Out of all the shows I have done, A Chorus Line is the most memorable. Not because I think it is the best show, but because I had a leading role of course. I did not know anything about this show before I auditioned for it. A friend of mine said I should audition for the part of Val, that I would enjoy playing this role. Little did I know this would lead to me standing in front of a few hundred people singing about my tits and ass in the song "Dance: Ten Looks: Three".
A Chrous Line is a cast of seventeen people who are auditioning for the chorus line of an unnamed show. They tell their personal stories about how they got to this point in their lives through monologues and songs. There is no elaborate set to this show. Just people standing on stage pouring their hearts out just to get another job. The best way to describe this show is as a behind the scences look at what it is like to audition for a musical.
I like this show, but it is definitely not one of my favorites. Paul Hodgins of TheArtsBlog made a list of ninteen reasons why he hates A Chorus Line, a few of them being:
13. Unitards. 10. Step-kick lines. For any reason, at any time. 7. Bimbo
clichés. 6. Slut clichés. 4. Never knowing a thing about the accursed show
they’re auditioning for. 2. Getting the phrase “singular sensation” stuck in my
brain for three days.
Althought I do not agree with these as reasons for hating the show, they do speak to why this is not one of my all time favorites. To begin, unitards and step-kick lines. Unitards I do believe speaks for itself. Step-kicks on the other hand look good in a dance routine, unless you are five foot like myself, then it just looks awkward. The bimbo and slut cliches were a little annoying because my character was the bimbo and slut, hence the song about tits and ass. I am niether of these so it was hard to get into the role. Also not knowing what show the characters were auditioning for is fustrating, because it leaves you wondering what they are working so hard for. I think it is a flaw in the storyline. And the least appealing thing about this show is the song "One". It is one of those songs that you cannot stop singing, no matter how much you may dislike it. You will rue the day you heard it.
There is also a movie that came after the musical. I would not recommend seeing it, although it does star the great Micheal Douglas. It is a poor rendition of the show, and would dissuade you from actually seeing the musical, which is certainly more interesting. Robert Sandla in the musical review book, The Theater Mania, wrote concerning the movie
To paraphrase a lyric from the show's opening number, 'God, they really blew
it!' when they made the movie of A Chorus Line....The film
version effectivley killed the movie musical genre until the success of Chicago seventeen years later.
This is certainly true. I cannot think of one movie musical that is worth mentioning until Chicago, and after that the musical movie genre took off again. This movie takes away from the show and is not worth your time.
I obviously have mixed feeling about this musical. There are some things that I obviously do not like about the show, but having been a performer I can relate to it. I know what it is like to have to audition for a show. I know the joys and pains of being good enough and not being good enough. The lyrics "won't forget, can't regret, what I did for love" from the show expresses the emotions than an actor feels when it comes to their experience in theater. I will always remember my time on stage and I will never regret anything I did because theater is my love.
I enjoyed reading your post. It's interesting to hear about A Chorus Line from an actor/actress perspective. I'm a dancer, and some of the stuff you mention I agree with and some of it I don't. Definitely the unitards and song getting stuck in your head.
ReplyDeleteI guess I just like A Chorus Line because it's kind of how I think about auditioning. You hear about a show coming up either through the grapevine or your agent and go to audition. Most of the time you don't care what the show is. Especially if you really need a job.
It is kind of weird, though, that even at the end it's never said what the show they've been auditioning and rehearsing for actually is or what it's about.
J
I saw A Chorus Line on tour in Boston when I was in college, in the late 1970s. I remember that the dancers' stories were so poignant. I saw the latest tour last year and felt the pacing was a little off. Still, it's a groundbreaking show. If you haven't seen it, the documentary "Every Little Step," about casting the Broadway revival, is very good.
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