Reports/Speculation on A CHORUS LINE from SF — Page 3

I know I may want to bite my tongue after this statement, as I haven't seen this revival yet.

BUT. I thin in the long-run this will show that CHICAGO was a much more effective and stronger show, and was really ahead of its time when ACL totally overshadowed CHICAGO in 1975. CHICAGO is absolutely timeless, ACL seems to be a bit dated at this point.

Cassie should be a star. She should pull focus in the early part of the show. She is special. Zach says those exact words. She sacrifices being a star to have a job. That is the life of a gypsy and what ACL is about.

Morosco, I'm not sure who you are talking about in reference to that photograph. Do you mean D'Amboise? She definitely looks old enough to be Cassie...

The "mind games" that Bennett, Fosse, and Jerome Robbins played with their dancers came from the fact that in the 50s/60s, most dancers had received little or no formal acting training. Even today, it's difficult to get a group of thirty people with varied acting experience to the same place emotionally and dramatically. Call what they did twisted Strasberg technique.

Whatever they did, it worked.

And I personally don't believe "just go out there and act - you either have it or you don't" works in a situation with a show like A CHORUS LINE. We are talking about twenty people on stage at once, face front, vulnerable to the audience at all times.

I have no idea what these dancers' acting backgrounds are. They are probably all over the map. But I do know the environment of the world they are attempting to recreate. And it is the director's job to see that they all get there. And frankly, if the dancers in the touchy-feely-bonding environment aren't able to translate a feeling of fear and desperation on stage, than the director needs to change his approach to their arena.

Thanks to bjivie for mentioning ACL's origins.

Question for Mr. Michael Bennett:

Are you suggesting that in order to bring a more realistic feel to the show, the dancers should be put through the same intense rehearsal process that it would seem they are going through in the show in order to convey the gritty and tough life of a Broadway gypsy? If so, that sounds a little too Marlon Brando (I love him and like your picture)/Daniel Day Lewis "method" acting for a group of Broadway dancers. Not to say they don't have the acting chops for it, as some of them very well may, but to suggest that they need to suffer during their rehearsal period to make everything more "real" seems like a bit of a stretch. And sounds a little bit like something your namesake might have done (whom I have GREAT respect for by the way).

Oh, and I've only been watching these boards for a few weeks now, and notice how people like to go on the attack when someone challenges their ideas. I hope you can tell that I am simply looking to engage in interesting conversation. I'm interested to hear more of what you have to say on the subject.

-qbee

I certainly won't attack you for sparking debate!

I don't know that I would do something to the extreme that Michael Bennett did, but it seems fair to say, that if A CHORUS LINE is being done as a period piece -- and there is some feeling that being a gypsy in that day and age in a very different New York City than today was a very different battle -- that it might be a good idea to do exercises for the cast to know what it was like then, or to know what it would have been like to do this show for Michael Bennett.

I'm only questioning if the show can really achieve the same results as the original when the atmosphere is apparently so completely different backstage.

Auditions for ACL go as follows: if the cast makes it through 3 or 4 intense dance cuts, they are asked to sing. More dance. Cuts. Than read.

Acting isn't really the number one criteria in the casting of the show; so what are you supposed to do when you end up with a cast of brilliant dancers who are uneven actors? That was my point that you cant just say - "go on stage and do it." I don't believe that works for getting good acting performances for this show. It seems to be proven that better results have come from a more environmental approach - creating the world and letting the real life emotion fuel the emotion of the dancers.

I guess what I'm getting at, is that I just have a feeling, Bob Avian and Baayork Lee are probably not making the dancer's acting their number one priority and perhaps they should try something else to fuel their energy a bit.

True there have only been two previews, but I have heard just about the same thing across the board from everyone who has seen it - that its just not clicking yet and the cast needs something to light their fire.

Updated On: 7/26/06 at 05:05 PM

I don't think they all need to be brilliant dancers. They need to be good enough to make the opening cut, and several of them should be great (Ritchie & Mike and a few others). Cassie should be a star dancer, I agree.

I remember seeing the show several times in the early years, and not all of them were killer dancers. It works better that way. In fact, the characters are supposedly learning these steps for the first time at this audition. They shouldn't all be doing them perfectly and brilliantly when Zach shouts "5, 6, 7, 8..." It would look completely fabricated if they did.

I wish they had placed more emphasis on getting actors with strong stage presence and a few killer singers to play these parts. If they aren't capable of "acting" the immediacy and urgency of this nerve-wracking audition process, then they really aren't good enough to be in the show.

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"Frankly, I wish they had brought in Baayork and Bob Avian to recreate the staging and someone else actually not involved with the original production to direct the show."

A very good idea... and this "outside" director should have been the one to supervise the casting of it as well.

This show is done on a BARE STAGE for the most part. It's all about the PEOPLE on that line. The acting should be the most important thing in this show, the more I think about it.

Not if someone's pinky is pointed the right way. The priorities sound all messed up.

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Updated On: 7/26/06 at 05:28 PM

there are some very similar points in the OT thread "Listening to the ACL OCR"...

the acting coaching is the hardest part of doing that show well. It is very true that between the almost intimate knowledge of the characters from the original production and the first tours (which Bennett closely supervised) AS WELL AS the fact that the first cast was basically playing themselves (or their sisters, in one famous case), the resulting characterizations are very challenging and full of traps.

As far as the "experience it" type exercises to put the performer in touch with what the characters are going through, I'd humbly suggest that making a connection for themselves (rather than having one imposed by any "mind games") would result in a more naturalistic and empathetic performance. While living a life like a "70's gypsy" could be important, what will reach the audience is how they can communicate feeling across---the show means something to theatre people, of course, but it means other things to your everyday theatregoer---and the characters have always had that universal identification. I'd wager that is what those whose work is standing out even in previews have accomplished, and what the rest of the cast may be able to do as they settle in.

I certainly hope so. Just remember that very famous Olivier/Hoffman conversation during MARATHON MAN filming.

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Updated On: 7/26/06 at 06:31 PM

Nycdancer - there is no need for attitude. Some of us have actually worked with Baayork Lee, and the fact that she treats ACL like "a bible" is specifically a reason to question whether the show will be given a fresh treatment.

I should think its obvious that this is all early speculation. We are aware the show has just started previews and I think are hopeful the show will be a big hit. We are simply responding to the early reports and doing a great big "hypothetical" - which is the total nature of message board discussions.

Congrats on getting so far in the audition, btw.

queenbee2:

method acting works through exercises that draw on past experiences and feelings and creating them in a true moment...

what better method for these actors to use?! they have all been involved in audition processes at one point or another, obviously, and a method rehearsal process could be EXTREMELY beneficial to any production of a chorus line or 42nd street or any show that draws on auditioning, etc.

i, too, have worked with baayork, she's a very dear friend of mine too, for that matter. she knows more about that show than anyone on this planet....so i believe she and bob avian will make this production amazing! will it be the original cast? no. will it be a wonderful production of a truly brilliant show? most likely.

i don't think they're going for a 'fresh' interpretation of the show. if they were, they would've hired someone else to direct and choreograph. everything from the steps, to the costumes, to the lighting and sets is the same. they're going for a recreation of the show. i think that's the right way to do it.

just like west side story, a chorus line without the original choreography just doesn't work.

as for the previous post, i do get frustrated with this board quite often because of the immense speculation of the problems with a show, or when or if a show is going to flop. i prefer to keep an open mind, go see the show for myself, and then make a decision.

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Very valid points Ruth Sherwood!

nycdncr - while I completely agree that ACL doesn't work (in my opinion) without the original choreography, I still believe a fresh interpretation is what it needs to make it a successful "revival."

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