From it's long running history to it's current avid following A Chorus Line is still packing the theaters decades later. I have heard about this performance from my mom, her friends and all those about a generation before me, so my expectations were pretty high, I was looking for a little bit of Fame meets a mean dance teacher, and that's exactly why I got!
Here's the original story synopsis
In an empty theater, on a bare stage, casting for a new Broadway musical is almost complete. The field’s been narrowed down to just 17 dancers. For these men and women, this audition is the chance of a lifetime. It’s what they’ve worked for — with every drop of sweat, every hour of training, every day of their lives. It’s the one opportunity to do what they’ve always dreamed of. Not to be the star, but to get the job … to have the chance to dance and come through.
But before the final cut is made, the director Zach asks each of them to talk about themselves. He starts by asking their name, age, hometown and reason for being a dancer. But Zach wants more than just their resumes. He wants to know about their families, friends, lovers, ambitions and careers. One by one, they come forward.
Some are shy or reluctant, while others are more than happy to reveal their innermost thoughts. From funny to heartbreaking, these 17 dancers share with us the stories of their lives. They put themselves on the line to get a job on the line. And when they’re done, so is the audition. And the final chorus line of 8 dancers is chosen.
Lot's of drama, some exhaustively long dialogue scenes, and wonderful dancing later the final 4x4 were chosen and the curtain comes down. It was everything that I thought it would be and more, and I say more as there were definitely ballet school flashback when the teacher kept shouting "head up! straighter lines! more energy!!" I think this was very transporting for me, but as I kept seeing people get up and leave (no intermission, 2 1/2 hour run time) I'm wondering if this epic play is seeing the end of it's era? With dated references to events only strongly relevant to the starving artist set in the 1970's NYC, this seems somewhat difficult to connect with when your a 2010 suburban mommy headed to the theater. Now don't get me wrong, the dancing was great, the singing top notch, but I'm wondering if some rude yawns were a lack of connecting with the material? Now I know this critique will get me chastised by the dance/ theater community who look at this show as being immortal, but it's one bad ex-ballerina's opinion, here's to appreciating what was, and looking forward to what's coming!
But before the final cut is made, the director Zach asks each of them to talk about themselves. He starts by asking their name, age, hometown and reason for being a dancer. But Zach wants more than just their resumes. He wants to know about their families, friends, lovers, ambitions and careers. One by one, they come forward.
Lot's of drama, some exhaustively long dialogue scenes, and wonderful dancing later the final 4x4 were chosen and the curtain comes down. It was everything that I thought it would be and more, and I say more as there were definitely ballet school flashback when the teacher kept shouting "head up! straighter lines! more energy!!" I think this was very transporting for me, but as I kept seeing people get up and leave (no intermission, 2 1/2 hour run time) I'm wondering if this epic play is seeing the end of it's era? With dated references to events only strongly relevant to the starving artist set in the 1970's NYC, this seems somewhat difficult to connect with when your a 2010 suburban mommy headed to the theater. Now don't get me wrong, the dancing was great, the singing top notch, but I'm wondering if some rude yawns were a lack of connecting with the material? Now I know this critique will get me chastised by the dance/ theater community who look at this show as being immortal, but it's one bad ex-ballerina's opinion, here's to appreciating what was, and looking forward to what's coming!
With a short run from May 19-30th check it out while you can, it's the last stop of the last run of the national tour, so this might be the last chance to see this epic musical.
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