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| I have this theory, and tell me if I'm wrong, about a few of the longest-running musicals and Broadway. Chorus Line held the title for longest-running musical on Broadway until CATS came along and swiped it away (nyah!) but nevertheless both CATS and Chorus Line are longest-running musicals and very popular. It has also come to my attention that the two shows have quite a bit in common, as well: both shows are set in one place, and both shows are majorly about a group of characters put in that particular place who then tell about themselves rather than carry on some large, complex plot. Seriously! Look at CATS = each character appeals to a different kind of stereotype among us humans out there and is just about a bunch of felines spending the night in a junkyard. Now look at ACL = a variety of characters covering as large a range of human stereotypes at an audition. No complex plot. Both the shows are largely character-based rather than plot, and it's been my wonder if that has had any large contribution to their mutually long runs. (Of course I can't say I can compare it to every other show that has ever graced Broadway, so I could be wrong.) Anyway... |
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| That's all A Chorus Line is: a bunch of dancers at an audition in 1975 striving to be cast in a show that we never really see. The majority of the shows are jazzy and upbeat, such as I Can Do That; Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love; and the infamous Dance: Ten, Looks: Three. Others like What I Did For Love and One vary from slow ballads to classic 30s-style Broadway. It is also a great show for an ensemble to perform, having not a very large cast compared to most shows, little to no set, and hardly any extraordinary costumes. Those reasons are probably why a lot of high schools across the United States have performed this very long one-act. (I really don't know why, considering some of the content that's in it.) But as the characters do the real work in making the show fly, they are of course the most memorable feature. Diana, Bobby, and Mike are my personal favorites, although I like all the characters for their different qualities: Val and Greg for their brutally honest views of life, Bebe and Mark for their upbeat ignorance, Zach and Larry for just being there, etc. It is most certainly not a show for little kids since it contains a fair amount of swearing, adult themes, and references to things from the 70s era that most kids wouldn't get anyway...and the fact that the show is one long act with no Intermission gives little time for bathroom breaks. (It's not always done as a one-act, but it has been every time I've seen it live.) |
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| I've seen the show twice live, and though the first version was the much better of the two stupid me lost the only Playbill I got from the show so I can't for the life of me remember who the cast was. But it was truly a great show. I was very impressed with both Mike and Diana (Diana especially...what a voice!) but simultaneously disappointed with Cassie for her dancing and Val for her singing. Oh well. It was still a great show. The second time I saw it wasn't as good, but at least I kept the program. It featured two past CATS performers (and both having been Macavity, no less) - Jim T. Ruttman as Larry and Philip Michael Baskerville as Richie - and in my opinion had a much better Val. (Keep on singing, Kendra Kassebaum!) The woman playing Cassie I think was given a bit too much publicity for the amount of talent she showed (had an entire page just for her in the program), but other than that the show was fantastic, as expected. |
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| As far as the show itself goes there is nothing I can find wrong with it. If the characterizations are done right, nothing is ever dull (even Paul's five-page monologue). Actually, on second thought, there is one thing I would change about the actual staging. In the last number of the show (One Reprise) all the characters come out in identical costumes for their unnamed curtain call. That was all fine and dandy on the video (ugh...don't get me started on the video!) because of the close-ups, but in a theatre it is very degrading to the performers. I didn't notice it until I saw the show live because I was sitting pretty close in the back, but because all the characters are wearing identical costumes for the Finale it is impossible to tell who is who when it comes time for applause (except for Richie, and he says it himself why). Not that it really matters much, and I'm sure the entire cast puts out an equal amount of effort every performance, but the rise and fall of applause for certain characters is very exhilarating to listen to. |
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| Alright, now it's on my mind, so I'm going to say it: BURN THE VIDEO!!! The commercial video that was put out for A Chorus Line is absolutely horrible and I think should be banned from all markets. Alright, I know it has Terrence Mann and Timothy Scott in it who are both well-loved CATS performers, and the dance sequences are fantastic compared to the actual show, but so much was changed and/or cut in the video that it makes me sick. Probably the most obvious thing is that they changed the time period to a more modern Broadway audition than 1975. Now that I could stand since the video is going to be watched by a more modern age, but when the cast size is quadrupled, entire songs are cut or changed, choreography is thrown out completely, monologues are shrunk and edited, and parts are switched around...it really starts to bug me. The Chorus Line video has to be one of the most mutilated of all shows transitioned to a film. I think that says about all of it. |
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| Was that a long enough evaluation? Knowing me I probably left something important out, but in any case: go see it if you can. Just remember to use the bathroom first. |
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| (Somewhere out there is a picture of CATS characters standing in a line as seen above, taken when CATS passed Chorus Line as longest-running show. If anyone viewing this page has that image I would greatly appreciate having a look at it!) |
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