The first sound in “Don’t Say Good Luck” is the rhythmic beating of eggs. It’s breakfast time in the Birenbaum house, and the noises of morning ritual echo: a mother rubbing the backs of her young twins awake, a father slurping from his coffee cup… and then the unmistakable voice of a teenage girl singing.
Sophie Birenbaum (played by Sunny Sandler — yes, of Adam Sandler parentage) sits before her mirror, curling her hair and practicing her rendition of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Enough for You.” It’s the day of auditions for the high school musical, “Waitress,” and Sophie is stressed. She doesn’t expect to be cast as Jenna, who, as she explains to her mom (and unfamiliar viewers), is “the main waitress in ‘Waitress.’ It’s like playing Annie in ‘Annie.’” Still, Sophie is hoping for the role of “funny friend” Dawn. But when she gets bad news about her mom’s health right before the audition, emotion breaks Sophie open and the drama teacher sees her leading lady.
The movie, which was released on Netflix on Aug. 14, follows Sophie’s challenge to fill the shoes of Jenna in “Waitress” while her family grapples to stay whole as her mom’s illness progresses.
The story is based on the real experiences of screenwriter Laura Hankin. “She got the lead in her high school musical at the same time that her mom’s cancer came back,” explained Julia Hart, who co-wrote and directed the film. Hankin penned the original script that Hart and writer-producer Jordan Horowitz read, fell in love with and decided to collaborate on, as a trio.
Hankin’s original draft included “Waitress” as the musical this high school was mounting and included spots for specific songs from the Sara Bareilles-scored show. But, as Horowitz recalled, “There was a note at the beginning that said, ‘I’m just including “Waitress” because I like the music. I can’t get the rights to this, and we’ll either hire someone to write an original musical or figure out a musical that makes sense.’”
For nearly a century, Hollywood has been making movies about making musicals. Rewind to 1933, when “42nd Street” followed the story of a company putting on “Pretty Lady,” or as recently as 2023, when “Theater Camp” followed a musical-theater summer camp while its campers put on “Joan, Still.” But what these movies — and most in between — have in common is that the musical within the film isn’t real. “Pretty Lady,” “Joan, Still” and so many others are theoretical stories with a handful of songs written for the movie. By doing that, filmmakers don’t have to deal with licensing existing material. “Don’t Say Good Luck” flips that script.
