Over Here & Over Priced

It's a perfect example of how Australian property prices, especially in Sydney are sky-rocketing. With just an average suburban house, inner city terrace or a Redfern apartment now costing up to $1M, Iona , the gorgeous residence of Academy Award winning film duo Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin has gone on the market for a whopping $16M US with the pair moving permanently to New York.
Whispers has been to the property twice, once before Baz bought Iona and it was fairly run down and once for a garden party given by the pair. We managed to peek inside and the decor is truly wonderful and an example of Catherine's exquisite taste.

But consider what their movie contemporaries pay in Hollywood or New York. Julia Roberts put her sensational NY penthouse on the market for $4.5M while fitness guru Russell Simmons picked up a stunning LA house for $5.8M. Meanwhile writer and actor Larry David purchased a huge mansion with 7 bedrooms & 9 bathrooms in the snooty Pacific Palisades with stunning water views for $15M (Iona may be in Darlinghurst but it has absolutely no views at all) and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell has listed her New Jersey mega mansion for sale at just $7M while mega star George Clooney & Amal Alamuddin paid an affordable $16M for a 300 year old Grade II listed Georgian mansion in a five-acre islet in the River Thames west of central London.

Hollywood Stars at the Helpmanns

Every year the Helpmann Awards for live theatre in Australia has become a bigger and grander event and this year it did not disappoint.
Held at the Capitol Theatre guests were treated to a two hour extravaganza featuring numbers from the Lion King and Strictly Ballroom and plenty more. And a host if international names turned up from Geoffrey Rush, Baz Luhrmann and Lou Diamond Phillips.
You can read the full list of winners here : but special congratulations must go to the superb new intimate Kings Cross theatre, the Hayes Theatre which opened just 6 months ago. Their production (and the Shuttle watched it from the very back row which has a superb view of the stage) of Sweet Charity, an ambitious feat, picked up three well deserved gongs.

Lisa McCune & Lou Diamond Phillips     Robyn Nevin & Nicholas Hammond   Silvia Colloca & Richard Roxburgh

Andrew Upton                          Baz Luhrmann & Catherine Martin                  Kelley Abbey & Craig McLachlan

Below : Nancye Hayes with Hayes Theatre Director David Campbell : Sweet Charity

Baz Does It Again

We reckon Baz Luhrman and Catherine Martin (she did the costumes) have another hit on their hands : the stage version of Baz's original 1992 film hit Strictly Ballroom.
The show opened last night at the Lyric Theatre at that bastion of poker machines and roulette tables Star Casino.

Lots of celebs were on hand- Jack Thompson, Joel Edgerton and the much loved  Kylie Minogue. But where was Paul Mecurio the star of the film ?. If he was there we didn't spot him.

What can we say about Strictly ? It has heaps of colour and  movement, lots of gaudy frocks, fabulous dancing and of course terrific music ( lots of ABBA) and it's bound to end up in London and New York.
The standing ovation at last night's performance would tend to confirm this.

Winners..

So far..Cate Blanchett looking sensational on the 2014 Academy Award's red carpet in Giorgio Armani and Catherine Martin who has picked up the gong for Best Costumes for hubby Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby (pictured holding the brolly at the Sydney premiere)

Baz Keeps The Party Going

 

Erica Packer, Baz Luhrmann & Neil Perry

Baz Luhrmann has a huge hit on his hands with The Great Gastby and has thrown yet another shindig to celebrate.
                                                                  Gatsby is cleaning up at the box office : to date the flick has grossed over $147M well on it's way to covering the $180M cost and it still doesn't open until this Wednesday in Australia , one of the world's most lucrative markets. This will be his most successful production to date and will give a huge boost to the local film market- it was shot entirely in Sydney around Paddington, Manly and Birchgrove.

The success also vindicates the decision by the NSW state government to invest $40M in the film.
All this was yet another reason for Baz and wife Catherine Martin to host another swell dinner at Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill, a cavernous restaurant with marbled lined walls and a balcony fora full orchestra to .serenade guests.
Right : Ricky Martin with Baz and (below) with Catherine Martin.

Gatsby Rules !

Baz Luhrmann and The Great Gatsby bandwagon rolled into Sydney tonight for the Australian premiere and it was a huge hit with the audience.

The film's stars flocked to the Hoyts Cinema Complex in Moore Park, right next door to Fox Studios and Centennial Park where much of the movie was filmed. All that was missing was Leo DiCaprio who had other filming commitments but there were heaps of movie stars to keep hundreds of fans screaming their heads off and defying the pelting rain.
Forget what the critics say : Gatsby is a visual feast and a joyous romp through The Roaring Twenties. It's the first 3D film that the Shuttle has been able to sit through comfortably. Catherine Martin's sets and designs are sensational, over the top and there really is never a dull moment in this flick.
No-shows but reported elsewhere as attending : Ricky Martin, Seal and Kate Ritchie.

Gatsby fever strikes

The modelling Stenmark twins                                       Lachlan & Sarah Murdoch braved the rain

the brolly brigade at The Great Gastby

Baz Hits Paydirt !

Baz Luhrmann's latest offering, the 4th interpretation of The Great Gatsby may have been receiving less than stellar reviews but it's a runaway box office success.

Gatsby opened in 3535 cinemas across the USA on Friday and raked in over $51M just behind Iron Man 3's $71M for the weekend ( Iron Man has made almost $1B to date). This is a major success for Baz and the estimated $180M Gatsby budget should be re-couped in no time once the movie receives it's world-wide release. And various government mandarins both State and Federal who put money into the film will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

The Shuttle's spies disguised as Aussie tourists in New York say the film seems to be particularly popular with young females- no doubt because of Leo Di Caprio but there is a real buzz about Joel Edgerton's performance. And the Gum Leaf Mafia are having fun playing spot-the-Sydney location posing as Connecticut.

Gatsby opens in Sydney on the 22nd of this month with all the film's stars on hand and an after party for 1000 guests at Fox Studios.

The Great Gatsby gets a Great Review...

USA Today's entertainment editor Dennis Moore has kind words to say about "The Great Gatsby." Baz Luhrmann's  fourth big screen treatment of legendary novel.: there were others in 1926, 1949 and 1974.  Moore talks about how the film was shot in 3D but little about the acting of Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey McGuire.
"The director is known for valued visuals more than storytelling. but in this case, it is mesmerizing. It is gorgeous. The costumes, the sets are lavish. but Leo really gets into the role of Gatsby and carries you all the way through the film." So there.
 Some pics from the premiere and after party by our man on the scene-  New York's top society snapper Patrick McMullan:

Queen of Pop- Kylie,                                                                   Baz & Catherine                                         Rachel Taylor

Gwen Stefani & Katy Perry                                   Leo DiCaprio, Baz & Carey Mulligan                                 Oliver Stone

 

Great Gasby Inspired Rugs

 To Iona, the Darlinghurst home of movie director Baz Luhrmann and his designing wife Catherine Martin who is the genius behind all those fantastic sets on Moulin Rouge, Australia , Romeo & Juliet and the upcoming Great Gatsby 3D epic staring Leo Di Caprio.

Iona is fairly unique in Sydney-a huge mansion with gardens more suited to the ritzy eastern Suburbs. It's bang smack in the middle of trendy Darlinghurst and East Sydney, surrounded by blocks of flats, terrace houses and just a stone's throw from bustling Kings Cross. Once through the large wrought iron gates, it's an oasis of calm.

 Martin has designed a set of Art Deco inspired floor rugs which really are sensational. With The Great Gastby due to be finished by November and released in early 2013, there is bound to be a surge in interest in Roaring Twenties design similar to the impact Moulin Rouge had for around 2 years (it was impossible to avoid a Parisian style party in Sydney or Melbourne).

 The last time the Shuttle visited Iona it was in a run down state with parts of the roof missing. Baz & Catherine reportedly spent a million dollars restoring the listed house. In parts it resembles a lavish film set as can be seen in our snaps of Catherine's rugs, pictured in various rooms in the house.

Iona-surrounded by apartment blocks (http://mydarlingdarlinghurst.blogspot.com.au)

You can see more of Catherine's rugs here :
www.designerrugs.com.au   www.mokumtextiles.com   www.anthropologie.com

Stepping Out in the Big Apple



Rose Byrne



The delectable Aussie export Rose Byrne wearing a delicious pale pink Ralph Lauren  gown was at the uber smart Ciprianos on Wall Street, New York on Thursday evening for a ball to launch this year's New York Fashion Week. Rose arrived on the arm of honorary Aussie citizen actor Liev Shreiber.

No scandal here- Liev did the gentlemanly thing and escorted Rose a good pal of his wife Naomi Watts who had filming commitments and couldn't make the event. Rose is currently filming X-Men: First Class while Naomi is filming the bio-pic J.Edgar  which stars Leo DiCaprio as the famous cross dressing FBI boss J.Edgar Hoover.



On the same night in the same town Geoffrey Rush was being honoured for his role in The King's Speech at a dinner at the 5 star Mandarin Oriental hotel in Columbus Circle. Amongst the gum-leaf mafia were 2 of New York's newest residents Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin who moved to the Big Apple last September so Baz could work on his next project The Great Gastby.

 Luhrmann shot down in flames the recent claim that his movie had been shelved and told the Shuttle's mole that he had 2 studios after the project- Sony and Warner Brothers and that he would be making a decision on which studio to go with as early as the end of next week.The Great Gatsby also stars Leo DiCaprio in the lead role.                                                    

Meanwhile closer to home our gal Jackie Weaver who is being wined and dined from New York to Santa Monica and winning awards on the strength of her Oscar nomination for the film Animal Kingdom  is the recipient of another accolade.

Proudly displayed at the concierge counter at the smart Horizon building in East Sydney where any number of well known Sydneysiders lay their heads including Weaver, a large framed photograph of a beaming Jackie is displayed with a congratulatory note from the building's management.