A Chorus Line + Tour = AMAZING!!!- Page 2

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/9/09 at 9:21pm

I'm really glad to hear that! Since I basically only get to see tours, living where I am, I sometimes am hesitant to post about them on here for fear of hearing the typical "well the New York cast was better" messages you often see-- With tours you often have to sorta try your luck and hope for the best. But yeah, it was a happy surprise.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/9/09 at 9:32pm

Also, Nikki Snelson's Cassie was just so much better than what she was putting out there for the Val audition in "Every Little Step."

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/9/09 at 9:39pm

I wondered about that.

There was a local interview with Clyde Alves, who plays Mike in the tour (and is married to current Cassie, Robyn Hurder) where he said that he had alway wanted to play Mike, but found the Revival auditions completely ignored him:

" Alves had originally auditioned for the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line.

"They hardly looked at me. They told me they didn't see me as any particular type and so weren't interested in me.

"At the time it was a major blow. I was used to rejection, but I thought I was right for the show and especially for Mike.

"For years, people kept telling me I was Mike from A Chorus Line."

Fast forward a couple of years and Alves auditioned for the A Chorus Line tour.

"They asked me where I'd been all this time and signed me up immediately. It was a nice vindication." "

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/9/09 at 11:02pm

From what I've found, this is what I know:

Houston: January 5 - 17
Jacksonville: January 19 - 24
tba: January 26 - 31
West Palm Beach: February 2 - 7
Columbus, GA: February 9 - 10
Huntsville, AL: February 12 - 14
Melbourne, FL: February 16 - 17
Clearwater, FL: February 19 - 21
Tallahassee, FL; February 22 - 23
Waterbury, CT: February 26 - 28
Wilmington, DE: March 2 - 7
Hershey, PA: March 9 - 14
Hamilton, ON: March 16
tba: March 17 - 18
Worcester, MA: March 19 - 21
tba: March 23 - April 4
East Lansing, MI: April 6 - 11
Kansas City: April 13 - 18
Indianapolis: April 20 - 25
Dayton, OH: April 27 - May 2
Nashville: May 4 - 9
Austin: May 11 - 16
Sacramento: May 19 - 30

It would be nice if the tour continued past Sacramento. It hasn't visited the following big cities yet: Birmingham, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, San Antonio, Montreal, etc.; so there's still hope.

[LoveIsCompany]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 12:49am

For the record, the tour IS Equity, but a lower Tier so that the minimum is in the $900 ballpark, as compared to the Equity norm of $1,605 (sans agent/manager cuts). I have a few friends who are going to be on the new tour, and it's the same show, just cheaper to produce in regards to actor's salaries and what not. A few more shows are going this route in the near future as well, i.e. Avenue Q going Non-Equity.

[EvanK]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 1:16am

As in most tours, the show travels with 4 main compononents to the orchestra. The rest is hired in locally. You could see into the pit thru the net and there was atleast 15 people i'd say. Maybe a couple more. They sounded amazing!

When I saw the tour of Wicked in seattle in 2006, I read the program and saw a 4 peice orchestra and was confused as to how they got the sound they did.. Then I discovered the rest are hired locally.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 1:58am

Yes, as the others said, A Chorus Line has been utilizing the full orchestration on the tour, traveling with a core group and picking up the remainder locally.

It's a common misconception that all tours use small pits and I blame that fully on local presenters. The "en tour" musicians are always listed in the programs with the cast and scenes & musical numbers, but the listing of the local musicians can vary GREATLY. From different stops of the same tour, I have seen the local musicians listed directly below the en tour musicians and on the very last page of the program, behind the credits and acknowledgements, etc. One stop didn't list the local musicians at all.

Because of the new split week stops, the tour might now be traveling with a fully contained orchestra, whether fully live or partially synthesized. I would have to check on that though.

Technically speaking, the 1st national is closing a after this week and the new leg will be a "new" tour. The production being closed for a minimum of 6 weeks allows the current union contract rider/rates to expire so that it can go back out on the lower tier - it's similar to what the Little Shop of Horrors tour did to drop to a lower tier and what Beauty and the Beast did when moving to the Lunt from the Palace so that they could have fewer actors in the show.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 12:27pm

Thanks for explaining all that, both of you--I feel foolish for assuming otherwise as I do know something about orchestra sizes, etc--but looking through the program briefly again I can't find a listing of the orchestra besides the four core members *at all*, so maybe they just left it out. (I did know most tours pick up most of their musicians in each town).

Anyway it's a terrific tour, and I hope that the new tour won't show any significant loss in quality (and will go on longer than May--I kinda feel sad about the idea of this production--first the revival then the tour--not running much longer)

[Basely Tearful]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 12:31pm

I saw the first tour company about a year-and-a-half ago and it was one of the best A Chorus Line casts I've seen. Far superior to the Broadway revival cast in almost every way. I thought Snelson danced well but was slightly miscast (more of a Val, especially after seeing Every Little Step) and Michael Gruber was a bit off (though I've seen plenty of his regional work and he's always been great). But, and sorry I don't have my Playbill for their names, the Sheila, Diana, Paul, and Val were all magnificent (as was the remainder of the cast).

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 1:24pm

I wonder how much the cast changed over the tour--it's interesting that Gruber (who I thought was dead on but that could be me, or maybe he grew into the role) left and came back. (Our Diana, who i thought was great, was listed with an insert as being the understudy but I noticed that she's played Diana at every performances in both Vancouver and at least the city, Calgary, before that if not more)

I'm a big fan of Snelson so would have liked to have seen her, but I agree that she seems much more of a Val, naturally, than a Cassie.

[Basely Tearful]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 1:28pm

I saw Gruber at his second tour stop. So he may have been growing into it. Though I seem to recall he's played the role regionally.

He's doing White Christmas soon in Seattle, so he'll be departing again.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 1:33pm

Yeah but not till they're done Edmonton (where they open tonight) which is their final stop anyway--so I assume most of the cast will be diff by the Spring tour.

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 2:00pm

I'm really excited to see the tour in Indy. I'm ashamed to say that I'm not especially familiar with the show, but I hope this new tour is just as solid as you say the previous one is/was.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 6:10pm

Gruber also played Mike in the original production's final cast. It was very odd, but wonderful to see him coming full circle. I did find him good, but miscast, as Greg in the Broadway revival company, however.

As far as the touring company, the turn over wasn't anything extraordinary.. several people were there for the entire run, most roles had one replacement at most. A couple of the original cut dancers and swings from the tour later assumed principal roles - namely Alex Ringler taking over as Greg and Brandon Tyler taking over as Larry..

Eric,
No reason to feel foolish at all. You can't anyone to reasonably assume anything beyond what is in the Playbill. Frankly, I have a distaste for local presenters who bury or hide the names of the local musicians.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 6:10pm

Gruber also played Mike in the original production's final cast. It was very odd, but wonderful to see him coming full circle. I did find him good, but miscast, as Greg in the Broadway revival company, however.

As far as the touring company, the turn over wasn't anything extraordinary.. several people were there for the entire run, most roles had one replacement at most. A couple of the original cut dancers and swings from the tour later assumed principal roles - namely Alex Ringler taking over as Greg and Brandon Tyler taking over as Larry..

Eric,
No reason to feel foolish at all. You can't expect anyone to reasonably assume anything beyond what is in the Playbill. Frankly, I have a distaste for local presenters who bury or hide the names of the local musicians.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 6:16pm

That's interesting--particularly as I thought Ringler and Tyler were standouts at least dance wise (I had a chance to briefly talk to Tyler after the show in fact).

OK I feel less foolish now about the orchestra thing thanks for clearing it up though--it *did* sound good (in fact the sound was better than most tours I've gone to which usually have some probes--I was very close but for the most part no one on stage seemed heavily miked yet all were very clear)

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 6:24pm

Very cool. I am much less familiar with Brandon Tyler than i am with Alex Ringler, who I find to be an insanely gifted dancer.

I felt the same way during the Broadway run. ACME Sound Partners did a wonderful job on the sound design for the show and they have employed very gifted mixers for this production. My one issue wwas always with mic placement. For the most part, it was EXTREMELY discreet, but there were odd times where it stood out.. at least on Charlotte d'Amboise as Cassie. Her mic pack was extremely apparent and the mic head was clearly visible and distracting in her cleavage when lights hit it from certain angles..

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 6:55pm

I think I saw Ringler in Cats--at least his headshot looked very familiar and that's the only dance heavy show I've seen otherwise on tour in the last few years... (I wish I was better at remembering where I keep my programs)

I think they must have worked that out as I noticed no mike packs (my mom thought that they weren't miked at all--as she couldn't see any, but I pointed out that they obviously were) but it was a nice change--I'm used to nearly every tour I see (especially one that's only there for under a week) having at least one moment in the show of severe audio problems.
Updated On: 11/10/09 at 06:55 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/10/09 at 11:49pm

I saw the tour a total of four times in the two weeks it was in DC, back in March of this year. I was even fortunate to see 3 different Paul's, and they were all equally wonderful. Sebastian La Cause was Zach at the time and his portrayal was spot on. As a whole, I felt the cast of the tour were better than their Broadway counterparts.