A Chorus Line
Across the country tonight, the chorus will take to the stage to sing and dance once more, hardly noticed behind Galinda, Simba or Mr Mistoffelees. The West End’s latest addition A Chorus Line, opening at the London Palladium on the 5th February 2013, however is a celebration of dance in its purest sense. It is the story of the dancers; their individual journeys, their experiences of the gruelling audition process and their unwavering passion for dancing.
A Chorus Line, one of the longest running musicals, first opened off-Broadway in April 1975 and came to London in July 1976. It follows the audition process for seventeen dancers, who are asked by the director to talk about themselves. As a result the personal stories of the dancers are revealed. Subsequently, the show deals with issues surrounding social perceptions of beauty, homosexuality and childhood traumas. The audience experiences each character individually before they discard their everyday dancewear for the sparkly gold attire in the final number, One, becoming an anonymous part of the ‘dancing machine’ once more. Regardless of their pasts however, each character is given the opportunity they always dreamed of; to just dance.
The original show choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett won nine Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, a New York Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now it’s back! Following the sensational Broadway revival in 2006, A Chorus Line has returned to London along with some of the original members of the creative team including Michael Bennett and his co-choreographer Bob Avian. With a trophy cabinet like theirs can it be anything but spectacular?
For those who don’t live in London however have no fear! The production plans to tour after the West End run, which is, for the time being, set to end in January 2014. A Chorus Line promise to be extraordinary, but we will have to wait until opening night before we know whether it lives up to the revolutionary status attributed to the original 1975 performance. For those who can’t wait until next week however, here is a clip from the 1985 film adaptation by Richard Attenborough.