“A Chorus Line” is a musical for everyone who has ever had his or her own dream and, indeed, “put it all on the line.” The history of music dates back to the ’70s. It is a real sensation and one of the longest-running musicals on the American Broadway stage. “A Chorus Line” is the winner of the nine Tony Awards, in such nominees as the “Pulitzer Prize” for drama and “Best Musical.”
In order to better understand the roots of this musical, it is necessary to remember the “Dark Age,” generally known as the ’70s. It might be associated with the burnt–orange and wide-lapelled leisure suit, shoes with the two-tone platform, and big gold chains. It was a time of Gremlin cars, glance photos, Leo Sayer, and “Charlie’s Angels.”
Nowadays, “A Chorus Line” is back. From the high coign point of retrospect, it is actually hard to believe that this musical bested dark-hearted masterpiece – “Chicago” of Kander and Ebb, and “Pacific Overtures” of Sondheim for a best musical Tony. Musical’s deep confessional tone and really shocking disclosing about sex, childhood trauma, and also about the freaks of showbiz seem so, well, old 1975.
Recently appeared new national wide touring production of the musical “A Chorus Line,” which already opened on Thursday at the Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre.
This musical was directed by Bob Avian. He closely worked with Michael Bennett on his famous choreography for the previous original production. These led the “A Chorus Line’s” 2006 Broadway revival to be considered by many as a worthy assignee. It directly reproduced the show’s then – the novel’s written conception, with its incredible backstage story, intimate and also painful told by striving dancers, and strong reveal of the grimmer sides of show business. These all are told on a stage free of anything save a gathering of revolving upstage mirrors.
The touring musical brings along just two of the picked members from the Broadway renewal. They are Michael Gruber as Zach, the Svengali – “with – a – heart-of-gold” director who actually puts the auditioning dancing people through their life paces.
There is talent affluence in this musical, notably Emily Fletcher, who plays angry and aggressive Sheila, also Natalie Hall, who plays Val. But there are also some big weaknesses in key roles. Nikki Snelson does not have enough dancing skills to make Cassie’s “I just wanna dance” solo indeed leap off the musical’s stage. Gabrielle Ruiz, who plays Diana, “the Bronx bombshell with a voice as big as her attitude,” does not actually have the needed pipes to knock “What I Did for Love” right out of the park. She has some problems with the timbre.
As for Gruber, he captures Zach’s “laserlike” drive, but he is too aristocratic to be a “cutthroat” choreography director in the Jerome Robbins vein. The greatest difficulty to enjoying this musical, though, is the annoying weaknesses of the story. Here rises a question about why Zach grills everybody from the sound booth about their darkest fears and childhood while his voice is booming a sort of some power-mad. All these raise the following question if there is a needed “method acting” to make a good kick-step line.
The audience never knows the show they are working on; what they get are repeated variations of Marvin Hamlisch’s signature song called “One.”
It might seem from the first view that the audience knows what this story of a small and conflicted man – Paul will be from that moment when they see him for the first time. Nevertheless, Kevin Santos is able to bring certain pathos to this character without stretching out the musical.
What is the best of “A Chorus Line” is the choreography of the well-known late Mr. Bennett. Restaged by Baayork Lee, this dancing captures the bravura of Bennett. He mixed coiled sexual energy of Fosse with the classiness of Robbins – and, thus, he died too young. It should be outlined that “A Chorus Line” musical is a certain fitting, if flawed, legacy.
Works Cited
Adler, Steven. On Broadway: Art and Commerce on the Great White Way. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004.
Hischak, Thomas S. Stage It with Music: An Encyclopedic Guide to the American Musical Theatre. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.
Wren, Celia. “Without Missing a Step: ‘A Chorus Line’ Returns to Broadway.” Commonweal. 2008.