A Chorus Line
Performed April 2002
Conceived, directed and co-choreographed by Michael Bennett; with a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, and a score by Marvin Hamlisch (music) and Edward Kleban (lyrics), A Chorus Line began as a workshop production at Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theatre on 21 May 1975, transferring to Broadway at the Schubert Theatre on 21 July 1975.
Michael Bennett assembled twenty-four dancers who reminisced about their backgrounds, and about when they auditioned for positions in various chorus lines for Broadway shows. Recordings were handed to Nicholas Dante, himself a former dancer to create the storyline for a show based on these stories.
The curtain opens on an audition for singers and dancers in a Broadway theatre. The choreographer, Zach , is looking for eight dancers from a group of seventeen hopefuls which include his fomer mistress Cassie. As the show unfolds the audition hopefuls reveal their own personal stories in a bid to succeed.
A Chorus Line closed on Broadway on 28 April 1990 after 6137 performances. The London production which opened on 22 July 1976 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, closed three years later following 903 performances.
GMDF Nominations: Elizabeth Oakes for Best Youth Performer as Cassie
GMDF Awards: Elizabeth Oakes – Certificate of Merit – Best Youth Performer – Cassie – A Chorus Line