Hello Again Movie Musical

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/13/15 at 2:39am

So LaChiusa just posted on his Facebook the rather vague comment that Hello Again was beginning shooting in New York this week...  I didn't realize the movie was going ahead despite about a year ago rumours Audra had been cast.  Anyone know anything more?  (I assume Tom Gustafson is set to direct and this is gonna be another tiny budget release like Lucky Stiff, etc.)

Oh and he posted this pic though, while it clearly shows the musical's soldier (and death?  the whore?) it can't be a production pic since they haven't filmed anything--I assume

 

Updated On: 12/1/15 at 02:39 AM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/13/15 at 3:08am

Just stumbled across the IMDB page the other day, had no idea this was in the works. An unusual choice but an intriguing one. I like the look and feel of the picture.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/13/15 at 3:26am

I really do too--I hope it is a pre-production shot or something and gives an idea of the film and LaChiusa didn't just do a google image search for "Soldier" and post that :P

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 6:07am

And now this popped up in the Daily Mail--Rumer Willis of all people in costume filming a scene in Central Park

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3318809/Rumer-Willis-vintage-style-printed-frock-films-upcoming-new-musical-Central-Park.html

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 6:45am

nowack mentioned the IMDb page. There's a partial cast list--if it's correct--on IMDb that lists among others Audra McDonald, Jenna Ushowitz who I think was the Asian girl on Glee they never gave a story to and Ben Monk who I had a crush on as a teen when he played a gay teen on All My Children but I assumed left acting. This is getting more and more intriguing (I didn't recognized the other two actors listed). The writer and director did the musical Were the World Mine which I was mixed on but I know many loved. 

Updated On: 11/15/15 at 06:45 AM

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 1:48pm

I'm tentatively excited about this. I really love this new trend of small musicals becoming films through independent studios. Whatever problems "The Last Five Years" has as a film, on the whole it stays a lot closer to the heart and soul of the production then recent big budget movie musical ("Les Miserables" and "Into the Woods" spring to mind). "Hello Again" seems like it could work well with the intimate story. I only worry that the "celebrity" names involved were cast for the right reasons, and not just because they were C-List famous. Perhaps Rumor will surprise me - although her voice in Chicago was poppy and supple in a way that I don't think would suit LaChiusa's score.

 

Eric, as for Were the World Mine, I discovered it when it myself was coming out, and watched it dozens of times. Yes, it is not a perfect film (far from it actually), but I think as while it works fairly well, even if the writing is very flowery and "It gets better". But it stays pretty close to its vision and works as its own type of film. And the little moments of brilliance are wonderful - even if they are little and far between. And you have to admit, as far as independent gay films, it could have been a lot worse.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 2:06pm

Just noticed Michael John's reply to that post on Facebook "The Twelfth of May..."

 

I'll be interested to see how Rumor handles "Tom", one of my favorite songs of all time, especially when we already have recordings of Carolee Carmello and Audra McDonald singing it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 3:08pm

We are in complete agreement about being in tentatively excited.  While I didn't think Last FIve Years or (more to the point) Lucky Stiff were perfect, I also love the fact that it seems like indie producers are taking advantage of the new VOD, etc, small scale model to film these smaller musicals--I hope it's a trend that continues.  Rumur, and maybe Jenna from Glee seem the only names that could be cast because they have *some* name recognition...  I admit, I'm not a fan of Rumur really, but I also realize I haven't seen much if any of her dramatic work except those clips of Roxie on TV (and apparently she's improved some in the role.)  And "Tom" is one of my all time fave LaChiusa songs--but I'm willing to give her a chance, and she probably will have a better time with vocals in a studio setting.

I think I sounded too harsh on Were the World Mine--I certainly appreciated it and liked a lot of it (including the visual look of the film.)  My main disappointment--and I really should watch it again--was I remember not being very taken with the music, but I only saw it once at a film festival.  And certainly it shows more ambition and care and talent than the majority of the TLA studios style gay indie films that pile up now (plus one of my fave soap actresses Jill Larson is in it, so it gets bonus points from me :) )
 

Really interested and honestly excited to follow the progress of this...  (The imdb list gives the characters personal names, which, to the best of my knowledge, none of the other productions did, so I wonder who Audra is cast as?)

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 3:31pm

I think she's the Whore - didn't someone bring that up last year when the film was still a question?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 3:41pm

That was during one of my BWW breaks   The whore would make a lot of sense.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 5:18pm

Interesting, when I saw the IMDB page the only cast member listed was Audra.

 

I love LaChiusa but I must confess I've only listened to the CD maybe twice over the years. I'll have to reinvestigate it in anticipation of the new movie.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 8:00pm

I think Hello Again is one of my most played of his nine recorded shows. But I remember when I got it--I was twelve and had recently gotten hard core into Sondheim and Passion had just come out. Looking for other new shows to get someone on the old Sondheim mailing list recommended it plus it had DonnaMurphy. I bought it and I think I played it once with nothing catching my ear. It wasn't until five or so years later when Marie Christine and Wild Party came out and I loved both (I don't think other LaChiusa discs existed since the infamous Petrified Prince was never recorded and First Lady Suite was recorded later) that I went back to Hello Again and fell for it hard. 

[lida rose]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 9:39pm

i wonder how non theater-savvy audiences will respond to this. i've never been able to get into this score, and i say that as a lachiusa fan. it's not as accessible as something like the last 5 years.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/15/15 at 11:00pm

It's interesting how even LaChiusa fans react differently to his scores.

I am sure they know it will have a very niche audience--and they don't have a name as big as Kendrick's to promote it--but who knows.  But I am pretty sure it will go the same route--maybe play a festival or two and then VOD.  Did Last Five Years ever publish their budget?  I'd assume it would be about the same?

[jpbran]

Posted: 11/16/15 at 12:22pm

Wikipedia lists L5Y's film budget at $2m. 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 11/16/15 at 12:33pm

This is the information on IMDBPro:

IN PRODUCTION since Nov 14, 2015. Data is subject to change or removal. Update page »

SUMMARY

Ten lost souls slip in and out of one another's arms in a daisy-chained musical exploration of love's bittersweet embrace. A film adaptation of LaChiusa's celebrated musical, originally based on Schnitzler's play La Ronde.

Filmmakers (10)

ROLENAME

• DirectorTom Gustafson
• WritersCory Krueckeberg (Screenplay) | Michael John LaChiusa(Book And Lyrics Of Musical Play: Hello Again)
• ProducersHunter Arnold | Ash Christian | Tom Gustafson | Cory Krueckeberg
• ComposerMichael John LaChiusa
• EditorCory Krueckeberg
• Casting DirectorsSig De Miguel | Stephen Vincent

See all filmmakers & crew (10) »

Cast sort by:   Default Cast Order   Name   STARmeter   Known For  

NAMESTARMETERKNOWN FOR

• Audra McDonald – Sally5,197Private Practice
• Jenna Ushkowitz – Marie7,310Glee
• Amy Halldin – The Redhead39,948Delusions of Guinevere
• Al Calderon – Alfred48,882Detachment
• Adam Davenport – Actor90,031Midnight Son
• Ben Monk – Actor107,319As the World Turns

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/16/15 at 1:44pm

Thanks for that!  So--do people recognize the names?  (As I said I know who Ben is from his soap work--looking him up he seems to have just gotten back into the industry after working behind the camera--and of course Jenna and Audra.)  Are they theatre people?

While I said I was mixed on Were the WOrld Mine, I do think Gustafson is a talented director with a good visual sense (I never saw it, but his Mariachi Gringo got very good reviews with nearly everyone praising the visuals,) which I think is a point in its favour.  Lucky Stiff used talented theatre director Christopher Ashley--his first film I think, and that could have been one of the problems (certainly the reviews were brutal--personally I didn't think it was very good really but cute enough,) on the other hand Last Five Years was directed by Richard LaGravenese who has a strong film background (just to use the two recent examples of low budget, musical theatre adaptations I can think of.)

[perfectliar]

Posted: 11/17/15 at 5:40pm

Al Calderon was in the original cast of 13.

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 11/17/15 at 6:03pm

Jenna and Al have also instagrammed about working on a project together and talked about having to get very close very fast, but that was the extent of details they gave.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/18/15 at 2:23pm

I've been listening to the cast album and I must say it's really growing on me. Such a knockout cast too in the Off Broadway Cast.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/1/15 at 11:59am

Nice to get the official cast.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 12/1/15 at 2:36pm

Unfamiliar with the musical, my first thought was "Why would anyone make a musical of that old Shelly Long movie?"

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/1/15 at 6:12pm

I hope this film is good! It's so obscure to the mainstream though, much more than most movie musicals I've ever seen made (Last 5 Years was among them though, but that has a following at least).

Updated On: 2/17/18 at 06:12 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/1/15 at 6:35pm

gypsy101 said: "I like the original recording (one of very few of Lachiusa's that I like) so I hope this film is good! It's so obscure to the mainstream though, much more than most movie musicals I've ever seen made (Last 5 Years was among them though, but that has a following at least).

 

"

More than Lucky Stiff?  :P  I'm nearly certain they are not looking for a major cinema release--festivals and then VOD or something, which suits the small scale show.  Frankly, while Lucky Stiff wasn't... great, I like this trend of low budget smaller movie musicals.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/1/15 at 6:40pm

oh my god i completely forgot about Lucky Stiff! now THAT was obscure. i kind of liked the movie version (i'm a fan of the original cast recording) especially the fact that it got to the point and it wasn't that long. Another low-budget movie musical I'd love to see is Urinetown. Film it in some gutter somewhere!

Updated On: 12/1/15 at 06:40 PM