Last month, I had the opportunity to visit the set of MGM's first new movie under new studio head Mary Parent, a reimagining of Alan Parker's classic "Fame."

The feature debut of Kevin Tancharoen, this "Fame" follows in the footsteps of it's 1980 predecessor by following an ensemble of students at New York City's High School of Music and Art (or whatever it's called in the movie for legal reasons).  Besides Kherington Payne, Naturi Naughton and Kay Panabaker, most of the recognizable names belong to the teachers played by Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Megan Mullally and Charles S. Dutton.

On this day, the cast was finishing a long shoot piecing together the film's finale (left) which featured singing solos, a live orchestra and, as you'd expect, dramatic dance numbers.  The overall quality was leaps and bounds above any "High School Musical," but you have to feel for first time director Kevin Tancharoen who will undoubtedly loose in any comparisons to Parker's work.

Most importantly, there was still no word on whether the Oscar-winning title track "Fame" was going to be included in the new flick.