Behind the Curtain: An Interview with Moment by Moment star Jordan Donnelly

In this Behind the Curtain interview we speak to Jordan Donnelly, star of Moment by Moment, movie musical by composer Alexander Sage Oyen's and directed by Louis Rayneau which is Premiering at Genesis Cinema this autumn.

Jordans credits include The Choir of Man, Arts Theatre; The Best of

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, UK tour

In your own words how would you describe Moment by Moment?

I would describe Moment by Moment as a musical film that follows 10 strangers in New York city, who are living parallel lives to each other but are all intrinsically linked by the things we ALL have to navigate at some point in our lives, whether it be more generalised things like love, loss and grief or more specific things relating to trying to navigate pursuing your creative passion in a city like new york and how truly lonely that can be. 

Moment by Moment was first seen in concert form in 2013, and now has been given the movie musical treatment, what was your first reaction when you found out the movie musical was happening?

I have been extremely fortunate to have been involved in the conversation around conceptualising this album from very early on, and when we got the green light, I was beyond excited. Especially because I knew we would be breathing life back into this music so that it can live on with the next generation of theatre kids.

You play the role of Charlie, can you tell us more about your character?

Charlie is a deeply flawed yet deeply relatable guy. I believe he has done everything he can in the name of pursuing his dreams of a life in the New York city theatre scene, which I think has made him a little less adept at being able to deal with literally EVERYTHING ELSE he has going on in his life. I think New York has eaten him up and chewed him back out again, but yet he will probably never leave. I believe my song 'Where do the lonely souls go' although it's a sad song, I do also think it's a love letter to the city, and chasing a dream even though you are getting eaten up in the process. Which is more relatable than I can possibly say. 

Described to “challenge conventions of live performance” can you expand on this, how would you say this film does this specifically?

I think the film does a great job of steering away from the traditional movie musical format, in that each song is very much in its own world, with its own sound and own feel. You could almost see it as a collection of well crafted, story driven music videos. Which I think is GENIUS and I would love to give credit to our director Louis Rayneau for that, because even for people who aren't musical lovers, because there is such a VARIETY on offer in this film, there is well and truly a song or a character for EVERYONE. 

You and the rest of the cast have mainly performed live on stage, how did it feel for you all to transition from live performance to film for screen?

Doing stuff for screen is TOUGH. Especially when your entire existence as a performer has been within the realms of live theatre, it can feel extremely alien, and it is well and truly a different skill set altogether. What definitely helped is that we all had the opportunity to perform our songs live so that we could still emulate the feeling of a live theatre performance. And almost all of my vocals that are used in the film are from the live takes we got, which I'm very proud of and very grateful that the team allowed us to perform live. 

Can you tell us your first experience of theatre?

My amazing mum Nora took me to London when I was around 8 or 9 years old to see the West End revival of Grease at the Piccadilly theatre. I will NEVER forget the lights going out, the sound of the band playing Grease is the word and the curtain rising to reveal Rizzo and co smoking their fake cigarettes. I couldn't believe it. It was the most full body, visceral experience I have EVER had in my life. It was MAGIC. And I think I've been chasing that feeling ever since. 

You're widely known on TikTok, in the TheatreTok realm, how has social media changed theatre, specifically musical theatre, then it was pre-pandemic?

Well funnily enough, I wasn't on tik tok pre-pandemic as I thought I was a bit old for it lol. I do think social media is and CAN BE an amazing tool, and it is probably the only reason anyone knows who I am, to which I am very grateful. However, it also means that fans have more access to performers than they EVER have, which I think can blur boundaries way too often. I also think it affords everyone the opportunity to be a critic and throw out their opinion on who they like, who they dont like, who was better in a role, who they think deserves or doesnt deserve a role, and overall creates a lot of noise that we didn't necessarily have to deal with before. My aim with social media has ALWAYS been to not take myself seriously, make people laugh, and when it comes to the performing side of my life, I get my head down and focus on the work. Cause that is more important than the opinion of a 15 year old with 6 burner accounts. 

For people who may know the Moment by Moment before the film, what does the film do differently to the stage/concert version?

The film FULLY conceptualises each song and fleshes it out in a way that would be difficult to emulate on stage. It also does a great job of finding a through line and connecting each character throughout the entire piece so that many of them now have an arc and go on more of a journey than was necessarily depicted before. 

What was your favourite memory of making Moment by Moment?

There was one day, quite late into the process where almost the entire cast were on site together filming the opening number. Due to the nature of it being a song cycle of mostly solo songs and a few duets, it meant most of the film was done in isolation with maybe just one or two cast members at a time. So having a day right at the end of the process where we were able to come together and connect the dots in a lot of ways was really special. I said to Louis after our first block of filming that I felt like the film needed a Seasons of love moment, where we all come together. And we definitely got it on the day. You're welcome Louis x

How would you describe the film in one sentence or 3 words?

 I think, It is very simply, a love letter to theatre kids.

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