When A Chorus Line premiered in the 299-seat black box theatre, it became an immediate sensation and moved to Broadway. Its message of determination and triumph resonated not only with dancers in the audience, but also with the general population, says dancer Leslie Woodies, who played Cassie in the New York Shakespeare Festival production. “I remember people would wait 30 or more minutes by the stage door to tell us their stories,” she says. “Even years later, when I was in On Your Toes, a woman who read Cassie in my bio waited to tell me that after watching A Chorus Line, she found the courage to leave an abusive husband. The production presented such a broad range of human experience.” Michael Bennett was invited to join the group primarily
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In later years, Bennett's claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted in not only hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well. During the workshop sessions, random characters would be chosen at the end for the chorus jobs, resulting in genuine surprise among the cast. Subsequent productions, however, have the same set of characters winning the slots. Marvin Hamlisch, who wrote A Chorus Line 's winning score, recalls how in its first previews audiences seemed put off by something in the story. Actress Marsha Mason told Bennett that Cassie (Donna McKechnie in the original production) should win the part in the end and not lose because she did everything right. Bennett changed it so that Cassie would win the …show more content…
It begins with an individual bow for each of the nineteen characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one form the other. Each character who was an individual to the audience is now an anonymous member of an ensemble. The number offers the flashiest choreography of the show. The dancers form a triangular wedge that flies off into a kick circle, celebrating the glitz and excitement of Broadway. But there is an underlying irony that individuals we know to be special had to become parts of a line, anonymously working in synch to back some star. In a final, unforgettable image, the dancers form a kick-line that technically never ends since the lights fade as the cast kicks on. Bennett said
In later years, Bennett's claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted in not only hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well. During the workshop sessions, random characters would be chosen at the end for the chorus jobs, resulting in genuine surprise among the cast. Subsequent productions, however, have the same set of characters winning the slots. Marvin Hamlisch, who wrote A Chorus Line 's winning score, recalls how in its first previews audiences seemed put off by something in the story. Actress Marsha Mason told Bennett that Cassie (Donna McKechnie in the original production) should win the part in the end and not lose because she did everything right. Bennett changed it so that Cassie would win the …show more content…
It begins with an individual bow for each of the nineteen characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one form the other. Each character who was an individual to the audience is now an anonymous member of an ensemble. The number offers the flashiest choreography of the show. The dancers form a triangular wedge that flies off into a kick circle, celebrating the glitz and excitement of Broadway. But there is an underlying irony that individuals we know to be special had to become parts of a line, anonymously working in synch to back some star. In a final, unforgettable image, the dancers form a kick-line that technically never ends since the lights fade as the cast kicks on. Bennett said