A CHORUS LINE is considered by many theatre experts to be one of the shows that set the pattern for what is labeled the American Musical Theater.
First came THE BLACK CROOK (a smash-together of a melodrama and ballet). Some of the other significant shows include SHOW BOAT (a story musical), OF THEE I SING (first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama), OKLAHOMA (the recognized model for the “book musical,” a musical in which the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story), RENT (the script which many credit as the catalyst for the development of the serious dramatic musical), and A CHORUS LINE, (the show which stressed dance as the foundation for developing a musical theater production).
A CHORUS LINE is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by Nicholas Dante and Elyria’s James Kirkwood, Jr..
A CHORUS LINE had a different path to Broadway than most musicals. It started out as a series of interviews of dancers of past and present Broadway shows conducted by director and choreographer Michael Bennett.
From the many hours of personal and professional information, a script was developed providing a glimpse into the personalities of the performers, as they describe the events that shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
The original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming, at that time, the longest-running production in Broadway history. It received twelve Tony Award nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The show opens during an audition for a fictional upcoming Broadway production. The director and his assistant are putting the dancers through their paces. Every dancer, expresses their individual and collective hopes in "I Hope I Get It” their individual “I want song.”
After a round of cuts, 17 dancers remain.
Zach tells them he is looking for a dancing chorus of four boys and four girls, wants to learn more about them, wants each to introduce themselves. Reluctantly, they reveal their pasts with stories and songs of hope, pursuing of dreams, picking one’s self up and starting over again.
What is different in this show than the book musical format that Rodgers and Hammerstein laid out in OKLAHOMA? Among other factors, there is no overture, no single structured story, and the curtain call is a choreographed dance number that is integrated into the production.
Little known facts about the development of the script are that the dancers who participated in the story-telling collection meetings originally received only $1 for their stories, and that some whose personal tales are told had to try out for the show. Some of those were not cast.
A CHORUS LINE is a difficult show to stage. The cast each has to dance, sing and act, all on a high level. It is also an intense show to perform as the cast members are on-stage most of the time and are tasked with numerous exhausting routines.
Beck’s director and choreographer, Christopher Chase Carter’s cast is excellent in all aspects of their performances, though several of the males preened and “posed” at being, rather than actually “being” their characters.
Most of the performers are present or past students of the Baldwin Wallace’s Musical Theatre program or Oberlin’s Conservatory of Music.
Memorable moments were rendered by Jimmy Metz (Paul), whose tale of being a pony dancer in a sleezy theater evoked a spelling-binding hold on the audience, Julia Martin’s (Cassie) compelling dancing in “The Music and the Mirror,” the trio of Eilana Taub (Sheila), Bebe Moss (Bebe), and Andi Brooke Keller (Maggie) who sang “At the Ballet,” the wistful melody, whose harmonies grow and build, Dakota Krouse (Mike) who sings the delightful “I Can Do That,” and Abigail Sanford (Val) who teasingly belts the provocative “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three.”
Kudos also to Scott Sumerak (Zach) and Nic Rhew (Larry), the entire cast for their vocal blending and fine solo work, as well as Orchestra Director David Robinson and his finely tuned orchestra and the lighting and scenic designs of Cheri Prough DeVol, as well as Christopher Case Carter’s choreography, which nicely duplicated and enhanced Michael Bennett’s original dance movements.
The only technical flaw was the poorly balanced sound system of the Senney Theater which continually makes it difficult to hear performers placed extreme stage right and left.
Capsule judgement: The Beck show is a fine example of what happens when a fine script is staged by a talented director/choreographer, who has the fortune of finding a well-trained and talented cast. The enthusiastic audience left on an emotional high, humming and singing one of the many memorable songs of the score, realizing that there are those in the world of theater who constantly illustrate, “What I Did for Love!”
A CHORUS LINE runs through August 10, 2025. For tickets go to beckcenter.org or call 216-521-2540.
