A Walk to Remember became one of the most notable movies of the early 2000s not only for its touching narrative, but because of the iconic soundtrack that was used to bring the story to life on screen.
This heartwarming and nostalgic romance will be coming to the Franklin Theatre this month as Only Hope: A Musical Tribute to A Walk to Remember written by Jordan Ross Schindler. Schindler is best known for his work as co-creator behind Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical, as well as a writer on the Netflix series My Life with the Walter Boys.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Schindler grew up as a theater and choir kid, but as he got older, his interest in acting started to transform into the behind-the-scenes role of storytelling. Moving to L.A. after college graduation, he pursued a career in TV writing
but after the TV show he was working on got cancelled, seeing a stage adaptation of Scream inspired him to want to make his own musical theater adaption of the popular ‘90s movie Cruel Intentions, which has since toured in London, Australia, and the U.S.
“We were kids just trying to make magic,” says Schindler of the musical. “We did not go into it thinking it’d be what it is now. I kind of fell into the niche of not doing musical parodies, but doing what I call like ‘musical love letters.’”
Shortly after, he wrote Only Hope: A Musical Tribute to A Walk to Remember, which had its first run in 2017 and two additional runs in 2019. The shows 2020 dates got put on hold because of COVID, so the upcoming Franklin performances will be the play’s first
post-pandemic run.
Schindler moved to Nashville in September of 2021 for what was supposed to be a six-month change of scenery and had every intention of returning to L.A., but he fell in love with the city and has been here ever since. The recent Nashville resident says he
wanted to create a show for locals, rather than tourists, “My goal is to cater to the people that actually call Nashville home, like I do.”
The talented cast includes Brian Logan Dales of the pop rock band The Summer Set as Landon Carter, Janel Parrish of Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars as Jamie Sullivan, and an incredible cast of Nashville-based actors including Nashville recording artist Cassadee
Pope as Belinda. “This is a new iteration of the show, specifically for Nashville,” explains Schindler. “This will be sort of the debut for some of these songs, which have never been in the show before and aside from our leads Brian and Janel, we’ve cast an entirely local Nashville cast, which I’m very excited about. I feel like this will be the best version of it yet. I hope this is the first of many live entertainment productions that I can be a part of here in Nashville.”
Schindler says the musical adaptation is “built on the bones of the iconic soundtrack,” which is very fitting for Music City. “I think the reason that I still hold on to A Walk to Remember so tightly is because of the soundtrack from the film,” shares Schindler. “I think in many ways, it’s like the soundtrack of a generation. I think we’ve picked the most iconic ones and have filled in the gaps with other familiar songs that were either by similar artists or felt evocative of the tone of the soundtrack.”
“I just love a good everlasting love story,” says Schindler. “Neither Landon nor Jamie are the main character of A Walk to Remember, it’s their love story, that’s the main character.”
This unofficial musical adaptation will be brought to life through the work of Schindig Productions, in association with The Franklin Theatre and Executive Producer Amy Sapp, and in conjunction with the musical direction and arrangements of Elmo Zapp and Director Kenneth Ferrone, who has directed live musicals for TV including Grease Live!, RENT Live! and Annie Live!
The show will have a preview date on April 25 and then will run from April 26-28. FranklinTheatre.com