Director Richard Linklater taps the most unlikely lead for this film, the actor he’s collaborated with 9 times. Ethan Hawke transforms, with style and essence, into the immensely talented but tragic character, Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart. Hawke delivers non-stop frenetic dialogue throughout the film embodying the diminutive, talkative “Larry” with a comb-over famous for writing lyrics for so many Broadway hits that are considered standards today. Songs including everything from My Funny Valentine, The Lady is a Tramp, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, and, of course, Blue Moon. Hart derived many of those lyrics from his own struggles with heartbreak. He identified as “ambisexual,” always looking for anyone to love.
You might think this is an unusual film for Director Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Sunset trilogy, Slacker, Dazed and Confused), but we found out how much he reveres Broadway musicals, particularly their history. With Writer and film studies teacher, Robert Kaplow, (Me and Orson Welles) they capture Hart’s personality and the downside of his life on Broadway days before he died at the age of 47 in 1943.
Watch our interview with Director Richard Linklater after we heard about its World premiere in February this year at the Berlinale Film Festival in Germany. We spoke with Linklater about Blue Moon while covering the Austin Film Society’s 25th Texas Film Awards the night before SXSX kicked off in March 2025. Director Linklater is now working on “Merrily We Roll Along” a 20-year-long-project titled “Merrily We Roll Along” about Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway show.
Linklater stages the events of the film on the opening night of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s soon to take Broadway, Oklahoma! This is the first show in 20 years Rodgers and Hart have not collaborated on because of friction and circumstance. They had written and produced 26 Broadway shows together, including the successful Pal Joey, Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse and more). And Larry is feeling left out. The film opens with Larry and his mother in the audience at the Oklahoma premiere, but it appears too painful for him to stay. Larry heads to showbiz hangout, Sardi’s where he knows bartender Eddie, (Bobby Cannavale) who he can tell his troubles to. He often says the best line was in Casablanca, when Humphrey Bogart says, “Nobody ever loved me that much.” It’s very sad.
The script is partially based on letters between Hart and young, beautiful, ingenue Elizabeth Weiland who aspired to meet the right people and become a Broadway production designer. Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley – Substance, Sanctuary, Kinds of Kindness). She and Larry, as Lorenz was called by everybody, struck up a close friendship even though he longed for it to be more romantic. She shows up at Sardi’s where he promises to introduce her to those who come to wait for the reviews for the new Oklahoma!, sure to include Richard Rodgers.
Hawke is convincing as the downtrodden recovering alcoholic with health problems and depression because he’s not working with Rodgers. He convinces Eddie to give him a drink, the first of many he should not have. He just keeps talking to anyone who’ll listen, knowing there will soon be a celebratory party for his former partner, Rodgers, for a show he doesn’t respect after they had so many successes together.
Enter exuberant young friend, Elizabeth, who hangs on to Larry’s every word as he promises to introduce her to Rodgers when he will likely show up at Sardi’s to wait for the reviews. Larry plays nice talking with Rodgers and introduces Elizabeth as promised. But the whole scene takes it’s toll on the needy lyricist.You feel sorry for the genius who could put words and feeling to music, but not find a partner to share them with himself.
LInklater presents Lorenz Hart as the extraordinarily talented genius who is supremely frustrated as well as frustrating and exasperating to all around him. Hawke obviously worked hard to inhabit this character so completely different than anything you’ve seen him do before. Kudos to Linklater and Hawke for another stellar collaboration akin to the one that gave us those hit shows from Rodgers and Hart.
