Recently, there was a meme going around of three things only you have done. One item I could have put on that list was that in 1975, Marvin Hamlisch gave me a ride home from Wilshire Blvd. Temple. During the ride home, Mr. Hamlisch stopped at the newstand in Westwood to pick up the reviews of his new musical, “A Chorus Line”.
I mention this because this afternoon, we saw the Center Theatre Group production of “A Chorus Line”. This is the third time I’ve seen the show: we saw it back in November 2006 at Cabrillo Music Theatre, and I saw it on its original Los Angeles tour in 1976 at the Shubert Theatre. The story hasn’t changed: The show grew out of interviews held by Michael Bennett with the theatrical gypsies, members of the chorus. From these hundreds of hours of interviews he conducted the story of an audition, where each gypsy tells their story of why theatre and dance are a part of their life. There are all sorts in this crew: the children from abusive households to whom dance was safety and security; homosexuals; those trying for a comeback; those who can’t sing; those who can’t dance. All of these come together, through their stories, to pay homage to the unseen chorus line. Near the end of the show, one of the dancers, Paul, gets hurt in a tap number. After he’s taken away, the director asks the telling question: What would you do when you can’t dance anymore? What would you do if you couldn’t dance tomorrow? It is at this point that the show hammers the point home: We do what we do (hopefully) out of the love of the doing: “Kiss today goodbye, and point me toward tomorrow. We did what we had to do. Won’t regret, can’t forget, what I did for love.”
A Chorus Line (the “A” is part of a name in order to be first in the alphabetical listings) took Broadway by storm when it came out in 1975. It won nine Tony Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, a New York Drama Critics Award for Best Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It ran, sold-out, for 15 years on Broadway. It was the highlight of Bennett’s careers, and of Marvin Hamlish (the composer) and Ed Kleban (the lyricist). It was also a turning point in the evolution of Broadway. The only “set” consisted of mirrors; the only costumes being workout clothes (except for the last scene). The stage was a single line, and the mirrors. It was one act, no intermission. There were no stars: the focus was the ensemble, the gypsys. There was no formal curtain call; the finale, with everyone in gold lame, was the curtain call. This was drastically different than conventional theatre at the time.
As this is my third rendition of the show, the inevitable question is how did it compare with the original, and the more regional version at Cabrillo. For the most part, the Ahmanson production can be described as workmanlike. It told the story. It was well acted, danced and sung. The sets and costumes were the standard sets and costumes. The actors that stood out (the ones that played Paul and Sheila, in particular) were good, but not to the level of exceptional (i.e., that person will be a star). This is unlike Cabrillo, where some performances did stand out in their excellence. The Ahmanson production also had some problems–in particular, the casting of Cassie (Nikki Snelson). The actress herself was a strong singer and dancer–that wasn’t the problem. Rather, the issue is that Cassie is supposed to be someone who left the chorus, attempted to be an actress in Hollywood and to be a lead, failed, and hasn’t worked for at least two year. She should be the director’s contemporary in age, i.e., at least late 30s, early 40s. This Cassie looked 25 at best. There were also some sound problems (which should have been worked out by now).
One of the ways to assess a production of A Chorus Line is to watch the reactions of the other actors to each story. There were some reactions, and some were quite good. But again, except perhaps those of Bebe (Pilar Millhollen), they were what would be expected. There were also times the sound engineer had things misbalanced, and the orchestra slightly overpowered the actors.
In short, if you haven’t seen A Chorus Line, this is probably a good production to see. But it is not at the level of exceptional.
Cast: Clyde Alves (Mike), John Carroll (Larry), Emily Fletcher (Sheila), Stephanie Gibson (Judy), Michael Gruber (Zach), Natalie Hall (Val), Hollie Howard (Maggie), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Mark), Denis Lambert (Greg), Jessica Latshaw (Kristine), Ian Liberto (Bobby), Pilar Millhollen (Bebe), Colt Pratties (Al), Gabrielle Ruiz (Diana), Kevin Santos (Paul), Nikki Snelson (Cassie), Anthony Wayne (Richie), Jessica Wu (Connie), Alex Ringler (Don), Venny Carranza (Roy), Julie Kotarides (Vicki), Stephanie Martignetti (Tricia), Sterling Masters (Lois), Clifton Samuels (Tom), Brandon Tyler (Frank), and J. R. Whittington (Butch). All actors are member of Actors Equity.
Technical Crew: Michael Bennit (Original Director/Choreographer), Bob Avian (Director, Original Co-Choreographer) assisted by Peter Pileski, James Kirkwood (Book), Nicholas Dante (Book), Marvin Hamlisch (Music), Edward Kleban (Lyrics), Baayork Lee (Choreography Re-Staging) assisted by Michael Gorman, Robin Wagner (Scenic Design), Theoni V. Aldredge (Costume Design), Tharon Musser and Natasha Katz (Lighting Design), Acme Sound Partners (Sound Design), Patrick Vaccariello (Music Supervision), John O’Neill (Music Direction), Michael Keller (Music Coordinator), Jonathan Tunick (Orchestrator), Ray Gin (Production Stage Manager), Gregory R. Covert (Stage Manager) assisted by Anna R. Kaltenbach.
A Chorus Line continues through July 6, 2008. Note that the cast they show in the advertising is the New York cast, not the touring cast (Sheila is a dead givaway).
Next up on our theatre calendar is “The Taming of the Shew” (Shakespeare in the Park) on Sun, 6/29 @ 6pm in Hart Park in Santa Clarita. July brings “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Ahmanson Theatre (Sun 7/13 @ 1pm), “Parade” at Neighborhood Playhouse, Palos Verdes (Sat 7/19 @ 8pm), “Looped” at Pasadena Playhouse (Sat 7/26 @ 8pm), “Singing in the Rain” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (Sat 8/2 @ 2pm), and “Assassins” at West Coast Ensemble (Sun 8/10 @ 2pm). I may still ticket “Songs From an Unmade Bed” at Celebration Theatre (perhaps 7/5). We’re also looking into “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy” at the Hollywood Bowl on 7/16.