- Hello Again (musical)
Infobox Musical
name= Hello Again
caption=
music=Michael John LaChiusa
lyrics=Michael John LaChiusa
book=Michael John LaChiusa
basis= Play "La Ronde" byArthur Schnitzler
productions= 1994Off-Broadway
2001 West End
awards="Hello Again" (1994) is musical based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler (also titled "Reigen") with music, lyrics and book by
Michael John LaChiusa .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 between 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. 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 had its off-Broadway premiere at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (part of the
Lincoln Center complex). Directed and musically staged byGraciela Daniele and featuring an impressive cast, the show was much in the vein ofStephen Sondheim 'sSunday in the Park with George in the fact that the staging was like a classic painting coming to life. It was a critical success, receiving eight Drama Desk 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 actorsJudy Blazer ,John Cameron Mitchell andDonna Murphy . The original cast album was released in 1994 byRCA 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, including the premieres ofAdam Guettel 's "Floyd Collins" andJason Robert Brown 's "Songs for a New World ", all of which were notable critical successes. It was directed by the theatre's co-Artistic Director Clive Paget with musical direction by Christopher Frost. 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 2008 Hello Again was given its Scandinavian premiere in Gothenburg and Borås in Sweden in a production directed by Vernon Mound with musical direction by Derek Barnes.
Cast lists
;1994 Original Cast
*The Whore -Donna Murphy
*The Soldier - David A. White
*The Nurse - Judy Blazer
*The College Boy - Michael Park
*The Young Wife -Carolee Carmello
*The Husband - Dennis Parlato
*The Young Thing -John Cameron Mitchell
*The Writer -Malcolm Gets
*The Actress -Michele Pawk
*The Senator -John Dossett ;2001 European Premiere 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 Premiere 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 ErikssonScenes and musical numbers
*The Whore and the Soldier - "Hello Again"
*The Soldier and the Nurse - "Zei Gezent / I Gotta Little Time / We Kiss"
*The Nurse and the College Boy - "In Some Other Life"
*The College Boy and the Young Wife - "Story of My Life"
*The Young Wife and the Husband - "At the Prom / Ah Maein Zeit / Tom"
*The Husband and the Young Thing - "Listen to the Music"
*The Young Thing and the Writer - "Montage / Safe / The One I Love"
*The Writer and the Actress - "Silent Movie"
*The Actress and the Senator - "Rock With Rock / Angel of Mercy / Mistress of the Senator"
*The Senator and the Whore - "The Bed Was Not My Own / Hello Again (Reprise)"External links
* [http://www.cincihelloagain.com HELLO AGAIN Current Production]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000003FQP?tag=theguidetomus-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B000003FQP&adid=1P14VB0DAX6D8HY5G6XN& The OCR at Amazon.com]
* [http://www.lct.org/calendar/venue.cfm?id_venue=66830251 The Lincoln Center, New York]
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