By snoadmin
The musical revival of “A Chorus Line” at the Los Angeles Ahmanson Theatre is a hit performance by a wide variety of dancing singers auditioning for a Broadway musical performance. However, the stage is not just an audition, but a reality show musical like no other.
For people who aren’t acquainted with the story of “A Chorus Line,” the musical is actually about an audition for a Broadway musical. Although this performance covers the selection process of a director in choosing his dancers, the show demonstrates how difficult his decisions are.
This is not an ordinary director either. Director Zach, played by Derek Hanson, often asks the dancers on stage awkward questions, such as “How did you first get into dancing?” He sometimes digs up some difficult memories which the dancers don’t like to discuss, such as their homosexual relationships.
At first, the dancers often don’t want to reveal so much about their past, singing “What will I say?” during the director’s audition. But the director is clearly more interested in them as individuals so that he can decide who shall remain in his chorus line.
All of the characters are fascinating. Sheila, the red-headed smoker played by Emily Fletcher, reveals her hardships with her father, who never loved her. Val, another dancer, sings a hilarious number in “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three,” where she argues that all the directors want from women are tits and ass.
The audition isn’t without problems, though. Director Zach has issues with one of the dancers, Cassie, played by Erica Mansfield in this performance. Cassie is Zach’s ex-girlfriend and Zach doesn’t want any bias in his selection of dancers. However, in her song “The Music and the Mirror,” which is one of the most stunning performances in the musical, Cassie confesses that she couldn’t succeed as an actress in Hollywood. She can only find work as a diner waitress, and she needs the job.
Near the end of the musical one of the dancers, Paul, tears the cartilage in one of his legs, forcing him to resign from the audition. Yet, this leads the dancers and the director to discuss bigger problems for Broadway dancers. They ask themselves what they should do after they age to the point that they cannot dance anymore. But then Diana (played by Gabrielle Ruiz) sings with the rest of the group that they dance for the love of dancing, in the spectacular song “What I Did for Love.”
I’m so glad that this musical answers the questions that many dancers and singers are afraid to ask themselves. After all, it’s hard to imagine what a dancer would do if she or he got injured. And thankfully, this musical reaffirms the passion of dancers and singers on Broadway. Actually, I should say that this is a second reaffirmation, since this is a revival of a musical.
Of course, all things come to an end, and eventually the director has to narrow his chorus line down to four men and four women in a reality show-style elimination. Thankfully, in the reprise of the famous song “One,” all the dancers showed up to dance and sing in dazzling gold suits and canes in front of a bright yellow background. They all take their well-deserved bows in this number.
“A Chorus Line” contains some of the most heartfelt conversations by dancers and singers. Though the set is completely black with a wall of mirrors, it added to the illusion that I was actually watching an audition. The show makes excellent use of lighting to set the mood of the entire musical.
The cover of the program for the show claims that “A Chorus Line” is “The Best Musical. Ever.” Although I don’t think this is my favorite musical, this was definitely one of the most memorable musicals. After all, I don’t think anyone’s ever done a musical about an audition for a musical before. This is one of the most unique musicals ever produced, and the Ahmanson’s presentation proved how wonderful their revival of this musical is. Therefore, I have to say the Ahmanson’s performance of “A Chorus Line” is “Their Most Original Performance. Ever.”
