Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE

I didn't set out to see A Chorus Line this afternoon, but fate had a way of sending me to the TKTS line. I saw the original cast of the revival right after the show opened (about 2 days after to be exact) and was amazed at what I saw. Half the cast was enthused, the other half bored stiff. Well, I'm happy to report that everyone who was "bored" when I saw it is gone and the replacements are first class.

The standouts were the women....J. Elaine Marcos as Connie (did they cut the "Always Wong never Wight" line?), Krysta Rodriguez as Bebe, and Melissa Lone as Maggie. Her voice is as clear as Mara Davi's. Yet they were all uniformly excellent...you never would guess that they've done it once before.

Of the remaining cast members, the standouts are still James Lane (best male on the stage), Heather Parcells (best woman on stage), and Jessica Lee Goldyn (gorgeous). Michelle Aravena was on as Morales...just superb.

The lone let down was, as it was before, Charlotte, who is so extremely lackluster in the part that it's amazing they asked her back. Per the Playbill, she's not doing Thursdays (Nadine Isenegger) and Sundays (Jessica Lea Patty). Those lucky audience members.

Just as an aside, I've never seen more camp groups in my life. What an inappropriate show to take eight year old campers to see...Though there was nothing like hearing a gaggle of girls giggle whenever Val said "tits."

Tam's still there (for about another 3 weeks). Had the audience in tears...I will say that he's grown in the role..

Yankee - how was Nick Adams?
I saw him in Pirate Queen and he is a great dancer (despite his tendency to over act and his extremely white teeth that were gleaming from row T).

I saw the show in November and again last Friday night and I have to say that everyone had grown in their roles. I liked it the first time I saw it, and so much more so on Friday. I think I'm one of the few people who actually liked Charlotte's performance.

---

great to hear!
im catching this in august. is anyone else leaving within the next month? when is jason tam's final performance?

Goofy - August 12, I believe I read.

...whoops...

---

Updated On: 7/25/07 at 06:55 PM

Haha.

---

She's a terrific replacement for Mara (who was a dream in the role). She's a terrific dancer, has a very clear voice, and I think she even took the music up a notch higher (though I'm certainly not sure).

Perfectly pompous.

I confused the characters, my mistake.

He was very good, tall, burly...the exact person I'd imagine driving around a stripper.

Yes, Gruber as Greg.

By the way, the new Bobby (his name escapes me, as well) and Kristine (ditto her name...Katharine Tokarz?) are perfection. Excellent chemistry. Tokarz (if it is her) expertly downplays everything that Chryssie Whitehead overplayed (at least, on the album). "Sing!" is very much toned down (she makes Kristine less horrible), and it works very well.

I'm glad that the new cast is pretty good!

But I'm still sad that Jason Tam is leaving... I thought that he was the most fantastic performer in the show.

---