There have been many musicals about performers, but A Chorus Line was among the first to look at the lives of the "gypsies," the various chorus members, and dancers who appear in the audition lines for each show. The show was conceived by Michael Bennett, a director and choreographer who decided in 1974 to document the lives and struggles of these gypsies by interviewing them on videotape. The results were so striking that he decided to create a musical around the experience of auditioning, which arouses so many emotions, hopes, and fears, and while unique in its form, and strikes a chord in anyone who has gone on a dreamt-for date or applied for a job. Novelist James Kirkwood and former dancer Nicholas Dante created the book, Edward Kleban wrote the lyrics, with the occasional uncredited editing by playwright Neil Simon.

In a series of solos and ensembles, the auditioners reveal more and more of themselves, their lives, and their aspirations, often poignantly, but occasionally comically, as in Kristine's "Sing," though even there, as it becomes clearer and clearer that she is tone-deaf, her determination has a certain pathos. Nearly all of the more serious numbers about how the characters are driven by their own needs to perform and succeed are more or less in ballad style (some ensemble work) which creates the appropriate challenge for both director and performers to keep them from blending into one another stylistically and dramatically.

It was first produced as a workshop production in the Newman Theater, part of the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater, and in July, it moved to the Shubert Theater. The staging was acclaimed as much as the show, for its use of almost cinematic techniques to pull attention from one character to another, and for the use of mirrors, not only visually but as a symbol. In the conclusion, a reprise of the song "One," the individuality that the characters have created is slowly covered over with their chorus costumes as they become the standardized kick line, and they become anonymous parts of the crowd again. On the strength of these touches and their execution, Michael Bennett won both Best Director of a Musical and Best Choreographer, and Tharon Musser won Best Lighting Designer.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tonys for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score, and for many years, was the longest-running show on Broadway, with 6,137 performances before it closed in April, 1990. In 1985, Embassy Films made a film version which was widely criticized for focusing on the acting rather than the total performances, most notably by filming above the performers' waists rather than showing their whole bodies.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.