Nia Long, Idina Menzel celebrate women's bonds in 'Beaches'

(AP) — For Idina Menzel and Nia Long, director Garry Marshall's 1988 melodrama "Beaches," starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, is a four-hankie treat.

Based on the 1985 novel by Iris Rainer Dart, it's the story of childhood friends who have a falling out and are later reunited by tragedy.

Menzel ("Frozen") said re-recording the original soundtrack's "Wind Beneath My Wings" — which won Midler a Grammy for record of the year — was challenging.

While the 1988 "Beaches" was a musical with drama that focused on Midler's self-absorbed singer character, the remake from director Allison Anders ("Ring of Fire") is more of a drama with music.

Long gets more time to flesh out her character than Hershey did, though the essential element of the characters' bond remains the same: