Filmdrunkard Hendrik, our man in Hamburg, in the great European city of Germany, snapped this picture the other day, and with the combination of “Liam Neeson hologram” and “War of the Worlds stage show,” not surprisingly, he left quite confused.
Today on my way to work I walked past this obscure, bizarre poster advertising an upcoming “show” of War of the Worlds. What got my attention was the billing of Filmdrunks favourite badass wolf-puncher, Liam Neeson. Or at least his hologram. I’ve never heard or read anything about this show before and the poster is kind of vague about it. Apparently it’s Jeff Wayne’s musical version of “War of the World’s: The New Generation”, whatever the f*ck that is supposed to be. And who is Jeff Wayne?
I’m glad you asked, Hendrik, because for once I actually have an answer:
Liam Neeson is returning to the stage next year — sort of — when he takes over the role of narrator in an updated live touring version of the massively bestselling 1978 prog rock album “Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.” But Neeson won’t actually be standing onstage alongside the other performers, he’ll be a life-size hologram.
The late Richard Burton provided the voice for the album and for the stage show that’s been touring off-and-on since 2006. But Burton, who died in 1984, has been represented in the show by animated projections and look-alike actors who had Burton’s face projected onto them. Neeson will record his own version of the narration, but will remain as a hologram.
During a press conference in England on Friday to announce the new tour, titled “The New Generation,” Wayne described the more technically ambitious revamp of the show, which will debut in November 2012.
In addition to a 100-foot CGI animation wall, the new tour will also feature a Martian fighting machine that fires real flames at the audience. [LATimes]
Sadly, that LA Times article is from November of last year, meaning I missed this, which is a bummer, because it sounds like an epic Spinal Tap wet dream and the very reason mushrooms were invented. Who says musicals have to be all boring and gay? Someone needs to update this so that it’s about The Grey, complete with a 20-foot-tall Liam Neeson hologram, punching live wolves to death with broken bottles taped to his knuckles. (I envision the wolves as trained performers equipped with squibs and blood packets).
I’m currently developing an idea for a 3D YOLOgram to represent me onstage after I die, but I worry a posthumous digital effigy could cheapen the very idea of YOLO. Discuss.