstract works, and I've encouraged him to do something with a story. This idea of his is so powerful. It will be a mix of ballet and modern technique."

The season will open with a September Dance Festival of contemporary and classic pieces. In October, the company will present the Atlanta Ballet in a mixed bill of works by Ben Stevenson, Lila York and Diane Coburn-Bruning.

Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso's "Carmen" will be presented in November, in a program that will also feature excerpts from the classical ballet "Paquita."

The company's popular rendition of "The Nutcracker" will return in December, with the Florida West Coast Symphony accompanying the dancers.

Rounding out the season is an appearance by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, which features top students from New York's famed Juilliard School.

The season is something of a departure for Sarasota Ballet, which has leaned more toward classical ballets in the past few years.

"But we've always presented a blend, and we can't just keep doing the traditional ballets again and again," de Warren said.

"The great thing is, our audiences have embraced the new work. The like to see a blend of modern and classical technique, but they're eager to see us explore new ideas, new themes."

"Helen of Troy" is bound to capture most of the attention. It will feature dancers, singers and actors, in a production that Johnson and de Warren plan to tour around the country.

"I've been an admirer of Robert's work for a long time," said Johnson, a Sarasota resident for the past 10 years, and a Bird Key neighbor of de Warren's. "Even though our backgrounds are so different, I think we make a great team."

De Warren said "Helen of Troy" is an "extraordinary opportunity for our company, and for Sarasota. The score is wonderful, and it's so exciting to be involved in something so creative and innovative."

Source http://www.heraldtribune.com/frontpage/story.cfm?ID=66955

By CHARLIE HUISKING at the www.heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- You wouldn't think that Brian Johnson, the raucous, charismatic lead singer of the rock group AC/DC, would connect with Robert de Warren, the reserved artistic director of the Sarasota Ballet.

After all, Johnson belts out the sometimes-suggestive lyrics to songs like "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" in front of thousands of screaming fans.

De Warren speaks softly in a "Masterpiece Theatre" British accent, listens to chamber music and only recently learned who Billy Joel was.

Johnson is a T-shirt-and-jeans guy with black hair that tumbles out of his baseball cap. He loves his Porsche Boxster and his silver Harley-Davidson. De Warren favors country-club attire and drives a sturdy Cadillac de Ville with 150,000 miles on it.

But these polar opposites are friends and collaborators. Thursday, they announced plans for a lavish theatrical production that they hope will electrify Sarasota and then tour the nation.

The show is "Helen of Troy," a blend of song, dance and spectacle based on Greek mythology. The $1.2 million production will premiere in March at Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

Johnson wrote the music and lyrics with partner Brendan Healy, a British composer and actor. De Warren will choreograph and direct the production, which will feature Sarasota Ballet dancers as well as a stage full of actors, singers, acrobats and fire-eaters.

Johnson said his friend, Malcolm McDowell, the star of such films as "A Clockwork Orange," will play the role of Zeus, the show's narrator.

"Helen of Troy" has been in the works for six years, said Johnson, who described it as a poignant and funny love story set against the Trojan War.

"I'm interested in mythology and history, especially military history," he said. "I must admit that the only part of the 'Iliad' that I read was about the siege of Troy."

A 54-year-old native of northern England, Johnson has the charm, wit and working-class accent of a Dickensian rogue.

His interests have always extended far beyond rock. "I love musical theater, especially the classic stuff," he said.

To prove it, during lunch at Mediterraneo restaurant, Johnson started singing "I'd do anything, for you, deah, anything," from "Oliver!," and then launched into "Shall We Dance?" from "The King and I."

Johnson isn't crazy about more recent musicals, though. He and his wife, Brenda, saw "Cats" several years ago. "I couldn't wait to leave," he said. "It was puerile drivel. That's when I started thinking I may as well try to write a show. Then I went to see 'Grease' in New York, and it was friggin' drivel, too. That spurred me on more."

"Helen of Troy" is a "Les Miserables"-style musical, with rousing anthems, tender ballads and minimal dialogue.

"It's meant to be pure entertainment on a grand scale," Johnson said. "It's full of songs you can go out singing. It's Gilbert & Sullivan meets … I dunno, George M. Cohan, maybe."

And how in the world did Johnson and de Warren meet? They are both residents of Sarasota's Bird Key, where they were introduced by mutual friends a couple of years ago.

"I'd seen Robert's work with the Sarasota Ballet even before I met him, and I was impressed," said Johnson, who has lived in Sarasota for 10 years. "I told him about this project, and I thought he'd be the right guy to help pull it together. We've really developed a simpatico relationship, a level of trust and respect."

De Warren said he was overwhelmed by the power and beauty of Johnson's music for "Helen of Troy," and by the sophistication and humor in his lyrics.

"Brian is a bright, fascinating fellow, and it's so exciting to be part of a venture like this," he said.

De Warren, who says he's over 60 but won't be more precise, led ballet companies in England, Iran and Italy before coming to Sarasota in 1994. He says he has become an AC/DC fan since meeting Johnson.

"I went to their concert in Madison Square Garden last year, and it was amazing and so theatrical," he said.

AC/DC was founded in Australia in the early 1970s. Johnson joined the group in 1980. The band, among the top-selling rock groups in history, still tours regularly.

"I still love performing, and I'll keep doing it until I become a parody of myself," Johnson said, laughing.

Nearly $800,000 of the $1.2 million budget for "Helen of Troy" has been raised from local and out-of-state contributors and investors, according to de Warren and Johnson.

After seven performances at the Van Wezel, the show will tour Florida and then around the country, they said.

Another of their Bird Key neighbors, talk-show host Jerry Springer, may be interested in playing Zeus in "Helen of Troy" at some point.

"Jerry and I have talked about it," Johnson said. "He just did a role in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' in New York, and did great."

Johnson hopes his head-banging AC/DC fans will take a chance on "Helen of Troy."

"It's just me trying something new. I hate doing the same thing. That's why I have four cars, so I can drive a different one every day."

And he'd be thrilled if "Helen of Troy" lands on Broadway, and critics hail him as the rock-era's answer to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.

"If that happened," he said, "I'd be so happy, there would have to be two of me to contain all my joy."

STAFF PHOTO / MICHAEL BARRIENTOS

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, left, and Sarasota Ballet choreographer Robert de Warren are collaborating in a production of "Helen of Troy" next year.

Source http://www.heraldtribune.com/frontpage/story.cfm?ID=66793

By CHARLIE HUISKING at the www.heraldtribune.com

AC/DC's high-voltage star

Brian Johnson has lived in Sarasota for 10 years, but I'd never met the AC/DC lead singer until last week, when he raced into Mediterraneo restaurant, clutching a motorcycle helmet and apologizing profusely for being a half-hour late.

"I'm always early, mate, honestly. I'm so sorry," he said, his words tumbling out in an accent that made me think of Scottish moors -- and British pubs. And in fact, Johnson grew up in northern England, just a few miles from the Scottish border.

Over his pasta, he launched into a rambling story about how he has "four friggin' cars," but couldn't use any of them that morning because the garage was blocked by the Orkin man and, I think, a plumber's van and a carpet cleaner's truck (You have to listen intently to decipher every word of his). So Johnson had to hop on his Harley Davidson.

The 54-year-old Johnson had come to talk about "Helen of Troy," the new musical he's creating with the help of Sarasota Ballet Artistic Director Robert de Warren.

But first, I had to talk to Johnson about "The Osbournes," the MTV series that I and millions of others seem to be obsessed with.

In case you haven't caught it, "The Osbournes" is a "reality" show that documents the wacky goings-on in the L.A. home of another 50-something British rocker, Ozzy Osbourne, and his family.

Johnson knows him well. "I often go backstage right before a concert of Ozzy's, and try to make him laugh," Johnson said gleefully. "He'll say, 'Stop it, you're making my mascara run.'"

After 10 minutes with the charismatic Johnson, I suggested that he'd be an even more entertaining figure than Osbourne for a film crew to follow.

"Oh, bollocks," he said. "No way I'd do that. I'm too private a person."

Well, after he gets "Helen of Troy" mounted, Johnson ought to at least consider a one-man show -- just him, sitting on a stool telling stories.

During our conversation, he was like Robin Williams with a brogue. First, he did uncanny imitations of Prince Charles and Eric Clapton, who met one another at a charity function in London some years ago.

"Clapton asked the prince where he went to get his suits," Johnson said, laughing. "Charles replied, 'Well, actually, I don't go anywhere. I have people who come to me.' "

Then Johnson riffed on pretentious waiters: "I love the ones who tell you that 'I have some maahvelous specials to offer you tonight,'" Johnson said. "I want to say, 'That you have? Are you the friggin' chef?'"

Last summer, when AC/DC played before 80,000 people in Paris, Johnson stayed at the same hotel as ex-president Clinton.

"We had about 18 motorcycle cops escorting our limos," Johnson said. "Clinton was sitting in the bar, looking out to see who it was. I thought, 'Is the world turned upside down, or what?'"

Source http://www.heraldtribune.com/headlinesstory2.cfm?ID=67041

While in past years Johnson has specialized in penning naughty double-entendres in songs like "Hard as a Rock," "Stiff Upper Lip" and "The Honey Roll," this time he's crafting music that's more in line with the dramatic musical "Les Misérables."

So far, he's written 14 songs for the production, which will debut in March 2003 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida. After a nine-show run, "Helen of Troy" will tour Florida, and if all goes well a national tour will follow.

The $1.2 million show features five singing roles, a chorus of 15 and a dancing troupe of 15, which includes jugglers, acrobats and fire eaters. There's also a narrator that plays Zeus. That part will likely go to Johnson's friend Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"), said de Warren, adding that Jerry Springer has also expressed interest in the role.

Johnson started working on "Helen of Troy" six years ago, but the show really started coming to fruition in 1990 when a friend introduced him to de Warren. The singer brought the ballet director a CD of the tracks he'd been working on and the two bandied around ideas. When it was clear they were on the same page, Johnson asked de Warren to choreograph.

AC/DC fans take heed: "Helen of Troy" may feature giant cannons, but there won't be any blaring power chords or shrieked vocals.

"It's not at all based in rock," de Warren said. "It's rather like Gilbert and Sullivan. It's very British, actually. There's a lot of very beautiful melodies, and it's amazing how literate [Brian] is, which is quite unusual for a rock star."

Johnson's publicist confirmed his participation in "Helen of Troy" but said the singer thought it was too early to talk about the show.

Jon Wiederhorn

www.mtv.com

STUDENTS and fans of This is Spinal Tap, the cult film chronicling the misadventures of a fictitious British heavy metal band on tour in America, will remember the dismal end-of-tour party where David St Hubbins discusses his long-planned, oft-postponed rock opera based on the life of Jack the Ripper, called Saucy Jack. Among the lyrics already penned are: "You’re a naughty one Saucy Jack/You’re a haughty one, Saucy Jack."

But for those who believed the creative frustrations of playing three-chord rock music were confined to such fictitious bands, news that Brian Johnson, the gravel-voiced lead singer of AC/DC, has embarked on writing his own rock opera will come as something of a pleasant surprise.

The fact that the subject of his opera is the story of Helen of Troy will elicit an even bigger response. The famous Greek beauty’s story would seem a curious passion for a man who has spent the best part of a quarter of a century singing songs such as Sink the Pink and You Shook Me All Night Long and touring the world with a lead guitarist kitted out with devil’s horns and dressed in a schoolboy outfit.

There is no doubt that under that tight black T-shirt and dirty denim jacket beats the heart of a classical scholar - Johnson has even postponed the writing of the band’s new album to compose the music and lyrics for a script, which was written by two fellow Geordie lads, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the writers behind such TV comedies as The Likely Lads and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

Johnson was responsible for lyrics such as "For those about to rock/ we salute you", which clearly reflects his deep-rooted interest in the gladiator battles of ancient Rome. So, he should be capable of updating one of the greatest love stories of all time for a new, leather-clad audience. Malcolm McDowell and Jerry Springer have already expressed their interest in playing Zeus. But, when the curtain rises next year in Sarasota, Florida, the big question will be who is going to portray Helen herself - what price Britney Spears to land the coveted role?

Source The Scotsman - Friday 5th July 2002 (www.scotsman.com)

www.sarasotaballet.org

www.robertdewarren.com
www.geocities.com/gozone1
http://www.malcolmmcdowell.net
Source http://www.heraldtribune.com