"A Chorus Line" at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts

The 1975 smash hit Broadway musical A Chorus Line truly is a singular sensation. After winning nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize (one of only eight musicals to do so), it ran for 15 years, making it the longest running musical on Broadway at the time (it still ranks as number six). But why would this musical about dancers auditioning to be in the chorus line of a musical be such a popular success? Theater people can surely relate to it, but what about the rest of us mere mortals who've never stepped foot on a stage? The reason for its long-lasting success is that it's not just an inside look at the world of musical theater; its themes of adolescence, acceptance, figuring out who you are and what you want to be, and dedicating your life to something that you love are universal, told with raw honesty and unabashed sincerity. And the dancing is pretty terrific too. I've been waiting almost seven years for a local production of A Chorus Line, since seeing the Broadway revival tour in 2009. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has finally fulfilled my wish, and it's well worth the wait. Featuring a fabulously talented cast of over two dozen legit triple threats, about half of whom are local, co-directed and co-choreographed by A Chorus Line expert Kerry Casserly and Artistic Director James Rocco, this show hews very close to the original. There's no re-imagining here, this is a beautifully faithful production of the singular sensation that is A Chorus Line. If you call yourself a musical theater fan, it's a must-see.

"Let's Get Down and Thirty" at Lush Bar featuring a reading of "For Tonight"

One of the very first things that I wrote about when I started Cherry and Spoon back in the summer of 2010 was a very fun and entertaining cabaret/comedy show called Where's My Tony?, created, written, and hosted by Whitney Rhodes and Josh Campbell. I've enjoyed watching both of them over the last five and a half years wherever their careers took them, and I was thrilled to watch Whitney host a show of her own this past Monday. Every year, she very generously uses her birthday celebration to raise money for a cause she cares about. This year for her 30th birthday, the money raised went to Mixed Blood Theatre, where she currently works as the Development Manager. Mixed Blood is celebrating their 40th birthday this year, so it seems quite appropriate to celebrate these two milestones with a great evening of beloved and new musical theater.