What a strange feeling, to see these characters pour their hearts out then put on an outfit that hides who they are.Īnd what a showstopper for the final number! TUTS has reached a pivot point in which the organization’s productions are as good if not better than the average Broadway Across America show. The musical embraces its own irony by giving us an incredible 1920s dance number, one in which it’s nearly impossible to tell the dancers apart. This musical suggests that, though the starting point for American ambition is the tale of the individual (what Joseph Campbell called “The Hero’s Journey”), the endpoint is often the removal of self in service of a capitalistic goal. America is and always was a land of conflicting truths, of ideas that clash against and oppose one another. That we applaud the erasure of their individuality is what makes “A Chorus Line” a truly American play. The famous finale of “A Chorus Line” is a subversion of its own idea that everyone deserves their own spotlight, turning the individuals who we’ve come to understand into a homogenous mass of shiny coats and kicking legs.
#The chorus line city center skin#
Everyone has their unique set of childhood memories, fears, ambitions and personality traits that makes them who they are, though we often see only get to see what is on the surface - height, skin color, posture, facial expression.ĭetails: $40 and up 71, See More Collapse As they sometimes falter, Zach is both harsh and encouraging in his feedback.Īt the core of this dramatic conceit is the idea that everyone in the world, even the anonymous dancers in the background of a show, is the hero of a multifaceted story. Zach (a captivating Clifton Samuels) is the director pushing, critiquing, prodding and interrogating the auditioners. Each character has their own reason why they want this job as a member of a Broadway chorus line. That the nearly 20 performers never lose energy throughout this breakneck, intermission-free show is even more impressive. Sean Ewing’s solid baritone voice cuts through the spacious Hobby Center with ease, while Leeds Hill’s acting as Greg comes across as unvarnished and honest. Sarah Bowden is fearless as Cassie, while Samantha Marisol Gershman shines as vocal powerhouse Diana. TUTS’ “A Chorus Line” assembles nearly 20 multi-talented actors of such caliber. Nowadays it is rare to find true “triple threats,” performers who can act, sing and dance to a high degree.
Directed by Julie Kramer, this ensemble is as good as any. Yet, as in “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” (ignoring, for a moment, that piece’s problematic racial and gender content), Theatre Under the Stars has once again staged a double-back flip of a dance piece and stuck the landing. Theater like “A Chorus Line” paved the way for bolder, more human stories on Broadway. “A Chorus Line” no longer feels daring in its presentation of queer stories, nor does it appear to be the artistic breakthrough it was in 1975 - precisely because the world has evolved so much since its debut.
Today, a bare-bones character study that refuses to follow narrative convention is far from radical. Third, it unflinchingly told the coming-out stories of several gay men, during a time when homosexuality was still taboo in mainstream culture.
Second, it had no protagonist nor central plot. First, it had no set and no scene changes, merely an empty rehearsal hall and a cast wearing leotards. It remains intensely relatable for anyone who has attempted an unlikely career, or has ever been told they were too old, too young, too short or in whatever way not good enough to “make it.”īesides becoming one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, “A Chorus Line,” which Theatre Under the Stars restages wonderfully at the Hobby Center through Sunday, was an artistic breakthrough on multiple levers. and Nicholas Dante, is an exploration of the hopes and dreams of a group of young people trying out for the dance chorus for a Broadway show. Is there a more American musical than “A Chorus Line?” The 1975 show, composed by Marvin Hamlisch, with lyrics by Edward Kleban and book by James Kirkwood Jr. The Cast of the current TUTS production of A Chorus Line, 2019. Sharrod Williams as “Richie” and the Cast of the current TUTS production of A Chorus Line.
0 kommentar(er)
