BREAKING NEWS: A CHORUS LINE RETURNS TO BROADWAY 2006- Page 2

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:09am

WOW. ACL back on Broadway. I remember when it closed (and that was a sad day for a lot of folks in my age range, because ACL had always, I mean ALWAYS, been at the Shubert) there was some talk about mounting a permanent production of it downtown. Glad that never happened, I guess, because this will be an event.

And I don't think it should be "re-thunk" at all. Recreate it with all of the original Bennett/Avian choreography and staging. There's a whole generation out there that have never seen it, and I hate to think that Hornaday's choreography for the dismal movie version would become de riguer.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:21am

1) When are tickets going on sale? Should I start applying for AmEx Gold Cards now?

2) Will there be a lottery?

3) How bad are the obstructed views in the theater that hasn't been chosen yet?

4) What merchandise will they be selling? I would request the cafe au lait colored t-shirt with the brown logo that I bought back in Year One (because the history of Broadway can be divided into three eras in my very humble opinion: Before A Chorus Line, After A Chorus Line, and A Chorus Line) but eventually ruined.

5) Sean Hayes for Paul! (Kidding.)


6) When will the revival cast recording be released? Will it include "And..."?

7) Will they do the thing they did in the first year of the run at the Shubert and have postcards available that say "Dear______, I just saw A Chorus Line at the Shubert and [then it was blank]"? Max Racks didn't invent that sort of marketing.

8 ) Sean Hayes for Mike! (Kidding.)

9) Do you think everybody will sign at the stage door?

10) Looks: 3

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 11:21 AM

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:31am

Sean Hayes is actually a decent actor :)

That being said, I'm a little nervous about this, now that I've thought it over more. It's AWFULLY dated!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:40am

Shut up shut up SHUT UP. The timelessness of its themes transcend the speficicity of its setting. I GUESS if it had been set in a mythical land and the language was peppered with MADE UP WORDS the show would be an epic for all time. Believe me 16 years after Wicked closes, there will be no excitement at all over the prospects of a revival. None.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:44am

True Namo.
I can't wait to see A Chorus Line. I love it so much.
This made my month. Wish it was this season and not next year.
We have a year to get excited.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:46am

Ga - I WISH it were too dated! The sad truth is that in today's atmosphere its message is probably needed more than ever.

[rock00]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:51am

Is it me, or am I the only one that misses the "good old days" when not every musical was either a revival or based on a musical or a crappy hodge-podge of someone's previously existing musical catologue?

Needless to say, I'll be skipping this one...

-b

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:52am

DGrant and Namo,

I guess what I mean by dated is that it's pre-AIDS, and was mounted in a time where coming out was a uniformly scary experience.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:54am

Am I the only one who does not love this show? I respect it for it’s innovation and some of the score and dancing were great, but it just kind of left me cold. I have never been a huge fan of shows about actors/theatre. I think it is lazy and reeks of self-promotion. It has that “Hey, look how hard we dancers work and you just don’t appreciate it, but it’s the only thing I ever wanted to do so you WILL love me.” Am I alone here?

I am not saying it does not have its merits, but I find it trite and contrived. I have a feeling that when these people who idolized it in their formative years see it again as an adult they may have the same feeling.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:00pm

Bump for Dame.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:14pm

The show is dated. As are many of the posters on this board.

[sipos]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:19pm

LOL. With that avatar, I loved that.
And I love Helen L.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:19pm

Curtain - you may be right. So I'll just hobble down to the front with my walker and enjoy the piece of theatre that touched my heart, and leave the enjoyment of the new, ground-breaking serious work to the Brooklyn lovers.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:23pm

Sueleen,

I'm someone who saw it several times during my "formative years," and then went back as an adult and you know what? It totally blew me away in ways it hadn't when I was younger.

I took a couple of friends (younger theatre professionals) to see the revival that Papermill did about three (?) years ago, with Baayork Lee recreating the original Bennett staging. I was once again struck how much of a marvel of construction the whole thing is, how the music and lyrics and book and dancing and staging and lighting all fit tightly together into a cohesive whole -- it's the most fully integrated musical ever created.

And as for feeling trite and contrived -- just the opposite. The rawness and vulnerability and pain of those stories still resonate as fully as they ever did (both my friends and the other people around us were positively weeping by the end of Paul's monologue). Not only did my friends not find it dated, they expressed to me that it still seemed to be completely ahead of its time -- the richness of the storytelling and the economy of the staging were still remarkable. Both friends (one an award-winning director, the other an actor) told me afterwards that they thought the show far surpassed every show playing in New York at that time (and they had seen everything). And I agree. A Chorus Line more than holds up very, very well and fully deserves it's status as a masterpiece and a landmark in the history of the American theatre.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:23pm

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 12:23 PM

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:23pm

Just keep in mind D, the mind is capable of some amazing tricks. Nothing is really exactly as we remember it. Hope you're not disappointed in the revival.

[mominator]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:28pm

One word------------- JOY!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:28pm

Margo, I am glad to hear that it still holds up for you both as a musical and emotional voyage. Like I said, I don't hate it and certainly don't hold it against anyone who adores it, but it just didn't do it for me. I am not a basher, just not a HUGE fan.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:30pm

Margo,

Good analysis. My question is will it resonate for people are in the 15-30 range and won't identify with Paul at all?

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:32pm

The only stunt casting I could see or want them to do would be having some of the originals come back.

Can Priscilla Lopez still kick?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:36pm

Young gay people don't still often find coming out a painful process? People, gay and straight, won't feel empathy for a young man struggling with those issues? I don't know, I seem to remember an incredible emotional outpouring over the whole Matthew Shepard case and while Paul's story certainly isn't as tragic, I think the power and pain of it still has every bit as much ability to devastate an audience in 2004 as it did when the show closed in 1990 (it certaing wiped out my 20-something friends three years ago).

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:37pm

"I have never been a huge fan of shows about actors/theatre. I think it is lazy ..."

I usually am so on board with that Sueleen. And the same goes for books about writers, movies about moviemakers, rock songs about how hard life is on the road. It USUALLY reeks of creators who have not chewed their cud very well.

On the other hand, just about everything in ACL is a metaphor for the entire life experience. From birth to death. I've seen productions from Broadway to tour to regional to community. And every time, two things happen. My body gets COVERED in goosebumps when the line forms for the first time and the 8x10s are up in front of their faces and I also realize how the material is so strong that even if the performance levels are scattered, it still shines. That's why a return to Broadway-level standards excites me no end.

And I often feel the same way about "oh, another revival." Just not this one. Best. Musical. Ever.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 12:50pm

Honey, Priscilla Lopez looks absolutely fantastic, but she's in her late 50s at this point (she was just in Paula Vogel's "The Oldest Profession" off-Broadway as an elderly prositute). And before anyboy mentions her, Donna McKechnie is 60 (and also still looks and sounds great). As much as I'd love to see them do these characters again, let's leave that for their nightclub acts or some special benefit performance somewhere. The show is about 20-somethings and as great as most of the original cast members still look these days, they're old enough to be the grandparents of some of the kids who'll be cast in this revival.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 1:03pm

Margo,

I guess so. I'm not old enough to have seen the show on Broadway, but I was underwhelmed by the movie. I guess my reation to Paul story was, "Yeah, guess what? Me too. And mine was a lot worse." ::shrugs:: I wish this production well, anyway, and will see it.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 1:07pm

Although I think the show is dated, please, whatever you do, don't base any opinion you may have about the material on the movie. The A Chorus Line movie is perhaps the worst translation of a show from stage to screen in the history of cinema.

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 01:07 PM