RIALTO CHATTER: Minnelli Urges 'GET HAPPY' Filmmakers to Stay 'Positive'

While speaking to Canada's Citytv, Liza Minnelli commented on the planned Judy Garland bio film 'GET HAPPY' and urged filmmakers to avoid focusing on her late mother's drug addiction in the upcoming project.

Actress Anne Hathaway has been cast as The Wizard Of Oz star and will also be singing her hits as part of the Weinstein Company's planned theatre and film project, based on biographer Gerald Clarke's 2001 book Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland.

Minnelli has approved of casting Hathaway in the role - but is convinced the new versions must focus on her mother's talent instead of her well-documented personal problems reports the news service.

She told Canada's Citytv, "Well, I love Anne Hathaway. And I hope that it's a good movie and I hope that it's true. You know, that they don't just concentrate on the crap like they usually do.

"(I hope) that they talk about her the way she should be talked about which was she was a fabulous entertainer, a great mother and just a wonderful human being." To read the complete recap of the interview click here.

Variety reported late last month that Anne Hathaway will star in both stage and screen as Judy Garland in the Weinstein Co.'s stage and film adaptations of the Clarke's bio of Garland. The Weinstein Company recently optioned the legit and film rights to the book, first published by Delta in 2001.

Harvey Weinstein commented that Anne Hathaway "will be a true class act in this challenging role." While Garland's life and legacy have been explored before in popular culture, Weinstein explained Clarke's take on the iconic Garland "is particularly outstanding because of its exlusive details from her own writings."

The 26-year-old actress was very keen to appear in the movie - which charts Judy's rise to fame and her struggle with drink and drugs - that she had to sacrifice other projects to secure being a part of it.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced in February that the 2009 Shakespeare in the Park summer season will begin in June with a new production of William Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT directed by Daniel Sullivan and featuring Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway as Viola. TWELFTH NIGHT will run June 9-July 12 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Anne Hathaway has been nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SAG Award for her performance in Jonathan Demme's film Rachel Getting Married. Her stage credits include the lead role in the critically acclaimed 2002 City Center Encores production of Carnival! and Paper Mill Playhouse productions of Jane Eyre and Gigi. She is best-known for playing leading roles in the films Bride Wars, Brokeback Mountain (SAG Outstanding Ensemble nomination), The Devil Wears Prada, Get Smart, Ella Enchanted, Passengers, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Becoming Jane.

New York critics and theatre audiences fell under the spell of Liza Minnelli's unmatchable magic when she returned to Broadway's legendary Palace Theatre and played a recent sell-out engagement. 

Liza continues her extraordinary career with ongoing concert tours in the US and Europe. Her new two-CD set Liza's At The Palace was released in February 2009 by Hybrid Recordings. It features her signature hits and personal favourites including such showstoppers as "Cabaret" and "New York, New York."  For the latest on Liza, visit her website www.officiallizaminnelli.com.

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