Fame': Where are they now?

Another Optimistic Bunch, Determined to Live Forever
Of course. After three “High School Musical” installments, “Bandslam” and the Fox series “Glee,” “Fame” — the 1980 film that spawned a stage show and a television series or two — was due for a makeover. The new version, like the first, covers four years at a New York performing-arts high school. And while the movie, the feature debut of the choreographer and video director Kevin Tancharoen, suffers from a surfeit of flash, it nonetheless offers the undeniable power of young performers pursuing art at peak dexterity.

“Fame” revisits some of the original’s sequences, including a spontaneous lunchroom dance jam and an attempted subway suicide. But primarily it offers new predicaments for its students, among them Marco (Asher Book), an easygoing John Mayer look- and sound-alike; Jenny (Kay Panabaker), Marco’s girlfriend and a repressed actress; Neil (Paul Iacono), a goofy film director trying to finance a short; and Alice (Kherington Payne), an upper-crust dancer. Ahead of the pack are Naturi Naughton, as a classical pianist whose father disapproves of her pop-singing aspirations, and Collins Pennie, as an intense rapper-actor from the projects.

Codgers can savor the glimpses of the teachers, played self-effacingly by Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally and Bebe Neuwirth, few of whom are flattered by the camera (though Ms. Neuwirth looks great). From the original, only the actress-choreographer Debbie Allen returns, as the principal.

The 1980 “Fame,” directed by Alan Parker, melded fantastical sequences with quasi-vérité visuals, brisk editing and urban grime. It also addressed issues like stage mothers, coming out of the closet, racial competition, teenage pregnancy and demands for screen nudity.

For grit, the 2009 “Fame” offers a desaturated palette. Alice’s affair with a working-class composer merely glances at class tensions; the most daunting peril is the casting couch. Rebellion? A first-time drinker is inebriated, vomits and vows never to touch alcohol again.

A closing multidisciplinary extravaganza lets Mr. Tancharoen and his cast flaunt their chops, and viewers, as with “Hair” 42 years ago, can celebrate the glorious image of youth in full creative flower. Yet when Ms. Mullally gives a speech about why her character left show business, you’re compelled to ask: Whatever became of Irene Cara and the other stars of the first “Fame”?

“Fame” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It has skeptical, repressive parents.

FAME

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Kenny Tancharoen; written by Allison Burnett, based on the motion picture “Fame” written by Christopher Gore; director of photography, Scott Kevan; edited by Myron Kerstein; music by Mark Isham; choreography by Marguerite Derricks; production designer, Paul Eads; produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright and Mark Canton; released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes.

WITH: Asher Book (Marco), Kristy Flores (Rosie), Paul Iacono (Neil), Paul McGill (Kevin), Naturi Naughton (Denise), Kay Panabaker (Jenny), Kherington Payne (Alice), Collins Pennie (Malik), Walter Perez (Victor), Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (Joy), Debbie Allen (Angela Simms), Charles S. Dutton (James Dowd), Kelsey Grammer (Martin Cranston), Megan Mullally (Fran Rowan) and Bebe Neuwirth (Lynn Kraft).

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