For anyone who's ever been in a school play, you know the stakes can feel sky-high. That's exactly the vibe in the new comedy The Musical, which just dropped an exclusive sneak peek that pits Rob Lowe against Will Brill in a battle over a drama club's fate.
The film, directed by Giselle Bonilla and written by Alexander Heller, stars Lowe as a no-nonsense principal, Brill as a passionate theater teacher, and Gillian Jacobs as a fellow educator. The clip captures the chaos of putting on a show with kids who are willing to move a bar mitzvah just to make the production happen. When Lowe's principal threatens to cancel the whole thing, the students rally with a chant that'll resonate with any former theater kid: "The super power of theatre is the element of surprise."
Bonilla, making her feature directorial debut, expanded this from a short she made with friends from grad school. She told us that the pressure to craft a perfect first feature was paralyzing, but adapting Heller's script freed her from that weight. "It was creatively liberating to approach his story from an objective perspective," she said, adding that working with child actors who challenge the adults was a thrill.
Heller, who wrote the short and the feature, always had bigger plans. "I was broke and in film school—I needed anything that could maybe, possibly, hopefully be an escape hatch!" he joked. He knew Bonilla was the right director after seeing her work at AFI, and he credits a breakup for getting her fully on board. "After she went through a breakup she was suddenly very committed to a crazy revenge story. I still need to thank that guy."
Seeing Lowe, Jacobs, and Brill bring the script to life was a highlight. Heller recalled watching Brill and Jacobs improvise variations of a fight scene on stage. "They went through so many subtle variations and really brought that moment to life," he said. And the auditorium scenes with Lowe and Jacobs had him laughing nonstop.
Bonilla was equally impressed. She described the first scene between Lowe and Brill—a seemingly mundane warning about an expired parking pass—as electric. "Their body language fighting opposite each other like magnets was electric," she said. "I was in awe of their ability to fill a simple scene with loads of delicious subtext." She also praised Jacobs's performance, comparing her to a hummingbird in slow motion, and noted that the chemistry between Jacobs and Brill was so explosive she always used two cameras.
The Musical is a Sundance darling that's been generating buzz for its heartfelt take on the theater world. If you're a fan of Rob Lowe's comedic chops, you might also enjoy his recent work in other exclusive first looks we've covered. And for more on the film's journey from short to feature, check out our behind-the-scenes stories.
With its blend of humor and heart, The Musical is shaping up to be a must-see for anyone who's ever felt the magic of putting on a show. Keep an eye out for its release, and in the meantime, this clip is sure to bring back memories of your own theatrical triumphs—or disasters.
