Blue Moon

If this doesnt get Ethan Hawke some statuettes this coming winter, then I dont know what will. He is on great form delivering a pithy series of monologues as if he really were the renowned lyricist Larry Hart. Most of this is told by way of his chat with his favourite barman Eddie (Bobby Cannavale) whilst he is waiting for the after show party for Oklahoma! to begin. He had famously worked with Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) for many a year, but this latter man had become tired of his booze-driven histrionics and so teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney) for this latest offering. Now right from the start, I rather liked the enigmatic and flawed Hart. Not least because his critique on Oklahoma! is perfectly summed up by his desc...

Lyricist Lorenz Larry Hart (1895-1943) may not be a household name to many, but his voluminous catalog of works written with composer Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) a bona fide compendium of American musical standards reads like a laundry list of this countrys most beloved favorites, including The Lady is a Tramp, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, My Funny Valentine, Isnt It Romantic? and, of course, the pairs biggest sensation, Blue Moon. But, for all of Harts artistic successes, he led a turbulent professional life and a lonely, largely unhappy personal life, perhaps best exemplified by the events of March 31, 1943: opening night of the musical Oklahoma!, the smash hit collaboration of Rodgers and his new lyricist partner, Oscar Hammerst...