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.
