Pat Monahan and his band, Train, are apparently hard at work on adapting John Carney’s 2013 film Begin Again into a stage musical.
Monahan made the announcement during an appearance on today’s episode of the ABC talk show The View, where he and the band appeared to perform their holiday single, “This Christmas.”
The cover art for the original motion soundtrack for the film 'Begin Again'
It was only an announcement in the barest sense of the word, since Monahan didn’t divulge any specific information about the project, offering no hint as to whether anyone from the film was involved in the adaptation.
In fact, all Monahan really offered in terms of information was the suggestion that, regarding its level of completion, “It’s really close,” and that, when it’s done, he hopes to bring the show to New York.
In case you haven’t seen the original film, Begin Again stars Mark Ruffalo as Dan Mulligan, a once-successful record exec who suddenly finds himself fired from his label, having failed to keep up with the dramatic changes in the music industry. Enter Gretta (Keira Knightley), an indie singer-songwriter from England who’s just split from Dave (Adam Levine), her longtime boyfriend and songwriting partner. Dan is immediately smitten by Gretta’s talent, and when he can’t convince his former label to sign her, he pitches her on the idea of doing the album independently, recording it live at various locations around the city. From there, the story takes a number of twists and turns, including Gretta’s unanticipated reunion with Dave and the success he’s found with a song that she’d written for him.
The majority of the soundtrack was either written or co-written by Gregg Alexander, late of the New Radicals, with co-writing contributions from Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley, Nick Southwood, and Rick Nowells. There’s also a track written by Carney (“Like a Fool”), co-write between Carney, Alexander, and Brisebois (“A Step You Can’t Take Back”), and arguably the best song on the album, “Coming Up Roses,” co-written by Brisebois with frequent Carney collaborator Glen Hansard.
No, we don’t know why Alexander and company aren’t writing the musical adaptation, either. But we’re tentatively willing to give Monahan the benefit of the doubt...for now. But if it's really as close to completion as Mohanan suggests, then we should find out sooner than later.
