Alice Brooks
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17 Soundstages and 750 Crew Members: DP Alice Brooks on Wicked
Drawing on a huge fanbase, the screen adaptation of Wicked has helped revitalize the year-end theatrical box office. Director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked builds on its Broadway pedigree by casting Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda, frenemies who are summoned to the Emerald City by the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). Wicked unfolds on a massive scale that can feel overwhelming. Nine million tulips were planted for an exterior scene. One set encompassed two soundstages with the wall between them removed. The score by Stephen Schwartz and John Powell was performed by an eighty-member orchestra. Finding intimate, […]
by Daniel Eagan on Dec 13, 2024 -
500 Extras on a Hot Summer Day: DP Alice Brooks on In the Heights
On Broadway, In the Heights won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2008. With music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, the story unfolds in Manhattan’s Washington Heights during a heatwave that results in a blackout. Shot largely on location in 2019, the screen version of In the Heights stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera and Olga Merediz. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the adaptation features several large-scale production numbers with up to 600 extras. Each song brought a different set of problems for cinematographer Alice Brooks to solve. Brooks worked […]
by Daniel Eagan on Jun 10, 2021
