It's Just Movies

— by VANNA LAND —

One of the tag lines from the movie “Fame” is “Remember My Name” and one of the names we all remember from the original 1980 movie and series of the same name is Debbie Allen. Is it any wonder that she is once again starring in this remake of the original hit movie?

You may recall she portrayed the dance instructor in both the original movie and in the long running 1980s TV show. This time, she is starring as the “principal” of the New York City High School of Performing Arts, which is the setting of the movie.

Just in case you don’t remember, or perhaps never knew, the School of Performing Arts was created in 1948 to provide training in the various arts to students who were talented enough to be accepted. The school not only teaches basic high school academics, but also gives specialized training to prepare the students for professional careers in dance, music and drama.

This movie, like the original and the TV show, follows a group of young students as they are accepted to the school and given a chance to make their dreams of fame and success a reality.

The movie is directed by Kevin Tancharoen and joining Allen on the school’s staff are Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, Bebe Neuwirth and Charles S. Dutton. The new crop of young actors looking for “fame” includes Naturi Naughton (from “Notorious”), Kay Panabaker (from “Lie to Me” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (from “Hannah Montana”).

The original movie won Oscars for Best Music, Original Score and for Original Song. With the current popularity of shows such as “Dancing with the Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance” and, of course, the ever-popular “American Idol,” one has to wonder what took them so long to bring the popular movie back to the screen and whether a TV show is soon to follow.

Watch for “Fame” to break out into theaters everywhere this Friday, Sept 25.

In the meantime, here is a new music video from an update of the famous theme song (sung here by Naturi Naughton, formerly of the group 3LW):

Follow It’s Just Movies on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ItsJustMovies.