Caine lends 'Voice' to Herman pic

By MICHAEL FLEMING

NEW YORK --- Michael Caine will star with Brenda Blethyn, Ewan MacGregor, Jane Horrocks and Jim Broadbent in Miramax's "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice," an adaptation of the successful British play adapted by Sam Mendes and to be directed by Mark Herman. Paul Webster and Elizabeth Carlson will produce the film, which will shoot shortly in London.

Perfect pitch

The drama revolves around a sheltered young girl (Horrocks) who grew up listening to music by Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey, and is able to perfectly impersonate them. Known as Little Voice, her mother (Blethyn) retains an agent (Caine) to book her act into nightclubs, which changes her life.

The James Cartwright play was a hit in London, where it moved from the National Theatre to the West End. Mendes was its original director. Steppenwolf later brought the play to the U.S. ICM's Toni Howard reps Caine; Brian Mann and Sally Long-Innes rep Blethyn.