A Chorus Line: Again...

Yes, James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante wrote the book.  Marvin Hamlisch composed the music and Edward Kleban penned the lyrics.  And it was all based on the stories of a group of Broadway dancers who gathered in a studio to talk about their lives into a tape recorder.  But any musical theatre lover will immediately tell you that A Chorus Line was created by Michael Bennett. 

 

Strange things happen in musical theatre when a brilliant director/choreographer comes up with an idea for a show; a person who does not write one word of the text nor compose one note of the score becomes the primary author.  The writers start interpreting the visuals instead of the more common other way around.  Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion and Tommy Tune are among those who would place so much character development and theme expression into the staging and dancing that when you remove their contributions without replacing them with something of equal value the words and music seem incomplete. 

 

So unusually vital were his contributions that when Kirkwood, Dante, Hamlisch, and Kleban were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Bennett was named a co-recipient for his conception, choreography, and direction.  To this day Michael Bennett remains the only non-playwright/non-lyricist/non-composer to be honored with that award.  It was Bennett who came up with the idea of setting a musical in a Broadway dance audition, where the director asks a group of gypsies to do something they've never been asked to do before; talk about themselves on stage.  It was Bennett who placed a white line across the floor to represent the chorus line they all wanted to be a part of.  It was Bennett who demanded a score where musical sequences darted from character to character, requiring lighting designer Tharon Musser to fluidly guide the audience's attention in a multitude of directions.  It was Bennett who, in one climactic moment, forced us to consider the hideously grotesque vision of chorus dancers as factory-produced ensemble machines.  And it was Bennett who decided nobody would take a bow. 

 

Perhaps the next time A Chorus Line is produced on Broadway, a new director will have a wonderful new vision for the material.  But since we lost Michael Bennett 19 years ago at the age of 44, why not re-mount a replica his greatest theatrical achievement while we still have his colleagues around to reproduce his original work?  The changes are relatively minor in director Bob Avian's revival.  He was the original co-choreographer and original cast member Baayork Lee is on hand to re-stage the dances.  Musser's lights (adapted by Natasha Katz) remain as well as the designs of Theoni V. Aldredge (costumes) and Robin Wagner (set). 

 

Perhaps we're seeing the beginnings of a new trend in New York theatre.  The Off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks is primarily a replica of the original production and Broadway's new Les Miserables (which I have yet to see) is said to look very much like Broadway's old Les Miserables.  Some may see this as a lack of imagination, but I see it as a healthy look back.  Museums need not be musty. 

 

A Chorus Line was among the first shows to run so long as to become a period piece in its original production.  The setting, which once appeared in the program as "Here" and "Now", was eventually changed to "A Broadway Theatre" and "1975".  Today, some of the show's most famous moments carry new meaning.  Paul's speech about his shame and embarrassment working for a drag show, and his observation of being surrounded by so many miserable, gay co-workers, seems a dated reference to the stereotypical "sad, lonely homosexuals."  The song "Dance 10, Looks 3," with its message of improving your life via body enhancement, may have shocked some in the mid-70's with its refrain of "tits and ass" but today it brings to mind the dangers of breast implants which were unknown at the time.  How refreshing it is to see a revival presented without revisions to suit modern sensibilities. 

 

A Chorus Line also requires more triple threats – performers who can sing, dance and act – than any other Broadway musical that comes to mind, so if most of the current company's acting doesn't quite dig deeper than surface emotions and if the singing, though generally good, isn't quite thrilling (at the very least you can say the acting and singing you get in this production is better than what you usually get from an untrained celebrity taking on a Broadway leading role) it is somewhat excusable.  Bennett probably knew this would be a tough show to cast for acting and singing, which may be why the score is not especially difficult vocally and the kinetic force of his staging supplies more than sufficient emotional pull. 

 

But that doesn't mean there isn't some exceptional work up there.  Jason Tam, as the shy Paul, delivers his drag show monologue with heartbreaking tenderness and Jeffrey Schecter is a snazzy and cocky Mike in "I Can Do That."  Deidre Goodwin scores with Sheila's drop-dead zingers, although we never quite see the vulnerable person behind the wisecracks. 

 

As Cassie, the dancer who was once pulled from the chorus by choreographer Zach (Michael Berresse) to play featured roles and is now begging for a chance to go back to the chorus, Charlotte d'Amboise touches the gut-wrenching frustration felt by anyone desperate for work being told they're overqualified for a job.  Considered by Zach to be too special to be part of the faceless ensemble, d'Amboise sings and dances "The Music And The Mirror" as a unique artist determined to prove she can tone down her gifts and give the director what he wants; a proficient, if unexceptional performance.  A skilled talent at developing character through dance, d'Amboise pounces on the routine originally created by Bennett for Donna McKecknie.  Instead of grace and ease we get fistfuls of grit as Cassie fights to prove she can be what she's not.  Bennett mocks her effort by placing a giant wall of mirrors upstage as Cassie dances, reflecting the audience so that as much as she's willing to become a chorus dancer, we (and Zach) can only see her as a soloist. 

 

Funny thing about A Chorus Line…  while watching these desperate-for-work dancers exposing their hearts and souls for a chance to get a spot in Zach's new show, we never really get a sense of how good it is.  Sure, it's got that catchy number "One" but have they been knocking themselves out for the past two hours to get into a musical that will close during out of town tryouts?  Maybe the ones who didn't make the cut were the lucky ones.  One of them might have found themselves at an audition the next day securing a job in a show that would run as long as A Chorus Line. 

 

Photos by Paul Kolnik:  Top:  Jeffrey Schecter

Center:  Jessica Lee Goldyn, Paul McGill, Jason Tam and Natalie Cortez

Bottom:  Charlotte d'Amboise and Michael Berresse