Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??- Page 2
Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
#25re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:04pm
I think that A CHORUS LINE deserves to be nominated, and I think it will win.
My vote would probably be for 110 IN THE SHADE, but I would be thrilled if A CHORUS LINE won.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
#26re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:09pmI loved the Revival of The Apple Tree, but I (much to most poster's disgust) HATE ACL. If it's there, it's definately a filler. Company will win.
A little known fact is that in the original screenplay, Pan's Labyrinth was Pan's FLAByrinth. Hmmmmmmm...glad they changed it.
#27re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:41pm
If it's there, it's definately a filler.
You mean, The Apple Tree was a filler?
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
misschung
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/18/07
#28re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:48pm
I think that A CHORUS LINE deserves to be nominated, and I think it will win.
Interesting.
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go --doesn't it?
Tom148502
Featured Actor Joined: 5/21/07
#29re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:52pm
It isn't a revival if a production has been substantially changed. If it was good the first time around, why take the chance of putting up a bad production just to satisfy the ego of a director? The next thing we know book publishers will be re-writing the classic to put a fresh spin on them 
Rubbish.
misschung
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/18/07
#30re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 5:55pm
well I mean, why do we revise anything then?
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go --doesn't it?
Radioactiveduck
Broadway Star Joined: 7/18/05
#31re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 6:11pmWhen you think about it...there's really not much you can do with Chorus Line to make it fresh and different without loosing its real spirit.
AnnaK<3LMIP
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/20/07
#32re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 6:15pm
But that's the way it is with LES MIS as well. Ok, you can add in a multi-racial class but Les Mis is Les Mis. A Chorus Line is A Chorus Line.
Know what I mean?
I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.
RockyRoad
Leading Actor Joined: 9/4/04
#33re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 6:35pmBeacuse the Lez Miz revival sucked more.
#34re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 6:53pm
A Chorus Line was nominated because it is a faithful adaptation of a well-loved, American musical, and it is introspective and tells a story about those who create stage entertainment. This production was not designed to be innovative or to rethink the material, it was designed to pay homage to the original and allow a new generation of theatregoers to see it.
I am the type who would have preferred the creative team take a stab at taking a new approach to the material. But maybe this just wasn't possible--maybe Michael Bennett's direction is considered too untouchable in the same way that Jerome Robbins' choreography in West Side Story is not something choreographers typically mess with. In any event, reinvention certainly wasn't going to happen when the creative team consisted of those associated with the original production.
As for the Tony noms, it was a no-brainer nominee given the weakness of the field. I mean who else would have been nominated - the down-sized Les Miz that just closed yesterday? But the only way ACL wins is if the voters rely solely on admiration for the original material, as opposed to admiration for this particular production. Company is far more inventive, interesting, moving and theatrical. I have no problem with "faithful" revivals, but when it comes time to pick out award winners, invention ought to count for something.
"This is wanting something, this is reaching for it,
This is wishing that a moment would arrive.
This is taking chances, this is almost touching, what the beauty is." --The Light in the Piazza
misschung
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/18/07
#35re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 7:10pmVery well said, and I definitely agree, especially the last paragraph
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go --doesn't it?
Tom148502
Featured Actor Joined: 5/21/07
#36re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 7:21pm
vinnylin said "A Chorus Line was nominated because it is a faithful adaptation of a well-loved, American musical"
The revival of A CHORUS LINE isn't a "faithful adaptation", it's faithful production. What does vinnylin think this revival is an "adaptation" of?
#37re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 7:23pmTom148502: I agree, you're correct. It's a "faithful production" of the original.
"This is wanting something, this is reaching for it,
This is wishing that a moment would arrive.
This is taking chances, this is almost touching, what the beauty is." --The Light in the Piazza
#38re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 7:28pmLes miz is by far one of my favorite shows of all time, and I didn't see the revival so I'm not able to judge the production, but I would've rather had Les Miz nominated over Apple Tree, at least. A Les Miz performance at the Tonys would've been wonderful, IMO.
"Love all; Trust a few; Do wrong to none." --William Shakespeare
sondhead
Broadway Star Joined: 10/25/06
#39re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 9:00pm
"It isn't a revival if a production has been substantially changed. If it was good the first time around, why take the chance of putting up a bad production just to satisfy the ego of a director? The next thing we know book publishers will be re-writing the classic to put a fresh spin on them Rubbish."
Because shows are often developed/written around the people who originally performed and worked on them in the confines of the current society and technology. To a certain extent, a societal change shouldn't necessitate a change but if someone wants to try something different and the original authors or their estate is okay with it, who cares? It's not like revisions make the originals disappear forever?
More importantly, often revivals get revisions so as to tailor more towards the revival's performers and the ever changing style of theatre (much more fluid than it used to be back in the day).
The bottom line is, original does not always equal best. Even the brilliant authors of theatre we love can not always make their works work at their optimum the first time around every time for any number of reasons, the first being that theatre is a collaborative effort and if the stars didn't perfectly align for the original production the end result might have been wonderful but not as good as some other team's take would be.
That being said, revision also does not equal better or best. The revival of Little Shop paled in comparison to its original as has every revival of Company. The fact that MTI stopped licensing the original orchestration to Company for several years in favor of the roundabout revision was a travesty. Thank god they're available again.
#40re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 11:30pm
Having seen Les Miserables, The Apple Tree, Company, and A Chorus Line this season, I could not agree more with the Tony nominations and sincerely hope A Chorus Line wins. Les Miserables was a lame, lifeless attempt; The Apple Tree was cute, but not a show that really needed to be seen again. Company may have been inventive, but while the technique worked wonders for Sweeney Todd, it added nothing to this piece. Company was a snoozer. I'm rooting hard for Raul Esparza, because the man is a theatrical god, but the production pales in comparison to A Chorus Line, as far as I'm concerned.
Besides, the award is not for the revival that is the most different from the original production. A Chorus Line still delivers with minimal changes. Company had myriad changes and yet, to me, it could have waited even longer to come back, because other than Raul, it just wasn't worth seeing.
"It's not for sissies, contrary to popular belief." - Tommy Tune, on musical theatre.
My avatar: Yummy, no?
My avatar: Yummy, no?
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#41re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/6/07 at 11:51pm
But what if the innovations, such as in COMPANY just don't work?
The revival of COMPANY has it's champions but the general Theatre going public (not that I agree with them) are staying away in droves.
A CHORUS LINE on the other hand has struck a nerve and drawing the audiences in.
I think both are brilliantly written pieces but A CHORUS LINE is just the better revival, in my opinion.
Updated On: 6/7/07 at 11:51 PM
broadwayboy1017
Leading Actor Joined: 6/4/07
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#43re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/7/07 at 12:31am
When I saw Company I felt that the direction was so so. It made me want to get up and yell I get it Doyle can have the actors do the music as well. I saw the same thing last year with Sweeny. It was a good novelty and worked well with Sweeny. However, with company it feels as if the novelty has worn off and doesn't even work well with this show as it did for Sweeney. Sweeny was all music so it worked but this is a book musical and it is just weird seeing the actors holding insturments while they are talking.
Also, A Chorus Line is the most well done out of all the revivals. It's no rule that a revival has to be a different approach to a show. As someone earlier said, it's like Roberts chorgraphy. It is just something you don't touch. It is the kind of show that you really can't do much to change. It's not like you could re created the set to make it a more lavish set. Other then the mirrors the show had no set to begin with. It wasn't lke there was much they could do to make it more oavsh ect.
I hope it wins. It desrvies to so much.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
VIETgrlTerifa
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
#45re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/7/07 at 8:57am
I wish the revivals of Fosse's shows would leave in his choreography because his choreography told the story in the same way that the music and book did in his musicals.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."
#46re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/7/07 at 7:03pmI've seen "A Chorus Line" as a local production in Austin... in the San Francisco pre-Broadway tryout and the current production just last week. Their singing is fantastic... the dancing is beyond this world (Tyler (sigh) Hanes for example)... the acting is touching (especially Jason Tam)... the singing is remarkable (Natalie Cortez comes to mind). I hope "Chorus Line" wins for best revival. My thinking is that the show is phenomenal in many areas. It reminds people of the fact that there are many singers, actors and dancers who are busting their asses trying, against many odds, to get on the Broadway stage. As I was watching "A Chorus Line", I could see their sweat... their courage... their determination. I am in AWE of those guys and gals out there.. no matter what show they are in... who sacrifice SO MUCH for our enjoyment... I hope that makes sense... from Roman in Austin, Texas
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
dramaqueen2
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/23/05
#47re: Why was A Chorus Line even nominated??
Posted: 6/7/07 at 7:43pm
well, everyone said sweeney todd would win last year, but look what happened? pajama game took the tony.
so to everyone saying company, you never know..
hear my song; it was made for the time when you don't know where to go, listen to the song that i sing, you'll be fine..
Videos