A Chorus Line
by Claire J Rottenberg
"A Chorus Line" began in an Off-Broadway theater in
1975 and, after two successful months, the producer,
Joseph Papp, moved it to Broadway. Once on Broadway,
the play became a smash hit, running for a record (at
the time) of 6,137 performances. It was nominated for
12 Tony awards and it won 9 of the awards, including
the awards for Best Musical, Best Musical Book and
Best Director (Michael Bennett). In addition, "A
Chorus Line" won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Donna McKechnie, who had spent many years as part of
the chorus line of earlier shows, including "How to
Succeed in Business without Really Trying," played
the lead female role of Cassie in the original
production.
Although the 1985 film version of "A Chorus Line" is
faithful to the original play and it has an
excellent, talented cast, it was not a success. It
received no Academy Awards although it was nominated
in 3 lesser categories (Best Film Editing; Best
Music, Original Song; Best Sound). It made a small
profit of slightly over $14 million.
The movie version of "A Chorus Line" had only one
well-known star - Michael Douglas. He played Zach and
he had the only non-singing or dancing part in the
film. The female lead role of Cassie was played by
Alysson Reed, who had previously played the role on
Broadway. The rest of the cast members were primarily
unknown, but very talented, young singers and
dancers.
The film of "A Chorus Line" is enjoyable but it might
only be of interest to people who are theater fans,
especially fans of musical productions. The storyline
is weak and the main appeal of the film is the
wonderful dancing and singing.