Arthur Schnitzler’s controversial 1987 play, La Ronde/Reigen, wouldn’t immediately seem expected fodder for a musical. However, the piece has held a fascination for artists, which has resulted in the likes of David Hare’s The Blue Room, multiple gay takes on the play, and numerous movies. The continued interest has been due to both its frank look at sexual mores and its structure of following pairs of characters before or after a sexual encounter. That structure in particular has allowed it to be adapted and change to look at different times and sexualities.
In 1994 it became Michael John LaChiusa’s off-Broadway musical, Hello Again, which has now been turned into a movie by Were The World Mine director, Tom Gustafson. It’s a film with an impressive cast, including six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Emmy Award-winner and Tony nominee Martha Plimpton, Emmy and Drama Desk nominee T.R. Knight, Rumer Willis, Cheyenne Jackson, SAG Award-winner and Grammy nominee Jenna Ushkowitz, Teen Choice Award-winner Tyler Blackburn, Sam Underwood, Nolan Gerard Funk and Al Calderon.
The film ‘chases 10 fleeting love affairs across 10 periods in New York City history. The pursued becomes pursuer as they spin through daisy-chained vignettes that come together in one soulful circle.’ Those affairs are both gay and straight and take place right across the 20th Century.
It certainly looks like a fascinating film, as evidenced by the trailer, which you can watch below. The film premieres at the Frameline San Francisco LGBT Film Festival on June 22nd. [Read more…]
Although it always seemed that T.R. Knight left Grey’s Anatomy more due to behind-the-scenes personality differences than anything else, he must have hoped his career would have remained a little more high profile than it has. His only post-Grey’s on-screen credit is a single episode of Law &Order: SVU (although he has done a lot of work on stage).