Having just seen the magnificently reimagined production of Oklahoma! playing at St. Anne's warehouse, I can't help but think how incredibly tedious and dull it would be to keep doing the same version of a musical for 40 plus years. The very definition of hackneyed. Somebody needs to dust this one off. It would be a revival in every sense of the word.
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The 2008 revival was fun, but lacked the urgency of the original, especially the slowed-down "Music and the Mirror" number, which was deflating to behold.
I saw it on Broadway in 1987 - an exemplary site for THE exemplar of getting to Broadway and its musicals.
(I've also seen "The Fantasticks" off and on-Broadway).
That version of "A Chorus Line" was outstanding in 1987. May it ever remain so.
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@Peter Graves
THE FANTASTICKS never played a Broadway theater. All of its 21,552 professional New York performances were given off-Broadway.
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I saw both the original two weeks after it opened at the Schubert and then, a generation later, the revival in 2006 with its original cast.
In many respects, this show belongs to all of us. But if I was curator for a day, I think Ben Brantley was on to something. Yes, the revival was wonderful, but having seen the original, it was almost an impossible task to replicate that FEELING.
Do we want, like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, an exact replica for a new generation? I'm not sure we do. Perhaps subtle, almost imperceptible changes, would enhance the experience. Should the opening number feature a rehearsal piano onstage? Should the costuming be the same? Yes, maybe Cassie's flowing red skirt would remain, but could the others be different? Does it have to be 1975 again, or can it be more contemporary--more timely--when the next revival is mounted?
I fully get the challenge--it's a gigantic responsibility to tamper with perfection--but I hope when Broadway celebrates ACL's 50th birthday in 2025, it will be a living, breathing experience that this theatergoer can leave wanting to see again and again and again.
And, if not, that's OK too, But it would be thrilling to see a risk taken, and rewarded, with a new audience that includes a few holdovers, like myself, who can still vividly remember what the fuss was about "back in the day".
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I read to the end expecting at least a mention of Donna McKechnie. To no avail. What could be the reason for omitting her?
@Richard
Yeah, I kinda thought that too..but then I realized she actually is not actively involved in: "How ‘A Chorus Line’ Veterans Pass It on to a New Generation".
She is featured heavily in the 2008 documentary "Every Little Step" and shines appropriately.
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@Richard, I got to see her in "Half Time" at Paper Mill this summer. She was great un the show and incredibly generous at the stage door. Ms. McKechnie came out the door, greeted by happy gasps, hopped onto a nearby non-luxury golf cart so she could sit while warmly greeting us until every person there got to chat with her about how much Cassie and she had meant when we were 15 years old and other stuff she’s surely heard a million times befor. But she knew her fans would treasure this meeting on this beautiful though humid Sunday.
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Why do people repeatedly forget to credit lyricist Edward Kleban (1939-1987)?
Yes, Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music, but the performers don't just hum, they sing Kleban's wonderful lyrics.
And while we're at it, the authors of the libretto were James Kirkwood (1924-1989) and Nicholas Dante (1941-1991).
I'd expect better of The Times than to omit three important collaborators of this landmark work of musical theater.
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"For Dance: 10....." (how many of us just filled in the rest all these years later).
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A Chorus Line speaks directly to many cultural aspects of a very specific time, both within the story itself and to the larger cultural zeitgeist of mid-century New York City, e.g., overcoming challenges related to sexual orientation, racial discrimination, and misogyny.
The staging and story should absolutely be cherished and 'protected' as one would enshrine any historical document.
To get a real grasp of the significance of 'A Chorus Line' (and how initially groundbreaking it was) make sure you rent 'Every Little Step', a spine-tingling, enthralling (!) 2008 documentary in which both Mr. Avian and Ms. Lee feature prominently.
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