A Chorus Line


A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.
Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer, as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
Following several workshops and an Off-Broadway production, A Chorus Line opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway July 25, 1975, directed by Michael Bennett and co-choreographed by Bennett and Bob Avian. An unprecedented box office and critical hit, the musical received twelve Tony Award nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history until surpassed by Cats in 1997, and the longest-running Broadway musical originally produced in the US, until surpassed in 2011 by the revival of Chicago. It remains the seventh longest-running Broadway show ever. A Chorus Lines success has spawned many successful productions worldwide. It began a lengthy run in the West End in 1976 winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and was revived on Broadway in 2006, and in the West End in 2013.

Synopsis

The show opens during an audition for an upcoming Broadway production. The formidable director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the 24 dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work. After a round of cuts, 17 dancers remain. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong eight-member dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. Wanting to learn more about them, he asks the dancers to introduce themselves. Reluctantly, the dancers reveal their pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to their chosen career.
The first candidate, Mike Costa, explains that he is the youngest of 12 children. He recalls his first experience with dance, watching his sister Rosalie's dance class when he was a preschooler. Mike replaced her one day when she refused to go to class—and he stayed. As Bobby Mills tries to hide his unhappy childhood by making jokes, the other dancers distrust this strange audition process and debate what they should reveal to Zach, but since they all need the job, the session continues.
Zach is angered that the streetwise Sheila Bryant is seemingly not taking the audition seriously. Opening up, she reveals that her mother married at a young age and her father neither cared about nor loved them. At age six she realized, as had fellow auditionees Bebe Benzenheimer and Maggie Winslow, that ballet helped her escape her unhappy family life. Scatterbrained and tone-deaf Kristine Urich-DeLuca laments being unable to sing, while her husband Al finishes her phrases in tune.
Mark Anthony, the youngest dancer, relates his first exposure to the male and female anatomy and his first wet dream, and the Connie Wong laments the problems of being short, while the other dancers share their own memories of adolescence. Diana Morales describes her horrible high school acting class, Don Kerr remembers his first job at a nightclub and Judy Turner reflects on her problematic childhood while others talk about their parents' opinions. Greg Gardner discusses discovering his homosexuality and Richie Walters recounts nearly becoming a kindergarten teacher. Finally, the newly-buxom Val Clark explains that talent alone isn't everything without good looks, and plastic surgery can really help improve one's image and career prospects.
The dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the audition's next section, but experienced dancer Cassie Ferguson, who has had notable successes as a soloist, stays onstage to talk to Zach. They have a history together: Zach had previously cast her in featured parts, and they had lived together for several years. Zach tells Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and shouldn't be at this audition. However, she explains her current inability to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance. Zach relents and sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination.
Zach calls Paul San Marco, who has been reluctant to share his past, onstage for a private talk, and he emotionally details his childhood and teenage years, his early career in a drag act, facing his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents ultimately discovering his lifestyle and disowning him for it, before breaking down, with Zach comforting him. Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run-through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star. Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash the issues in their relationship and her career. Zach points to the machine-like movement of the other dancers, who have all blended together and will probably never be recognized individually, and mockingly asks if she wants this. Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I'd be proud to be one of them. They're wonderful....They're all special. I'd be happy to be dancing in that line. Yes, I would...and I'll take chorus...if you'll take me."
During a tap sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that recently underwent surgery. After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can also end in an instant. Zach asks the remaining dancers what they will do when they can no longer dance. Led by Diana, they assert that whatever happens next in their lives and/or careers, they will be free of regret for pursuing their dreams. The final eight dancers are selected: Mike, Cassie, Bobby, Judy, Richie, Val, Mark, and Diana.
"One" begins with an individual bow for each of the 19 characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one from the other: ironically, each character who was an individual to the audience seems now to be an anonymous member of a never-ending ensemble.

Musical numbers

  • "I Hope I Get It" – Company
  • "I Can Do That" – Mike
  • "And..." – Bobby, Richie, Val, and Judy
  • "At the Ballet" – Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie
  • "Sing!" – Kristine, Al, and Company
  • "Montage Part 1: Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" – Mark, Connie, and Company
  • "Montage Part 2: Nothing" – Diana
  • "Montage Part 3: Mother" – Don, Judy, Maggie, and Company
  • "Montage Part 4: Gimme the Ball" – Greg, Richie, and Company
  • "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" – Val
  • "The Music and the Mirror" – Cassie
  • "One" – Company
  • "The Tap Combination" – Company
  • "What I Did for Love" – Diana and Company
  • "One /Finale" – Company

    Original cast album

The original cast album was Issued by Columbia Records.

Charts

Notable casts

Production history

The musical was formed from several taped workshop sessions with Broadway dancers, known as "gypsies," including eight who eventually appeared in the original cast. The sessions were originally hosted by dancers Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens. The first taped session occurred at the Nickolaus Exercise Center on January 26, 1974. They hoped that they would form a professional dance company to make workshops for Broadway dancers.
Michael Bennett was invited to join the group primarily as an observer, but quickly took control of the proceedings. Although Bennett's involvement has been challenged, there has been no question about Kirkwood and Dante's authorship. In later years, Bennett's claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted not only in hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well. During the workshop sessions, random characters would be chosen at the end for the chorus jobs based on their performance quality, resulting in a different "cast" being selected every run-through. However, several of the costumers objected to this ending, citing the stress of having to change random actors in time for the finale. This resulted in the ending being cut in exchange for the same set of characters being "cast." Marvin Hamlisch, who wrote A Chorus Lines score, recalled how, during the first previews, audiences seemed put off by something in the story. This problem was solved when actress Marsha Mason told Bennett that Cassie should win the part in the end because she did everything right. Bennett changed it so that Cassie would always win the part.

Original production

A Chorus Line opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater on April 15, 1975. At the time, the Public did not have enough money to finance the production so it borrowed $1.6 million to produce the show. The show was directed by Bennett and co-choreographed by Bennett and Bob Avian. Advance word had created such a demand for tickets that the entire run sold out immediately. Producer Joseph Papp moved the production to Broadway, and on July 25, 1975, it opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 6,137 performances until April 28, 1990.
Additional Opening Night cast members Carole Schweid and John Mineo were understudies named "Barbara" and "Jarad", although they only went on covering other roles.
The production was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning nine: Best Musical, Best Musical Book, Best Score, Best Director, and Best Choreography, Best Actress, Best Featured Actor, Best Featured Actress, and Best Lighting Design. The show won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, one of the few musicals ever to receive this honor, swept nearly all the main categories at the 1976 Drama Desk Awards, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the season.
In 1976, many of the original cast went on to perform in San Francisco. Open roles were recast, and the play was again reviewed as the "New" New York Company which included Ann Reinking, Sandahl Bergman, Christopher Chadman, Justin Ross, and Barbara Luna.
When it closed, A Chorus Line was the longest running show in Broadway history until its record was surpassed by Cats in 1997. On September 29, 1983, Bennett and 332 A Chorus Line veterans gathered to celebrate the musical becoming the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Up to February 19, 1990, A Chorus Line had generated $146 million from its Broadway gross and $277 million in total U.S. grosses and had 6.5 million Broadway attendees. At the time, it was the second most profitable show in Broadway history after Cats with profits of $50 million. 75% of the profits went to Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival and 25% to Bennett's Plum Productions. Since its inception, the show's many worldwide productions, both professional and amateur, have been a major source of income for The Public Theater that Papp had founded.