Chorus Line @ NY City Center — Page 8

God this production was nearly flawless (J. Elaine Marcos was miscast). Robyn Hurder as Cassie was unreal. And Sheila has always been my favorite character and I'm SO happy I finally got to see Leigh Zimmerman do it. I really wish this production would transfer to Broadway even just for a limited run.

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One thing I want to say about poisonivy’s review: I don’t really think the opinion about having heard all these stories before is valid here (thinking it was not well-acted is a different opinion entirely). I think you’re thinking of A Chorus Line as cliched and tired, but you can’t be mad at the show that created these cliches you don’t like, as it created the cliches. You can’t get mad at Romeo and Juliet for the forbidden love across two social/family circles cliche because it created that very idea. Same goes for A Chorus Line; if you feel like you’ve heard the character’s stories before, it’s because you’ve heard them from copycats of A Chorus Line. Sure, it might be a little dated now (up to one’s opinion), but to critique it for the very cliches it created because it’s so good that others copied it seems unfair to the groundbreaking nature of the material. Correct me if I’m reading your words wrong, as I don’t want to misunderstand.
If that was a note about the acting, then it’s a different story.

Elegance101 said: "One thing I want to say about poisonivy’s review: I don’t really think the opinion about having heard all these stories before is valid here (thinking it was not well-acted is a different opinion entirely). I think you’re thinking of A Chorus Line as cliched and tired, but you can’t be mad at the show that created these cliches you don’t like, as it created the cliches. You can’t get mad at Romeo and Juliet for the forbidden love across two social/family circles cliche because it created that very idea. Same goes for A Chorus Line; if you feel like you’ve heard the character’s stories before, it’s because you’ve heard them from copycats of A Chorus Line. Sure, it might be a little dated now (up to one’s opinion), but to critique it for the very cliches it created because it’s so good that others copied it seems unfair to the groundbreaking nature of the material. Correct me if I’m reading your words wrong, as I don’t want to misunderstand.
If that was a note about the acting, then it’s a different story."

Well I've seen the video of the OBC and you could sense the fact that they were telling their own stories. It had a freshness and immediacy and back then admitting to conflicts regarding sexuality, broken homes, depression, etc. wasn't as common then. Today all the actors sounded as if they were reciting this stuff for the millonth time. I think this was a mix of the material being dated AND the actors not having the immediacy and conviction to pull off their monologues.

I was there last night as well.

(I haven't read through this long thread, so forgive me if I'm pretty much saying the same things others have said)

I enjoyed myself overall, and I found several moments very moving. But I found myself noticing a lot more flaws in the piece than I ever have before. Parts of it feel very dated, and others feel very silly (I couldn't help but chuckle a bit during Hello Love, and not in the way the creators intended). But still, it's an iconic piece of theatre, and I can see why. I found the cast to be likable, but I didn't think any of them were particularly strong actors, which is disappointing because this is a show that really needs good actors.

>>djdonj, what do you mean about “I really need this job”? Do you mean rhythm of the line or the stress they were putting on those words? Either way, if it kept happening that way, it was probably intentional and told to the actors by the director and/or music director.

I think it was really the rhythm of the line as sung. In the OBC recording, I believe "this" lands on 3 and "job" lands on "and". Here, "this" landed on "3-and-a" if that makes sense! Anyway, seemed to suck the life out of a very strong line. Plus I thought it was weird to make such a change given everything that's been said about strict adherence to the original (assuming the OBC recording is faithful to the stage performance). Cheers

Oh BC, don’t get me excited!!! But yes, I saw it too, and thats the Cassie teacher behind her.

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Half the cast has other shows, but Max and Robyn don’t start till June for MR.

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Don’t get too excited, she’s doing a benefit this Friday per her instagram, doing Music and the Mirror.

LesWickedly said: "Don’t get too excited, she’s doing a benefit this Friday per her instagram, doing Music and the Mirror."