The first was Nine, a musical based on Fellini’s film 8 , which was originally done on stage on Broadway in 1982 with Raul Julia, and here at the Donmar in 1996. That production was then revived on Broadway in 2003 with Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera. The film was directed by Rob Marshall, who previously made Chicago. We started working on it in August 2008, and we had a hugely good time, but it had its frightening moments. There were great musical numbers in it that we had to learn, and then go out on to the set and rehearse with a lot of dancers, who were all beautiful, stick-thin, and Italian. Daniel Day-Lewis played the character based on Fellini, and all the women in his life were played by an international cast – Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, Fergie the American rock-singer with the Black-Eyed Peas, and me. We worked on the songs and everything else in the rehearsal room, and the studio set for the first day’s shooting was a wonderful stage with seats for an audience.
