Dramaturgical Resources
2008
Hello Again
By Michael John LaChiusa
Over the course of the season, our assistant directors and student dramaturgs will be compiling dramaturgical resources relating to each production as it develops. Below are some links to websites which relate to the history of the play, the biography of the playwright, and sites that contextualize and, we hope, shed light on the directorial approach to the dramatic material.
We hope you find these resources of interest.
Michael John LaChiusa (b. 1962)
The work on which Hello Again, the musical, is based is a play entitled Reigen (translated variously as Hands Around, Round Dance, and La Ronde) by Arthur Schnitzler:Viennese author novelist and playwright. Here is a concise biography of Schnitzler. And here's the Wikipedia biography of Schnitzler.
Here's an English translation of Reigen (La Ronde).
There are three screen versions of La Ronde, although only two are currently available. Netflix lists all three (the first is the most celebrated, directed by Max Ophuls--but alas it's out of print; the second, directed by Brigitte Bardot's ex-husband, Roger Vadim, reflects a very mid-60's aesthetic--la Belle Epoque meets the Playboy mansion--but is worth viewing; the third, called Love Circles, is probably not worth watching!).
Michael John LaChiusa's faculty listing at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU includes the following brief biography. There are some others on the web, read them here and on the ubiquitous Wikipedia.
Hello Again opened at Lincoln Center Theater in NYC on January 30, 1994. Here's the New York Times review of that production.
For Rebecca Morris's opinions and research on Hello Again, see her article in American Theatre as provided by ProQuest (this article may only be available to registered UR community members.
For those of you on the University system, this article made available by JSTOR gives a fascinating analysis of the ways in which sexual mores and systems of sexual dominance in Europe were affected by the growing emphasis on colonialism on that continent throughout the 20th Century. This provides an interesting perspective on the nature of Schnitzler's work. Take a look, here.
Alan Vanneman calls Follow the Fleet, which is heavily referenced in scene four of Hello Again “perhaps the most problematic film in the Astaire/Rogers series.” Find out why he might think so, and why LaChuisa might have made it such an important part of his work in this article from the “Bright Lights Film Journal” online.
"Let's Face the Music and Dance" (quoted directly in Hello Again) is a triumph of choreography and the elegance of narrative storytelling through dance. Watch the awe-inspiring Astaire and Rogers clip on YouTube, here.
For a listing of the menu options provided to first class passengers of the Titanic on April 14, the infamous night the ship sank, see this website.
And for the recipe for the salmon, look here.