A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC

[DottieD'Luscia]

A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#1

Posted: 3/13/09 at 11:45pm

I just got back from this evening's performance of the national tour of A Chorus Line and absolutely loved it. I saw the Broadway production 3 times, and I actually prefer what I saw tonight. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the Broadway production, but for some reason, some of the people on tour were stronger in their roles in comparison to their Broadway counterparts.

I really liked this cast. Some of my favorites (in no particular order) were:

Robyn Hurder as Cassie was wonderful. Her dancing, singing and acting were excellent; especially her scenes with Sebastian La Cause (Zach). I loved "Music and the Mirror", and really liked Sebastian as Zach.

Paul was played by understudy Jordan Fife Hunt. I was disappointed when I saw the slip in the Playbill as I really wanted to see Kevin Santos. No need to worry, Jordan was excellent. His scene with Zach was very heartfelt and brought tears to my eyes.

Gabrielle Ruiz (Diana) - a beautifully sung and acted performance.

I've seen Clyde Alves (Mike) in many shows, but never saw him dance like I saw him tonight. Who knew he had such an extension?! I could not keep my eyes off of him during the opening number.

Anthony Wayne (Richie) - funny and fab-u-lous!!!

David Hull (Mark) - cute as a button, and very believeable as Mark.

Mindy Dougherty (Val) - loved her!!

Because I only singled a few people out doesn't mean anything. The entire cast was very strong. I thought the choreography was executed crisply. I liked that I had a seat in the mezzanine as to appreciate Michael Bennett's staging and patterns in the choreography. The opening sequence brought tears to my eyes for some reason, and the finale just gave me chills!

What an enjoyable evening. I plan on returning at least one more time before the show leaves DC. So happy that they'll be here for two weeks.

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

Updated On: 3/14/09 at 11:45 PM

[PalJoey]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#2

Posted: 3/14/09 at 12:18am

I totally agree. I saw this tour in Fort Lauderdale a few weeks ago and thought the chemistry between Robyn Hurder and Sebastian La Cause was better than in the recent Broadway revival.

I posted then that I thought it showed off the Michael Bennett staging better than the Broadway revival did, in part because it didn't have to live up to the same kind of comparison.

[DottieD'Luscia]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#2

Posted: 3/14/09 at 12:35am

PalJoey, it also reminded me of how certain shows should not be tinkered with (WSS - cough, cough).

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

[wickedfan11]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#3

Posted: 3/14/09 at 7:51am

Your review makes me very excited to see A Chorus Line next weekend!

[Magica]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#4

Posted: 3/14/09 at 8:10am

Seeing it tonight. Thanks for the review.

[ACL2006]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#5

Posted: 3/14/09 at 11:56am

Thanks for the review!!

A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.

[muscle23ftl]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#6

Posted: 3/14/09 at 2:36pm

I saw the tour in Fort Lauderdale as well, this is my review:

I just came back from the show. I will always love this show, although for some reason, it felt like it dragged towards the end.
I thought that some of the performers were amateur-ish, but some others were excellent.
The only understudy was Stephanie Martignetti as Val, she was outstanding, her Val was even better than Jessica Lee Goldwyn's and Mindy Dougherty's.
Most of the cast was great, but the female singers weren't good at ALL, for exception of a few.
Gabrielle Ruiz and Liza Domingo were very good, and Robyn Hurder was great as Cassie, but as much open minded as I was, not many of the actresses that will play Cassie will ever be as good as Tony-nominated Charlotte D'Amboise. D'Amboise's dancing technique was absolutely flawless, I don't think many other actresses can act or dance as good as Charlotte.
The male cast was very good, there were no weak singers, and I have to say that Colt Prattes was absolutely gorgeous, and the sexiest Al I've seen.
Bethany Moore stood out as Judy Turner, she was one of the stronger performers in the cast.

"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-

[DottieD'Luscia]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#7

Posted: 3/14/09 at 3:22pm

I liked the show so much, I got another ticket for tomorrow night!

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

[PalJoey]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#8

Posted: 3/14/09 at 3:26pm

I enjoyed Robyn and Sebastian much more than Charlotte and Michael--and I have liked them both enormously in the past.

Sebastian was my favorite Zach since Eivind Harum.

[DottieD'Luscia]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#9

Posted: 3/14/09 at 4:39pm

On my way to purchase another ticket, I ran into Jordan (Paul understudy) on the street. I told him what a wonderful job he did. He seemed a bit taken aback that I recognized him, but he seemed very happy just the same.

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

[KChenowethfan]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#10

Posted: 3/19/09 at 5:40pm

I also saw the tour in DC. I hadn't seen the show before the Broadway revival and it did not live up to my expectations. I liked the tour much, much better.

"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)

[wickedfan11]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#11

Posted: 3/21/09 at 7:55pm

I just got home from seeing A Chorus Line today!

I had never seen it before(thought I had listened to the Revival Cast Recording).

Venny Carranza was understudying the role of Greg.

I'm bad at writing reviews, but the stand-outs were Mindy Dougherty (Val), Robyn Hurder (Cassie), Anthony Wayne (Richie), Bethany Moore (Judy), and Gabrielle Ruiz (Diana).
It was a great performance and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#12

Posted: 3/21/09 at 8:37pm

Tomorrow night will be the fourth time I would have seen this tour. Never have I seen a show so many times within a short time period. This production is that good!! I'm going with a friend of mine who has never seen this show. I'm really curious as to what she'll think.

The only other tours I'd seen just as much was The Light in the Piazza which I saw in 3 different cities and the original Hairspray tour.

During the run of A Chorus Line in DC, I saw 3 different Pauls, 2 Cassies, 2 Vals, 2 Shielas, 2 Christines, 2 Gregs, and 2 Bobbys. The understudies in this production were all wonderfully strong.

Wickedfan11, I agree with your standouts. As much as I liked Mindy Dougherty as Val, I thought her understudy, Stephanie Martignetti was even better!

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

[DottieD'Luscia]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#13

Posted: 3/22/09 at 10:50pm

I just returned from the final DC performance of A Chorus Line. This was the best one yet, and the first time there were no understudies on. The cast was in top form and the audience was one of the most enthusiastic I have ever experienced in my almost 9 years of attending theatre in DC.

The cast of this tour has a lot to be proud of. I went with a friend of mine who was only familiar with the movie (she liked that, too), and absolutely loved this production.

Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

[misto625]

re: A Chorus Line (tour) - Washington, DC#14

Posted: 3/23/09 at 2:52am

I'm glad Jordan Fife Hunt did a wonderful job as Paul. He joined the tour more recently, so it's great that he got the chance to go on and show what he can do!

Dean: Can I tell you something? Lorraine: That depends on what it is. Dean: I think you're really really pretty. Lorraine: (after a pause) Ok, you can tell me that.