"Fame!": Meet the gay teen who wants to live forever, learn how to fly
We've been eagerly anticipating news about the announced remake of the gay-inclusive let's-put-on-legwarmers-and-a-show classic Fame, which tells the story of aspiring jazz-handers in a New York City high school for the performing arts. With the phenomenal success of the High School Musical movies, a reboot of Fame (which also had a run as a television show following the success of the 1980 feature) is a no-brainer. But given the Disney franchise's reluctance to acknowledge the fact that the gay kids love themselves some musical theater, we were nervous that the Fame remake would follow a similar path. Thankfully, much like the original film (which featured gay teen Montgomery, played by Paul McCrane) the remake will feature a gay character in the central cast. Paul McGill in A Chorus Line (Source: GETTY) Paul McGill plays Kevin, a gay student whom the production tells us is a significant character in the ensemble. No word on whether Kevin's sexuality will be an issue (like it was for Montgomery) or if the update will reflect changes in societal attitudes toward gay folks, but we'll of course be all over it like a dance belt on a BFA either way. Interesting bit of trivia: Paul McGill's biggest film credit to date is playing the younger version of daredevil Philippe Petit in the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, in which he had to ride a unicycle. And considering McGill recently played Mark in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, we know he's got the singing and dancing chops as well. Fame opens on September 25th, and we'll be bringing you lots more news on it in the meantime. Submitted by on Mon, 2009-02-23 15:00. |
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Hey, I had that same outfit back in '82!
Is it Paul McGill or
Paul McCrane played the
Paul McCrane played the original gay character, Paul McGill plays the new one.
I may be straight, but I'm not narrow.
I should pay more attention
man on wire
In Man On Wire there were a couple of re-enacted scenes showing Petit in his twenties. These scenes had no dialogue but Petit was played by a beautiful young man who was often naked, seen in profile or from behind. There were also archive clips of Petit from about the same age and I remember thinking that whoever they got to play him in the re-enactments was a whole lot hotter than the real thing.
If that was Paul McGill, Fame just shot up on my must-see list.
A gay kid at the School of Performing Arts?
LOL! No kidding!
That's what i thought when I read "the gay character" -- "THE gay character?" Anyone who's ever been in drama or dance would agree that "THE straight character" would be more accurate?
And please, we don;t need another "lonely faggot" character - in addition to his hagette, this kid needs at least a gay male friend AND a boyfriend!
Paul McGill in Man on Wire
McGill