For me, darlings, whenever I am down about anything, but especially theater, if "A Chorus Line" is being done somewhere, I can always count on it to react on me, like a blood transfusion.
The production David and I saw yesterday, at The Gallery Players, in Park Slope, which is closing today, did just that--give me a transfusion. "A Chorus Line" is just about as perfect a musical theater piece as a Theater Queen could want, and the company performing it here, does it full justice.
It is a pity this production cannot be extended, or at least, moved to another venue to run, because the show is a reminder of how much this show is needed and means to so many of us.
Everyone onstage is superb. The space it is done in, and the smallness of the house, comes as close as showing what it might have been like to have seen the original down at The Public, back in 1975. This is as intimate a staging as I have ever seen. In fact, David and I were the first in the house, so we got to see cast members doing Baayork's (that is Baayork Lee, for the uninitiated) warm-ups . I wanted to get up there, and do them, myself. I had to restrain myself.
The company was handpicked; everyone suited their role, and many had done the show before, which does not surprise me. Of course, Shiloh Goodin (Cassie), Melissa Glasgow (Sheila), Sarah Reynolds (Val) Tara Kostmayer (Diana) and Steven Rada (Paul) all stood out, as they should; the roles are written that way, and these performers superbly embodied them. But I was also touched by Elizabeth L. Worley (Maggie, who superbly did the crescendo in "At The Ballet"), Caleb Schaaf (Bobby), and Emily Cochrane (Judy).
If I sound like a "Chorus Line" aficionado, well, I am. My father and I saw the Original Company at the Shubert Theatre, on October 25, 1975. He passed earlier this year, so, if I cried, and I did, part of it was because of this memory.
But it was also how much the show resonates as one gets older. I never used to weep during "What I Did For Love," but this time, I did. And I was struck by how many characters, thanks to director, Tom Rowan, gave fresh line readings, in rhythms I was not used to hearing them read, but gave a freshness to the show. Just as Sheila's exit, revealing her vulnerability, made one sit up and take notice.
I have only two, but minor, caveats. "A Chorus Line" should NOT be performed with an intermission. This is the second production I have seen that does it. I understand it is for the benefit of the audience, who may be older, but, come on, elders go to Broadway, where it is always done straight through. At least, the production broke at a sensible spot--the ending of "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love!" In the abortive Heights Players production, years back, not only was it mistakenly done on a non-proscenium stage, but the first half broke here when Zach tells Cassie he wants to see her on stage alone. A bad point to do so.
My other caveat is with Cassie. Oh, no, Shiloh Goodin nailed the role perfectly, and danced like a dream. But, at the end of Paul's monologue, when the cast comes on to rehearse "One," Cassie should be seen without the red skirt. She wears it at the start to establish her better than average abilities, and red is the most noticeable color on the stage. But, during her segment, she has just made statements about how she can blend in, fit in with the chorus, "dance like everyone" else, and returning skirtless underscores those points made. But wearing it here is simply wrong; it defeats the purpose of Cassie's speech.
As I said, these are caveats; they don't hurt the production. But details must be adhered to, if one is doing "A Chorus Line." Why didn't Cassie remove the skirt?
No matter when or where I see it, some part of me is up there. I will never do the show--I cannot even do the opening steps; I need someone to take me in hand, and teach me, no matter how much work it takes. My dream, even at this age, would be to be one of the ones eliminated, so I could go backstage, or downstairs, and do what I do best--sing. Sing the ensemble numbers, to enlarge the sound while dancers onstage are so full out they may lose breath control.
Honestly, I almost stood up to sing "What I Did For Love" with the cast.
"A Chorus Line" has never stopped speaking to me. It never will. And, girls, in just seven years, its 50tth Anniversary is coming up.
May the show, as this production here, get the treatment it deserves, then!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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