The students in director Kevin Tancharoen’s remake of Fame will be getting a quality education courtesy of some high class instructors.
Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have been cast as the faculty of the film’s prestigious New York City High School of Performing Arts setting.
Although Mullally, Grammer, Neuwirth and Dutton all have extensive television backgrounds, they also have legitimate theater experience. Mullally graduated from the School of American Ballet and has appeared on Broadway in productions of Grease, How To Succeed In Business and, most recently, Young Frankenstein. Grammer attended Juilliard and has appeared in numerous stage productions, as has Yale School of Drama graduate Dutton. Neuwirth also attended Juilliard and has won two Tony Awards for her performances in productions of Sweet Charity and Chicago.
Allen, who play the school’s principal in this new version of Fame, played the dance instructor in the 1980 original.
Their students will include Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton and Kay Panabaker.
Previously, I haven’t had much interest in this remake, as I am not much of a fan of the original. While it is a good film, I have never had a real burning desire to go back and revisit it. These castings, however, have piqued my interest a bit. On a gut level, they all seem like good choices, with the actors able to use their own theatrical backgrounds to serve the inspirational roles to their students they need to. Plus, as a long time Cheers fan, it should be great to see Grammer and Neuwirth share the screen again, even if it is in a more dramatic project.
Fame is currently scheduled for a Sept 25, 2009 release.
Via Hollywood Reporter.
