The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Stephen Moyer is the new Captain Von Trapp

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The British actor goes from playing a vampire to a singing captain with six kids in upcoming musical.

True Blood star Stephen Moyer has been added to the cast of NBC's The Sound Of Music as World War I hero Captain Georg Von Trapp.

Though best known for playing a vampire, Moyer has musical theatre bona fides: Last month he starred in the Hollywood Bowl's production of Chicago, playing Billy Flynn.

NBC's three-hour production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic will air Dec 5 in the United States, with Carrie Underwood as Maria. The special will be based on the original 1959 Broadway production, which won the Tony Award for best musical.

The 1965 film version, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Moyer, a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, has spent time with the National Theatre of Wales, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Oxford Stage Company and the Young Vic in England. He has played the lead in Romeo And Juliet, among other stage roles.

Universal Television's The Sound Of Music is executive-produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan. Beth McCarthy-Miller and Rob Ashford will serve as directors. — Reuters

The truth is out there

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A sceptical host is determined to uncover the truth behind some of Asia's famous hauntings.

PLEASE don't call Robert "RJ" Joe a ghost hunter. For starters, the urban explorer doesn't believe in ghosts and spirits. But what the man lacks in faith for the supernatural, he makes up for it through his love for a good horror story and an insatiable curiosity for the unknown.

As the host of National Geographic Channel's latest original series I Wouldn't Go In There, RJ embarks on a journey through Asia to some of the region's most reputedly haunted places.

But before you dismiss the ironic pairing of a sceptical host and a show about ghastly places, there's more to the series than just the preternatural.

"It's true that I don't believe in ghosts. But then again, with this show, it's more about the story of a place and it's history," RJ says during a recent phone interview from Seoul.

"When a place is deemed haunted, I think it says more about the people. We'd like to shed light on that aspect in the show," he adds.

RJ's hypothesis regarding haunted places is one which is staked on real events rather than myths and old wives' lores. He believes that behind every ghost story and paranormal encounter, there's a true sinister story waiting to be unveiled.

"My theory is that ghost stories come from real histories. The fact that people are talking about it is a sign that there's a true story behind the superstitions and urban legends. What I try to do is I find the actual history behind the hauntings in a place," says the American who's of Korean descent.

RJ proves his theory through a combination of old fashioned detective work and modern technology. Tracking down accounts from eyewitnesses, local historians and personalities, the history which he uncovers often times prove more horrifying than the haunting tales themselves.

The 35-year-old filmmaker and the production crew spent over six months visiting a total of 10 countries while filming the 10-part series.

"Basically we travelled all over Asia. Some of the places we visited include Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, the Philippines and Korea.

"Since the show's a pretty huge project, we actually have a research team who studied and selected the locations that we feature on the series. Certain locations just pop out with their striking stories.

"However, there were instances where we were greeted with a dead end. Sometimes, we just couldn't get access to some of the places that we wanted to check out," RJ reveals. Some locations featured on I Wouldn't Go In There extend to eerie places such as an abandoned school in Hong Kong and a dilapidated hospital in the Philippines.

The former is actually the infamous Tat Tak Public School in Ping Shan. Throughout the years, there's been tales of a woman in red as well as strange, crouching figures spotted at the school.

As for the hospital at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, there's been disturbing stories among the locals that ghost soldiers roam the grounds.

"What we do is we delve into the history and unearth the reason behind the stories and rumours that locals have about a certain haunted location," says RJ.

The man even made a stop on our shores, visiting Penang.

"We started our investigation at the War Museum in Batu Maung and then followed a trail which led us to multiple places in the island. Our crew even took the ferry over to the mainland and checked out some places there as well," says RJ.

Known locally as Bukit Hantu or Ghost Hill, the private museum complex was built by the British as a hill fort in the 1930s. However, the place took an ill-boding facade when it was turned into a prisoner-of-war camp and killing place during the Japanese occupation.

"The story we uncovered at the War Museum centred around this Japanese guy who drives a sports car. There are definitely some spooky elements in the tale," says RJ.

"Penang is a place with so much history and culture. The amount of colonial history surrounding the island is just amazing," he adds.

That being said, the man remains adamant about the existence of supernatural forces in this world. But he does admit that some of the places he visited during the filming of the series gave him the heebie-jeebies.

"There's definitely some fear when I enter some of the locations. Some places are really dark and mysterious. They're usually abandoned and there are rumours of snakes and holes. I mean, I don't want to fall and die," he says with a chuckle.

When this reporter pitched the local legend of the pontianak (banshee) to him, it got the host thinking.

"In Asian context, it's typical to have ghost stories that are rooted in societal and cultural beliefs. For example, you usually get stories about women who have been wronged and there's usually a moral concept to them.

"And that's really the core of this show. I'm not trying to debunk anything. I'm just trying to look at the ghost tales that are passed on and find out why these stories are there."

> I Wouldn't Go In There premieres tonight with a double episode at 10pm and thereafter every Friday at 11pm on the National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553).

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 26 Ogos 2013