Entertainment
Ethan Hawke Will Have Fans Doing a Double Take as Lyricist Lorenz Hart in ‘Blue Moon’
Before there was Rodgers and Hammerstein of The Sound of Music fame, there was Rodgers and Hart, the team behind over two dozen hit Broadway musicals in the 1920s and 30s. But Hart (Ethan Hawke), the real genius of the pair, saw his career derailed by his chronic alcoholism.
The main action happens at the premiere of Rodgers’ (Andrew Scott) new show, Oklahoma!, when Hart realizes his longtime partner has ditched him and found massive success with a new lyricist.
Despite being in his 40s and a (closeted) gay man, Hart convinces himself he’d find happiness in marriage to a college girl (Margaret Qualley), but his efforts fizzle out.
These realizations hasten his downward spiral and less than a year later, after an epic booze binge/catty bitch session with an affable bartender (Bobby Cannavale), he dies at 48.
The great tunes, Hawke’s performance and the behind-the-scenes look at old-school Broadway make Blue Moon worth the price of admission.
Blue Moon | In theaters Friday, Oct. 17 R
