BWW Blog: Jennifer Weber - I Can Do That: A CHORUS LINE Review

5,6,7,8... Everyone start stretching and get out your headshots, A Chorus Line is a part of the summer season at the Hemmens and it couldn't be more exciting! While the audience begins to find their seats and chatter still fills the room, the show begins with the cast arriving to the audition. Some are stretching, chatting with friends, and of course taking selfies. In other musicals I would think, what is happening? But with A Chorus Line this production is all about the audition process and the little things matter. The design team had an easy time with this one compared to last summer's Rent production. The stage is set like it would appear any time of day with lights in the wings, chairs scattered off to the side, and four individual mirrors that three appear to be transparent (and make for some interesting dance numbers).

While it seems like the costumes are simple, those seventeen dancers that were left seemed to compliment the original costumes. What I appreciated most out of this production is that it they didn't try to modernize A Chorus Line. I've seen clips online of directors replacing "The Ed Sullivan Show" with "MTV" and it just seems out of place. Thankfully, Elgin Summer Theatre's (EST) production kept to the original script. Julie Lange plays Kristine Who is auditioning with her husband Al (Sean Kalusa) and is a dancer, but not a singer. Easily, one of the stand out performances was Lange and Kalusa performing "Sing," a song that explains to the director that Kristine can't sing a note, but Al can.

Other outstanding performances include Kyle Price who plays Paul, who ended up dropping out of high school. Price brought Audience members reaching for their tissues as he recited his montage about his troubled childhood and growing up finding himself and not being afraid of his sexuality. By audience reaction, the star of the show has to be Mary Grace Martens as Sheila Bryant solely based off the way her hips sway and how she lands every one of jokes. Martens did not let the instruments drown her out during her part in "At the Ballet."

The first word that comes to mind when you hear A Chorus Line is...gold. The closing scene in it's time for the big number they've been rehearsing all this time, "One." EST brings all the glitz and the glam you need to make A Chorus Line, so make sure you stretch a head of time.

A Chorus Line is playing at the Hemmens, July 15-17 & 22-24, 2016

Tickets: http://www.cityofelgin.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1704