A Chorus Line | Live Show Review – TOP 20 MUSICALS 2024: NO 3

Chorus members are often the unsung heroes of Musical Theatre, but they get their moment to shine in the seminal 1975 show A Chorus Line, which takes us inside the audition room for a Broadway musical. Originally conceived by director Michael Bennett, the show was inspired by taped interviews with dancers who agreed to sell Bennett their life stories for a single dollar. Their tales became a groundbreaking piece of ensemble theatre that won nine Tony Awards, not to mention the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and ran for 15 years on Broadway.

Nikolai Foster’s revival was first seen at Leicester Curve for Christmas 2021 and is now setting out on a UK tour. Foster’s production remains true to the original’s ethos of gritty realism, with minimal sets and costumes – at least until the iconic finale with its top hats and tails. Rather than a traditional narrative structure, the show focuses on the lived experiences of each character, as 17 hopeful dancers are asked by the director in charge of the audition to share why they started dancing.

The impressive cast deliver their stories through song, dance and monologue, deftly juggling tone switches from humour to pathos. Characters reveal everything from troubled childhoods to sexual abuse and body image issues, with the overriding theme of dance as an escape and form of joy even in dark times. This theme is encapsulated by, as Sheila, Bebe and Maggie respectively, Amy Thornton, Lydia Bannister and Kate Parr’s wistful rendition of ‘At the Ballet’, one of the evening’s early highlights.

With so many talented performers onstage, it’s tough to single any out, but Carly Mercedes Dyer makes an undeniable impact as Cassie, a dancer who broke out of the chorus but never became the star she envisioned and is now desperate for a second chance. Dyer brims with fiery determination and gives a spellbinding performance of ‘The Music and the Mirror’. 

Similarly captivating are Jocasta Almgill’s Diana Morales, who leads the cast in the show’s most well-known song, ‘What I Did for Love’, and Manuel Pacific, whose gentle, soft-spoken Paul provides the most emotional moment of the night as he relates the story of unexpectedly encountering his parents while performing in drag. 

Presiding over them all is Adam Cooper’s Zach, the demanding director with a hidden core of humanity. Cooper’s commanding presence and booming instructions anchor the show, though he can’t quite find the required chemistry with Dyer’s Cassie.

Of course, A Chorus Line relies heavily on its choreography, and Ellen Kane’s new interpretations of the original dances created by Bennett and his co-choreographer Bob Avian are a joy to experience, from the initial audition routine which fuses ballet and contemporary dance, to the final high-kicking extravaganza of ‘One’. The group numbers are performed in perfect unison, and while for much of the show the performers remain in a single line across the stage, there are some exuberant individual routines from those who break out from the line when telling their stories.

By the end of the show even Howard Hudson’s lighting design seems to join in the choreography, with the lighting rigs swooping and twisting above the dancers. The dancing lights combine with pyrotechnics and sequin-covered outfits to give us a truly glitzy finale, in stunning contrast to the realism of the rest of the show. 

A Chorus Line may not have the same impact it did when it was first created, but it remains a hopeful, often beautiful tribute to the power of dance and the joys and heartbreaks of following your dreams. By the end of the show, the audience has had the chance to get to know and appreciate each individual dancer, and by the time the final casting decision is due, we are rooting for all of them.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Cast Adam Cooper, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Jocasta Almgill, Lydia Bannister, Bradley Delarosbel, Archie Durrant, Joshua Lay, Katie Lee, Mireia Mambo, Kanako Nakano, Manuel Pacific, Kate Parr, Rachel Jayne Picar, Redmand Rance, Chloe Saunders, Toby Seddon, Amy Thornton, Louie Wood et al

Original concept/direction/choreography
Michael Bennett

Direction Nikolai Foster

Choreography Ellen Kane

Musical direction Matthew Spalding

Music supervision, orchestrations David Shrubsole

Set Grace Smart

Lighting Howard Hudson

Sound Tom Marshall

Costumes Edd Lindley