Reports/Speculation on A CHORUS LINE from SF — Page 2

It's interesting, because from the video footage and interviews, it seems clear that Baayork Lee and Bob Avian are going out of their way to create this warm "family" bonding experience for the cast to help create the feeling that they are part of a "community." Perhaps they are being too nurturing.

My friend who saw the new production in SF actually worked with Michael Bennett in the late 60s, and when I asked him today about the lack of "hunger" from the cast; his response was:

"They [creative team] should be a lot meaner. Really kick their asses. If Michael Bennett were here, he would have told the cast that they would be cutting three random people from the line after the SF run; and if they didn't want to be one of them; they'd have to prove their salt."

Apparently Michael Bennett could be a not very nice person.

He was also very good at playing games to scare his dancers. But look at the results he was able to get...

A CHORUS LINE is about survival and guts. Hopefully the production will find that tension.

I can't wait to see it!

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"Apparently Michael Bennett could be a not very nice person."

That's a very nice way of putting it. Remember in one of the books (the info is all just a big glob in my brain, which has not retained the specific sources) there's the story of Bennett telling Sammy Williams to just think about how much he (Bennett) hated him if he couldn't get into Paul's melancholy mood?

Perhaps there should have been less warm family bonding for Charlotte specifically. Like, forbid her to associate with anybody in the cast except for the few her character has had a relationship with in the past. Put her in a first class hotel and make the others share rooms at Beck's Motor Inn. Constantly remind the others, all of them, but particularly Curly Sue, that Charlotte is a musical theater LEGEND. And how lucky they were to share a stage with her.

That might bring a certain frisson to the proceedings.

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If I recall, there was a similar dynamic amongst the cast of the original production towards McKechnie. Everyone could see that she was clearly Bennett's favorite and it seemed to some that she received preferential treatment which caused some to openly resent and shun her. She was the "One," set apart from the rest and while I'm sure that she probably did nothing intentionally to encourage such animosity (and it wasn't the whole cast, just a few who felt jealous of and intimidated by her), but obviously the fact that Bennett was working overtime to beef up and develop the role of Cassie and that she spent as much time with him and the rest of the creative team as she did with the rest of cast probably contributed to it. Not to mention, she was leaving and going home with the director every night (and got the inside scoop on how Bennett really felt about all of her cast mates). Many viewed her as the enemy.

D'amboise is a complete and total team player, probably open and generous to a fault and is likely bending over backwards to fit in with everyone. Maybe Avian should isolate her somehow or find some way to make a clear distinction between her and the rest of the cast when offstage. Then again, I don't think Avian is into the sorts of mind games that Bennett (and Fosse and Robbins and many other great directors) was known for. At the very least though he really NEEDS to be cracking the whip with this cast and create a less collegial and more intense and fear-filled atmosphere -- this is a show about a nerve-wracking and highly emotional audition after all, not a family reunion or something.

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Updated On: 7/25/06 at 02:53 PM

The revival of COMPANY was filled with a lot of tension, and there were stories of a lot of people having friction behind the scenes. I think some of that had to do with the Roundabout's management style at the time though; that was during a bigtransition period for the theatre.

I've always heard very good things about D'Amboise. Like I said above, she is very well liked by the theatical community; but as Margo says that might be a problem if it keeps her from feeling like the outsider that Cassie is.

Hmm, what an interesting way of putting it: "hunger." I agree. Charlotte was not special. It sounded like she was struggling with the song and I found that I had to search for her on stage, she wasn't puling my eye like I would hope a "Cassie" would do. I don't want to be too harsh because it was the very first preview, but I think all the characters could benefit from more offstage development.

it's called acting folks. enough of the talk of pitting the performers against one another. geez. give them a chance. they JUST opened previews. don't you think they're all feeling the pressure of being compared to EVERY performer who has ever performed the roles in the past?!?

let them be.

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www.achorusline.com

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I saw the production on Sunday night (I can compare it only to regionals, the movie, and the OCR). Not surprisingly, I agree with a lot of the comments: Goodwin (Sheila) was outstanding, everyone was acceptable, D'Amboise didn't stand out much. I wondered if perhaps that was a directorial choice, to emphasize that no one there is a "star".

I had a lot of concerns about performing ACL as a period piece, since what was so stunning about it originally was how very current it was--yet I saw one "updated" production (Johnny Depp instead of Steve McQueen, etc) and I thought that was much worse. This production, while acknowledging that it's set in the 1970s, really seemed to downplay all period references, simply by singing them more quietly, and by choosing neutral costumes.

Depending on what production one sees, sometimes the audience leaves thinking Cassie is the centerpiece--sometimes Paul--sometimes Diana. While I don't think Sheila could be considered the centerpiece, she was definitely the most memorable. (Cortez (Diana) and Tam (Paul) were both, I think, just OK.) Oh, I did think James T. Lane as Richie was quite good, too--and he was another who got a big ovation.

I heard many people in the crowd complaining about the lack of intermission--I thought I'd heard that ACL is always supposed to be performed that way? It's not as if it's very long, and it preserves the mood.

It was a great experience for someone who'd never seen a Broadway-quality performance, but there's nothing... challenging... about it. I'm afraid it's going to be more of a tourist attraction than an exciting piece for regular theatergoers.

i hate it when i hear people talking about updating 'a chorus line.' the show is a pulitzer prize winning piece of literature about the struggles dancers faced at that time in history. therefore, the show is a history piece. updating it cheapens the stories of the people the characters are based on.

the business today is very, very different from what 'a chorus line' depicts. in many aspects, it's a much nicer environment. it would be interesting to take a group of dancer/singer/actors today and do the same project that michael bennett did to create 'a chorus line'. i don't feel like you would end up with a show quite as gripping. maybe i'm wrong, but i doubt it.

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Updated On: 7/25/06 at 10:21 PM

I agree. It's called "acting." It's not a science project or sociology project.

Either they can do it, or they can't.

And time will tell.

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Can anyone tell me what this picture is?

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4575/picture3wh0.png