Hello Again (musical)

Hello Again
Music Michael John LaChiusa
Lyrics Michael John LaChiusa
Book Michael John LaChiusa
Basis Play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler
Productions 1994 Off-Broadway
2001 West End
2011 Off-Broadway

Hello Again is musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler (also titled Reigen). It focuses on a series of love affairs among ten characters during the ten different decades of the 20th century.

The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1993, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Since then it has been performed in London, Sweden, Australia, Germany, and New York.

Adaptation and plot

LaChuisa's musical adaptation follows the structure of Schnitzler's original material closely, often replicating fragments of his dialogue, detailing a daisy chain of sexual encounters and love affairs among ten characters in ten scenes. His innovation, however, was to set each scene of the musical in a different decade of the 20th century and in a non-chronological order, allowing for a huge variety of musical style and pastische ranging from opera to 1970s disco while simultaneously introducing musical and lyrical echoes throughout to tie all the characters and their experiences together.[1] He also altered the gender of Schnitzler's "Little Miss" to the sexually ambiguous "Young Thing" to introduce a homosexual element into his century of sexual congress.

Highlights of the score include "I Got A Little Time", "Tom", "Safe", "The One I Love", "Mistress of the Senator" and "The Bed Was Not My Own".

Production history

The musical premiered Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (at Lincoln Center) on December 30, 1993 in previews and closed on March 27, 1994, after 101 performances. Directed and musically staged by Graciela Daniele the show was much in the vein of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George in that the staging was like a classic painting coming to life. It received eight Drama Desk Award nominations including Best Musical, three for LaChiusa (Outstanding Book of a Musical, Music and Lyrics categories), two for Daniele (Choreographer and Director categories) and nominations for actors Judy Blazer, John Cameron Mitchell and Donna Murphy. The original cast album was released in 1994 by RCA Victor.

The musical received its professional European premiere in 2001 at London's Bridewell Theatre, as part of a series of musicals introducing the works of the next generation of major American musical theatre writers.[2] It was directed by the theatre's co-Artistic Director Clive Paget with musical direction by Christopher Frost with a cast that featured Jenna Russell, Matt Rawle, Charles Shirvell and Nigel Richards.[3] There were minor changes made to the score in this production as well as a substantial rewrite to "Scene 8" (The Writer and the Actress) overseen by the composer.

In 2007, the musical received a controversial showing by The Satori Group at The Hustler Sound Stage, a building in Cincinnati that was once the headquarters for Hustler magazine, when publisher Larry Flynt was a local celebrity during the 1970s.[4]

Also in 2007, "Hello Again" premiered in Germany, at the Akademietheater im Prinzregententheater Munich. The production was directed by Silvia Armbruster with musical direction by Philip Tillotson, and the text was translated by Roman Hinze.

In May 2008, it was given its Scandinavian premiere in Gothenburg and Borås in Sweden in a production directed by Vernon Mound with musical direction by Derek Barnes. The production used the revisions made for the London version and the text was translated by Fredrik Fischer and Linnea Sjunnesson together with members of the cast.

The Transport Group presented the first New York City revival, opening on March 19, 2011 through April 3. This production features new orchestrations by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and was staged non-traditionally in a raw space in SoHo by Jack Cummings III.[5][6][7]

Cast lists

1993 Original off-Broadway cast
2001 London cast
  • The Whore - Ellen O'Grady
  • The Soldier - Matt Rawle
  • The Nurse - Golda Rosheuvel
  • The College Boy - Mark Stobbard
  • The Young Wife - Jenna Russell
  • The Husband - Charles Shirvell
  • The Young Thing - Dominic Brewer
  • The Writer - Michael Cahill
  • The Actress - Anita Louise Combe
  • The Senator - Nigel Richards
2008 Scandinavian cast
  • The Whore - Lena Näslund
  • The Soldier - Jonas Schlyter
  • The Nurse - Hilde Traetteberg
  • The College Boy - Mikael Lundin
  • The Young Wife - Mari Haugen Smistad
  • The Husband - Tore Norrby
  • The Young Thing - David Inghamn
  • The Writer - Johan Ringström
  • The Actress - Maria Camilla Karlsson Stavland
  • The Senator - Lennart Eriksson

2008 Australian Cast
  • The Whore- Lisa Callingham
  • The Soldier- Vincent Hooper
  • The Nurse- Liz Stiles
  • The College Boy- Keane Fletcher
  • The Young Wife- Katrina Retallick
  • The Husband- Matt Young
  • The Young Thing- Gareth Keegan
  • The Writer- Zack Curran
  • The Actress- Sigrid Langford-Scherf
  • The Senator- Nathan Carter
2011 off-Broadway Revival Cast
  • The Whore - Nikka Graff Lanzarone
  • The Soldier - Max von Essen
  • The Nurse - Elizabeth Stanley
  • The College Boy - Robert Lenzi
  • The Young Wife - Alexandra Silber
  • The Husband - Bob Stillman
  • The Young Thing - Blake Daniel
  • The Writer - Jonathan Hammond
  • The Actress - Rachel Bay Jones
  • The Senator - Alan Campbell

Scenes and musical numbers

Film

The stage musical has been adapted to film, which is directed by Tom Gustafson and written by Cory Krueckeberg. Filming began in December 2015.

References

  1. ↑ Richards, David. "Review/Theater; Would-Be Lovers Find Little but Sex In an Endless Dance",The New York Times, January 31, 1994
  2. ↑ Halliburton, Rachel."The Bridewell Theatre Company: 'Hello Again' " thisislondon.co.uk, March 20, 2001
  3. ↑ Gardner, Lyn.Hello Again | Bridewell Theatre, London" guardian.co.uk, March 23, 2001
  4. ↑ Hello Again citybeat.com
  5. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Alan Campbell, Max von Essen, Elizabeth Stanley Among Interlocking Lovers in NYC 'Hello Again'" playbill.com, January 11, 2011
  6. ↑ "Transport Group, 'Hello Again' Listing" transportgroup.org, accessed January 21, 2011
  7. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Web of Love, Explicitly Woven in Shades of Anguish" The New York Times, March 20, 2011

External links

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