Rochdale superstar Lisa Stansfield set for role in Northern Soul film

Manchester Evening News announce 

Singer Lisa Stansfield is to make a return to the limelight on home turf – starring in a new movie about the Northern Soul scene. Lisa, from Rochdale, shot to fame in the 80s with her worldwide hit All Around The World and she continued to dominate the charts in the 90s.

Lisa, from Rochdale, shot to fame in the 80s with her worldwide hit All Around The World and she continued to dominate the charts in the 90s. But in recent years she’s moved away from the music world and concentrated on acting roles.
Now, the 45-year-old is set to star in the new movie about two northern lads whose lives are changed forever by the Northern Soul music scene in the 70s.

She will play the mum of one of the lads, while actor Christian McKay will play her husband. The film is due to be shot in and around Manchester in June. It is being produced in association with comedian Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow Films by Bury-born director Elaine Constantine and her film company, Stubborn Heart Productions.

Elaine came up with the idea as she is such a huge fan of the music scene that revolved around venues like Wigan Casino, Manchester’s Twisted Wheel and Stoke’s Torch club which became legendary for their Northern Soul all-nighters in the 70s. She tells me that Lisa came on board early on. Elaine says: “We first spoke to Lisa about four years ago regarding the film. We showed her the script and asked her if she’d play the mum and to our delight she said yes.”

Lisa, of course, is no stranger to the club scene in the north west – she famously got her big break winning the M.E.N.’s Search for A Star contest over at the Willows Club in Salford in the early 80s. Meanwhile I hear film producers are going all out to create an authentic feel to the production – including training up young dancers to learn the original soul grooves of the clubs.

Elaine explains: “We started a dance club a couple of years ago with the aim of training young kids to dance to the music and to educate them about the scene.“The club’s grown massively through the likes of Facebook and so, by the time filming starts, we hope to have more than 1,000 members dancing in the large all-nighter scenes in the film.”

Now film bosses are looking for further investment in the project before filming starts in the summer.
Film link http://www.northernsoulthefilm.com