An updated version of the musical Fame (1980), which centered on the students of the New York Academy of Performing Arts.
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Megan Mullally, Charles S. Dutton, Debbie Allen.
Lyle Beniga ... choreographer: hip hop
Dan Domenech ... assistant choreographer
Jennifer Hamilton ... assistant choreographer
Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks ... choreographer
Kevin Tancharoen ... choreographer (uncredited)
Watched on AmazonPrime.
47 songs in the Soundtracks.
BN is a dance teacher, KG teaches piano, MM singing, CD acting, DA is the school principal.
I don't remember the story of the '80 film that well, but some of the characters here seem to echo some of those.
The original film was 1/2 hour longer. I don't know if that film covered characters in more depth, or if my memory is of the TV series ('82), which I viewed irregularly. This film introduces us to more characters than it really covers properly. One kid talks his father into loaning him $5k to make a demo, and finds it is a scam, but I don't think we see him face his father about it. We get the super-shy actress-wannabe who suddenly comes out of her shell; not sure why. We get a pianist/composer whom KG struggles to play extant music, but don't learn much about the kid nor is his work featured much; this kid reminds me most of the pianist/composer from the 80s film/tv show.
When we get dancing, it's pretty darned good. No one stands out like Gene Anthony Ray did in the 80s, but we get a solid group with good choreography. If not for the dancing, this would be a 6- or worse.
Rated 5.1 (15,255)
Original Fame ('80) Rated 6.6 (18,420); mine: 6
Original Fame ('80) Rated 6.6 (18,420); mine: 6
MGM & more, dir. Tancharoen; 6
