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'Macbeth' Adaptation Takes Over Niwot Home

NIWOT, Colo. (AP) - The Lerner household these days looks more like a Hollywood soundstage than a private residence.

That's because a crew has temporarily moved into the Lerner family's Niwot home to film an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." With a cast of both Los Angeles-based and local actors and a crew from Bourbon Street video production in Colorado Springs, filming commenced last week at the Legend Ridge neighborhood residence, and it's expected to continue through Oct. 9.

"It's kind of the talk of my school," said 17-year-old Emma Lerner, a Niwot High School student.

Neighbors were also curious about all the extra vehicles and activity, the Longmont Times-Call reported.

Homeowners Andrew and Holly Lerner said they've had to make some lifestyle adjustments to accommodate their guests, which at one point included at least 25 members of the cast and crew.

James Lerner, 14, said his bedroom had been transformed into a makeup room. Caroline Lerner, 13, will even get to appear in a scene. The filmmakers asked to use the back of her head for a shot, she said.

Allison Volk, producer of the film, whose working title is "Heat of Deeds," is a Boulder native, and her family connections in the area were part of the reason the shoot is occurring in Niwot, she said. Colin Martin, who plays Eonan in the movie, said the area had the right look, too.

"There's something about the Colorado landscape that's reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands," Martin said.

A short film from an adaptation of "Othello" by Volk and Martin was recently selected for Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare on Film Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace in England. Volk hopes to get "Heat of Deeds" into film festivals, including the Boulder International Film Festival.

Volk is a graduate of Dawson School in Lafayette, where she was a student of theater director Kieffer Denning.

Tables turned when Denning was cast for a role in "Heat of Deeds."

"Allison was such a wonderful and talented leader of our department," he said. "I'm just so proud of her perseverance."

He said he's impressed by Volk's writing, which he called "extremely penetrating and original."

"I do want her to get the Oscar and thank me," he joked.

Andrew Lerner, in fact, has his own film credits. He was the executive producer on a 2000 film called "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV."

- By QUENTIN YOUNG, Longmont Times-Call

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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