A Chorus Line reviews

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:36pm

Talkin Broadway is Mixed:

"The spangles and sequins, the twinkling lights, the shimmering performers wearing smiles and costumes sparkling with enough gold to buy out Fort Knox... These images are indelible fixtures of A Chorus Line, the groundbreaking 1975 show that's become all but synonymous with the idea of the Broadway musical as a life force. Why, then, does the new revival of the show at the Schoenfeld feel like a wake?

One cannot directly blame, as one so often can, the creative team. Those behind this revival are dedicated to the proposition that this show was perfect as it was: Its director, Bob Avian, co-choreographed the original; its choreographer, Baayork Lee, was one of its stars; the designs of the sets (by Robin Wagner), costumes (Theoni V. Aldredge), and lights (Tharon Musser, adapted by Natasha Katz) are also making return appearances.

No, this isn't a case of the creatives not trusting the original enough: It's a case of them trusting it too much. And in the process, they've highlighted the true extent of the contributions made by the most vital element missing this time: Michael Bennett.
_______________________________________________________________

Avian has seamlessly stitched together the show's various pieces, but examined individually, each component seems lacking: Lee's dances, while practically step-perfect recreations, land as mortal choreography, never burning with the otherworldly, cynical sexiness that defined Bennett's best work in set pieces like Cassie's soul-stopping "The Music and the Mirror" or "I Hope I Get It." The orchestra (led by Patrick Vaccariello) emits only obligatory energy, keeping you alert without seizing your senses. (Among other things, the harp has been excised from Bill Byers, Hershy Kay, and Jonathan Tunick's once-peerless orchestrations.)

The performances, too, while hardly perfunctory, don't possess the spark that suggests we're watching 19 legitimate stars strut their stuff. In particular, Berresse and dynamic dancer d'Amboise, who look of disparately different ages, establish no believable history together, making their late-show confrontations - so crucial for establishing the necessity of dance in these people's lives - ring hollowly.

Some casting, such as Deidre Goodwin as valium-martini bitch Sheila or a too-cute Alisan Porter as plain-Jane Bebe, represents interesting ideas that don't quite pay off. Some is passable but unexciting: Jason Tam is too collected for the terrified Paul, whose monologic revelation of his drag past is usually the show's most affecting moment; Cortez is a highly agreeable - if vocally underpowered - Diana. Other roles are better inhabited: Jeffrey Schecter is pointedly funny as show-off Mike, Yuka Takara's a spunky delight as "Four Foot Ten" Connie, and Heather Parcells is a pleasantly flighty Judy.
________________________________________________________________

They've even worked Bennett into the show by casting eerie look-alike Michael Paternostro as the flamboyantly sexual Greg, and he firmly projects Bennett's authority and personality. Avian and Lee can't be faulted for not evoking still more: They've done their best, but they might have more closely recreated the glory of A Chorus Line by better respecting the singularly sensational abilities of themselves and their cast. Wouldn't Bennett himself have probably wanted to start from scratch?"




http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/ChorusLine.html

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:39pm

The AP is Mixed-to-Positive:

"There is an innate theatrical and emotional excitement to "A Chorus Line" that is positively primal.

This legendary musical about dancers auditioning for a big Broadway show resonates with audiences because of the way its creator, Michael Bennett, was able to combine his savvy sense of show-biz razzmatazz with a realization that you have to care about the people you are watching on stage.

That shiver of joy is not consistently present in the musical's first-ever New York revival, which opened Thursday at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. As dancers, this "Chorus Line" class of 2006 is first-rate, but more is needed to make the show completely successful, particularly if you are trying to replicate Bennett's 1975 production."



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/05/entertainment/e150604D57.DTL

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:40pm

I started a thread too, but lets keep the discussion here. I largely agree with these reviews so far.

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:44pm

What times it over there in NYC?

[folkyboy]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:46pm

it's Eastern Times in NYC

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:46pm

The Gay City News (for what it's worth) is a rave:

"“A Chorus Line” is a near perfect musical, and the new production, directed by Bob Avian—assistant choreographer to the show’s creator, choreographer, and director Michael Bennett—proves the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The original staging remains intact, the time is still 1975 at a Broadway audition, and the choreography has been faithfully re-staged by Baayork Lee, who originated the role of Connie.


Theoni V. Aldredge’s costumes—bell bottom dance pants on the men and leotards, tights, and thick-heeled dancing shoes for the women—give us an authentic glimpse of pre-hip-hop-generation dancewear; there are no cut-off sweats or split-sole jazz sneakers in sight. Set designer Robin Wagner’s backdrop of rotating mirrors reflects the dancers and ourselves back at us, and lighting designer Tharon Musser’s pinpoint spots still pick individual dancers’ faces out of the darkness in Natasha Katz’s adaptation.
_____________________________________________________________

The concise, intermission-less two hours’ running time intensifies our emotional investment, just like that of the dancers at the audition. And the brilliance of Michael Bennett’s original concept, choreography, and direction has lost none of its luster three decades on.

Welcome back, “A Chorus Line!” It’s still the best ticket on Broadway—whether you’re a dance fan or not. This crisp new incarnation will inspire a whole new generation of talented dancer/singer/actors, and puts “Chorus Line” on track to reclaim its former title as the longest running musical in Broadway history."



http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_540/stillkicking.html

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:48pm

Can you imagine if the press office from ACL actually used a quote from the "Gay City News?"

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:50pm

Who needs quotes? The show's sold out until February - and then all seats become $111. They didn't even have to invite critics.

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:50pm

LOL. Yes I know that it is Eastern Time in NYC...but wouldn't that make it like just 8pm and reviews are out already?

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:51pm

These reviews make me wonder what Brantley (I'm assuming he will review it) will say in the Times. I desperately want this show to hang on until the spring of next year when I can get to NYC and judge for myself.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:51pm

That'd be funny. I only posted it because there doesn't seem to be any other reviews up at the moment.

Opening night curtain was at 6:30.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:53pm

I don't believe its completely sold out until February. I don't believe that one tiny bit.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:55pm

Neither do I, neither do I, neither do I, my GOD, neither do I.

[Luscious]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:55pm

"I desperately want this show to hang on until the spring of next year when I can get to NYC and judge for myself."

It'll hang onto until the spring regardless of the reviews. Although I'm a bit surprised that they're only selling tickets through the first week of March. I would have expected the advance sale to be more long range a la MARY POPPINS, especially in light of the positive advance "buzz".

Updated On: 10/5/06 at 06:55 PM

[harris007]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:03pm

yahoo has a review , but not like there a major source



By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
45 minutes ago



NEW YORK - There is an innate theatrical and emotional excitement to "A Chorus Line" that is positively primal.

ADVERTISEMENT

This legendary musical about dancers auditioning for a big Broadway show resonates with audiences because of the way its creator, Michael Bennett, was able to combine his savvy sense of show-biz razzmatazz with a realization that you have to care about the people you are watching on stage.

That shiver of joy is not consistently present in the musical's first-ever New York revival, which opened Thursday at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. As dancers, this "Chorus Line" class of 2006 is first-rate, but more is needed to make the show completely successful, particularly if you are trying to replicate Bennett's 1975 production.

Directed now by Bob Avian (Bennett's original co-choreographer), "A Chorus Line" revels in its confessional-style monologues — still seemingly set three decades ago. Bennett drew on hours of taped interviews with real-life Broadway dancers to create the show. And when he put these stories on stage, he had the advantage of having many of those dancers more or less play themselves. Forget reality TV. The theater got there first.

Distilled by book writers James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, these tales are coaxed out of the dancers by the director Zach ( Michael Berresse), who for much of the evening is a disembodied voice, asking questions from the back of the theater. Berresse displays the right amount of icy exactitude laced with a hint of compassion for what these performers are going through. Could this be a portrait of Bennett himself?

One by one, these dancers talk about their lives, interrupted by songs (the Marvin Hamlisch-Edward Kleban score sounds as buoyant as ever) and the dazzling choreography of Bennett and Avian, recreated here by original cast member Baayork Lee.

So it's puzzling that several of the musical's big set pieces don't come across as forcefully as they should. The confrontation between Zach and Cassie, his one-time lover and star dancer who is now willing to go back into the line, falls a bit flat. As Cassie, a distracted Charlotte d'Amboise portrays the desperation of an older dancer who needs a job, but she strains vocally.

The story of Paul, the young performer who talks about trying to hide his life dancing in drag, also has lost some of its shock value over the last three decades.

The show still retains its power in the big production numbers, most notably "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love," that trumpeting of sexual awakening that features some of Bennett's most cinematic staging.

And several of the dancers manage to put their own distinct spin on characters we thought we already knew. There's a silly sweetness to Chryssie Whitehead's tone-deaf Kristine and a cocky likability to Mike, whose eager-beaver personality is perfectly captured by Jeffrey Schecter.

Jessica Lee Goldyn delivers that hymn to man-made beauty, "Dance: Ten Looks: Three," with a sly, comic sexiness and Deidre Goodwin exudes a sardonic, street-wise sassiness that masks her insecurities as Sheila.

The bare-stage look of "A Chorus Line," particularly Robin Wagner's minimal setting, remains much the same. The lighting — adapted by Natasha Katz from Tharon Musser's original designs — is as exquisite as ever. And there is something remarkable about the costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge, whose simple rehearsal clothes are exactly right. Notice how your eye automatically is drawn to Cassie because she is done up in a striking red dress.

Theater people, especially performers, have a special affection for "A Chorus Line." After all, the big anthem in the show is called "What I Did for Love." The song, sung here by Natalie Cortez, is the reason most of them decided to work on stage. "A Chorus Line" artfully demonstrates just how difficult that decision can be to pull off.

[NBC]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:04pm

The review on Yahoo is the Associated Press review.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:04pm

That's the same AP review I linked above.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:05pm

Where's the love for Jason Tam???

[harris007]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:05pm

whoops sorry didnt notice that margo =(

[Luscious]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:06pm

harris... for God's sake, pay attention! And leave the posting to Margo.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 7:13pm

Actually, if anyone comes across a review that hasn't been posted yet, PLEASE feel free to add it to the thread.

[Feathah]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 8:16pm

As for the timing of reviews - often they are written prior to opening night. Critics are sometimes invited to attend the show after it's frozen shortly before the actual opening night. Then the review runs the day after the official opening.

The show is not completely sold out - meaning each and every performance - through Feb/march. However, good luck getting a pair of tickets to Fri/Sat/Sun performances. I got a pair of tickets for Thursday 11/16. Weekends were basically sold out, except for single seats or the extreme left or right in the back of the mezz thru March.

Updated On: 10/5/06 at 08:16 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 8:35pm

In New York, reviews are ALWAYS written prior to opening night. Critics' previews typically begin a week or so before opening night (for instance, I know several critics saw ACL last Saturday) and their reviews are generally submitted a few days later, but not published online until after the opening night curtain goes up. The practice began at least 25 years ago -- Frank Rich is generally credited with beginning the practice when he came on board as the Times critic in 1980. He wanted the time to be able write a comprehensive and thoughtful review (for decades before him, critics attended opening night and had only an hour or two at most to write a review in order to make deadline), so when AMADEUS was about to open, he bought a ticket to one of the last previews and based his review on that performance. Word got out, all hell broke loose for a time (producers and publicists were NOT happy), but shortly afterwards, the advent of the critics' preview was born and now the major critics are given a pair of tickets to one of several previews during the week before opening night (reviewers for less prominent publications and certain online sites however sometimes have to wait until after opening to see the show).

[NYadgal]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 9:01pm

As always, Margo, thank you for your wonderful information.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/5/06 at 9:12pm

ACL is also holding a lot of seats for premium option. That is why they appear more sold out than they really are.