Starring Sam Underwood, Martha Plimpton, Rumer Willis, and Audra Ann McDonald
Directed by Tom Gustafson
Music and Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa
We celebrate Pride Month this week with two recent films that explore all forms and varieties of sexuality. This began as an off-Broadway retelling of the 1897 play La Ronde, the tale of ten interrelated love affairs during each decade of the 20th Century. The play kept the structure, with one character from each episode playing a role in the next, but updated the action and several characters. How do these stories of love across time look nowadays? We begin with the Politician (Plimpton) as she explains to a masked prostitute (Underwood) why she's there before going back in time...
The Story: As mentioned, there's actually 10 stories, all interconnected. In 1902, a prostitute (Underwood) makes love with a soldier (Nolan Gerald Funk) who won't pay. A soldier (Funk) makes love with a nurse (Ushkowitz) in 1942, only for him to abandon her after they make love in a car. The nurse (Ushkowitz) in 1967 seduces a college boy (Al Calderon) she's taking care of, tying him up and leaving him there. The college student (Calderon) wants a wife (Willis) to make love to him in a silent movie theater in 1929, but it's not enough. The wife (Willis) in 1956 dreams of a life with a man more exciting than her husband (T.R Knight).
A husband (T.R Knight) makes love with a handsome young man (Tyler Blackburn) on the Titanic, but the boy abandons him when the ship starts sinking. In 1976, a filmmaker (Cheyenne Jackson) lies to a youth (Blackburn) about him being a big-time screenwriter to get him into bed, only for the boy to leave when he realizes the truth. An actress (McDonald) trying to revive her singing career falls for her producer ex-lover (Jackson) in 2002, but he already has someone else. The former actress (MacDonald) in a secret relationship with the politician (Plimpton) she works with wants it to go further, but the politician is more worried about her career. Which brings us back to 2012, as the politician (Plimpton) dreams of a relationship with the masked prostitute.
The Song and Dance: This is certainly one of the most unique musicals out there. There's some excellent performances to be found in this film, anchored by Plimpton as the political hopeful. We also have MacDonald as the actress who wants more, out of life and relationships, Willis as the disappointed wife, and Underwood as the mysterious prostitute. The filming makes the most of the low budget with some excellent shots of New York across time and the brief but sumptuous sequence on the Titanic. LaChuisa's almost operatic music and Gustafson's direction explore sexuality and what it means to be a sexual being in ways most mainstream musicals don't dare.
Favorite Number: We open with the Politician admitting "I've Been Looking for Someone." The title song is heard several times, including during the 1901 segment and as a big band dance number in 1942. The soldier in 1942 tells the nurse that "I Gotta Little Time" and "We Kiss," but leaves her behind anyway. The nurse sings in 1967 about how "In Some Other Life," things might be different. The wife sings about "The Story of My Life" in 1929, but the college kid is more interested in his pleasure than hers. She wonders in 1956 what "The Greatest of Adventures" would have been like with "Tom."
The husband is happy to be making love with a gorgeous guy on a "Ship of Dreams," but admonishes him to "Listen to the Music," not to the ship and their dream going under. The writer in 1976 just wants to be "Safe" with a gorgeous guy who is "The One I Love," even if he has to lie to him. In 2002, the actress gives the "Performance of a Lifetime" in the music video her ex is filming, the odd "Beyond the Moon." She's "The Mistress of the Senator" in 1989, even if she has to live in "A Lie." It ends with the politician admitting "The Bed Was Not My Own."
Trivia: Hello Again originally opened off-Broadway in New York and ran for two months. It did well critically, but saw far more success in Europe. It had two major London productions and has been performed in Germany and Scandinavia as well.
What I Don't Like: This is a very strange, and rather dark and depressing, musical. Not a single relationship ends happily. The lower budget and stage origins are reflected in the more obvious and claustrophobic sets, like the canteen in 1942 and the recording studio in 2002. LaChiusa is known for writing nearly opera-like music for his shows, and this one is no exception. The music is just as demanding - and often as cold - as its subject matter. There's a lot more to relationships than sex, but you'd never know it from everything that goes on here. It's not for people looking for a straightforward, family-oriented musical, or for cotton candy fluff with a typical happy ending.
The Big Finale: Adult stage musical fans or those interest in gay theater history may want to give this unusual look at relationships in the 20th century a try.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the latter currently free with ads at Tubi.
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