A Chorus Line
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| - | '''''Portfolio''''' is the debut studio album by [[Grace Jones]], released in 1977 by [[Island Records]]. It spawned her first big hit, "[[La Vie en rose#Grace Jones version|La Vie en rose]]". | + | '''''A Chorus Line''''' is a concept [[musical theatre|musical]] with music by [[Marvin Hamlisch]], lyrics by [[Edward Kleban]] and a book by [[James Kirkwood Jr.]] and [[Nicholas Dante]]. Centered on seventeen [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[dancer]]s [[Audition (performing arts)|auditioning]] for spots on a [[chorus line]], the musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway [[theatre (structure)|theatre]] during an audition for a musical. ''A Chorus Line'' provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. |
| - | ==Background== | + | Following several workshops and an [[Off-Broadway]] production, ''A Chorus Line'' opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway July 25, 1975, directed by [[Michael Bennett (theater)|Michael Bennett]] and co-choreographed by Bennett and [[Bob Avian]]. An unprecedented box office and critical hit, the musical received twelve [[Tony Award]] nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]. |
| - | Having enjoyed a successful modelling career in Paris and New York in the early 1970s, Grace Jones released a series of singles throughout 1975-1976. None of them, however, managed to succeed in mainstream charts. Jones secured a record deal with [[Island Records]] in 1977 and found wider recognition only with her debut Island LP, ''Portfolio''. | + | |
| - | The album was recorded and mixed in [[Sigma Sound Studios]] in [[Philadelphia]], and released in autumn 1977 as the first of three albums made with the legendary [[disco]] record producer [[Tom Moulton]]. Side one of the original vinyl album is a continuous disco [[medley (music)|medley]] [[cover version|covering]] three songs from [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musicals, "[[Send in the Clowns]]" by [[Stephen Sondheim]] from ''[[A Little Night Music]]'', "What I Did for Love" from ''[[A Chorus Line]]'' and "[[Tomorrow (1977 song)|Tomorrow]]" from ''[[Annie (musical)|Annie]]''. Side two opens with Jones' very personal re-interpretation of [[Édith Piaf]]'s "[[La Vie en rose]]" and continues with three new recordings, all of which have been co-written by Jones herself. Italian release would omit "Sorry" and "That's the Trouble", adding an extended, over 7-minute-long version of "[[I Need a Man (Grace Jones song)|I Need a Man]]" instead. Album's artwork was designed by [[Richard Bernstein (artist)|Richard Bernstein]], an artist working for ''[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]'', who would later contribute to Jones' two next albums' artworks and with whom the singer would re-team up for the 1986 record ''[[Inside Story (Grace Jones album)|Inside Story]]''. | + | The original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the [[List of Broadway shows that have held title of longest-running show|longest-running production in Broadway history]] until surpassed by ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'' in 1997, and the longest-running Broadway musical originally produced in the US, until surpassed in 2011 by the revival of ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]''. It remains the [[List of the longest-running Broadway shows|seventh longest-running Broadway show]] ever. ''A Chorus Line''{{'}}s success has spawned many successful productions worldwide. It began a lengthy run in the [[West End theatre|West End]] in 1976 and was revived on Broadway in 2006, and in the West End in 2013. |
| - | ''Portfolio'' reached number 52 on the [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Black Albums Chart]] in the US, while climbing to number 109 on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'''s mainstream albums chart. It garnered more attention in Europe, entering top 10 in both Italy in early 1978 and the Netherlands in 1983. | + | ==Synopsis== |
| + | The show opens in the middle of an audition for an upcoming Broadway production. The formidable director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work ("I Hope I Get It"). After the next round of cuts, 17 dancers remain. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. He wants to learn more about them, and asks the dancers to introduce themselves. With reluctance, the dancers reveal their pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to the end of a career. | ||
| + | The first candidate, Mike, explains that he is the youngest of 12 children. He recalls his first experience with dance, watching his sister's dance class when he was a pre-schooler ("I Can Do That"). Mike took her place one day when she refused to go to class—and he stayed. Bobby tries to hide the unhappiness of his childhood by making jokes. As he speaks, the other dancers have misgivings about this strange audition process and debate what they should reveal to Zach ("And..."), but since they all need the job, the session continues. | ||
| - | ==Personnel== | + | Zach is angered when he feels that the streetwise Sheila is not taking the audition seriously. Opening up, she reveals that her mother married at a young age and her father neither loved nor cared for them. When she was six, she realized that [[ballet]] provided relief from her unhappy family life, as did Bebe and Maggie ("At the Ballet"). The scatter-brained Kristine is [[tone deafness|tone-deaf]], and her lament that she could never sing is interrupted by her husband Al finishing her phrases in tune ("Sing"). |
| - | * [[Wilbur Bascomb]] – [[bass guitar]] | + | |
| - | * Richard Bernstein – album graphics concept, design and painting | + | |
| - | * [[Bobby Eli]] – guitars | + | |
| - | * [[Grace Jones]] – vocals | + | |
| - | * Francis Jug – photography | + | |
| - | * Carlton "Cotton" Kent – keyboards, piano | + | |
| - | * [[Ron Kersey|Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey]] – [[Rhodes piano]] | + | |
| - | * [[Antonio Lopez (illustrator)|Antonio Lopez]] – photography | + | |
| - | * Jay Mark – recording and mixing engineering | + | |
| - | * [[Vincent Montana, Jr.|Vincent Montana]] – arrangement, [[conducting]], [[vibraphone]] | + | |
| - | * Cliff Morris – guitars | + | |
| - | * [[Tom Moulton|Moto]] – [[tambourine]]s | + | |
| - | * Lance Quinn – guitars | + | |
| - | * Don Renaldo – [[String instrument|strings]], [[horn section|horns]] | + | |
| - | * José Rodriguez – mastering | + | |
| - | * [[Allan Schwartzberg]] – drums | + | |
| - | * Arthur Stoppe – recording and mixing engineering | + | |
| - | * Sweethearts of Sigma ([[Barbara Ingram]], Carla Benson, Evette Benton) – backing vocals | + | |
| - | * Larry Washington – [[conga]] | + | |
| - | * Duke Williams – arrangement | + | |
| + | Mark, the youngest of the dancers, relates his first experiences with pictures of the female anatomy and his first [[Nocturnal emission|wet dream]], while the other dancers share memories of adolescence ("Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love"). The 4'10" Connie laments the problems of being short, and Diana Morales recollects her horrible high school acting class ([[Nothing (A Chorus Line song)|"Nothing"]]). Don remembers his first job at a [[nightclub]] and Judy reflects on her problematic childhood while some of the auditionees talk about their opinion of their parents ("Mother"). Then, Greg speaks about his discovery of his [[homosexuality]] and Richie recounts how he nearly became a [[kindergarten]] teacher ("Gimme the Ball"). Finally, the newly [[buxom]] Val explains that talent alone doesn't count for everything with casting directors, and silicone and [[plastic surgery]] can really help ("Dance: Ten; Looks: Three"). | ||
| + | |||
| + | The dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the next section of the audition, but Cassie stays onstage to talk to Zach. She is a veteran dancer who has had some notable successes as a soloist. They have a history together: Zach had cast her in a featured part previously, and they had lived together for several years. Zach tells Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and shouldn't be at this audition. But she hasn't been able to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance ("The Music and the Mirror"). Zach sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Zach calls Paul, who has been reluctant to share his past, on stage for a private talk, and he emotionally relives his childhood and high school experience, his early career in a [[drag (clothing)|drag]] act, coming to terms with his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents' ultimate reaction to finding out about his lifestyle. Paul breaks down and is comforted by Zach. Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run-through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star ("One"). Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash what went wrong in their relationship and her career. Zach points to the machine-like dancing of the rest of the cast—the other dancers who have all blended together, and who will probably never be recognized individually—and mockingly asks if this is what she wants. Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I’d be proud to be one of them. They’re wonderful....They’re all special. I’d be happy to be dancing in that line. Yes, I would...." | ||
| + | |||
| + | During a [[tap dance|tap]] sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that recently underwent surgery. After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can also end in an instant. Zach asks the remaining dancers what they will do when they can no longer dance. Led by Diana, they reply that whatever happens, they will be free of regret ("[[What I Did for Love (A Chorus Line)|What I Did for Love]]"). The final eight dancers are selected: Mike, Cassie, Bobby, Judy<!-- Note that Bebe was selected in the film, but this article refers to the stage version -->, Richie, Val, Mark, and Diana. | ||
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| + | "One" (reprise/finale) begins with an individual bow for each of the 19 characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one from the other: [[irony|ironically]], each character who was an individual to the audience seems now to be an anonymous member of a neverending [[Ensemble cast|ensemble]]. | ||
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A Chorus Line is a concept musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, the musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
Following several workshops and an Off-Broadway production, A Chorus Line opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway July 25, 1975, directed by Michael Bennett and co-choreographed by Bennett and Bob Avian. An unprecedented box office and critical hit, the musical received twelve Tony Award nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history until surpassed by Cats in 1997, and the longest-running Broadway musical originally produced in the US, until surpassed in 2011 by the revival of Chicago. It remains the seventh longest-running Broadway show ever. A Chorus LineTemplate:'s success has spawned many successful productions worldwide. It began a lengthy run in the West End in 1976 and was revived on Broadway in 2006, and in the West End in 2013.
Synopsis
The show opens in the middle of an audition for an upcoming Broadway production. The formidable director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work ("I Hope I Get It"). After the next round of cuts, 17 dancers remain. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. He wants to learn more about them, and asks the dancers to introduce themselves. With reluctance, the dancers reveal their pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to the end of a career.
The first candidate, Mike, explains that he is the youngest of 12 children. He recalls his first experience with dance, watching his sister's dance class when he was a pre-schooler ("I Can Do That"). Mike took her place one day when she refused to go to class—and he stayed. Bobby tries to hide the unhappiness of his childhood by making jokes. As he speaks, the other dancers have misgivings about this strange audition process and debate what they should reveal to Zach ("And..."), but since they all need the job, the session continues.
Zach is angered when he feels that the streetwise Sheila is not taking the audition seriously. Opening up, she reveals that her mother married at a young age and her father neither loved nor cared for them. When she was six, she realized that ballet provided relief from her unhappy family life, as did Bebe and Maggie ("At the Ballet"). The scatter-brained Kristine is tone-deaf, and her lament that she could never sing is interrupted by her husband Al finishing her phrases in tune ("Sing").
Mark, the youngest of the dancers, relates his first experiences with pictures of the female anatomy and his first wet dream, while the other dancers share memories of adolescence ("Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love"). The 4'10" Connie laments the problems of being short, and Diana Morales recollects her horrible high school acting class ("Nothing"). Don remembers his first job at a nightclub and Judy reflects on her problematic childhood while some of the auditionees talk about their opinion of their parents ("Mother"). Then, Greg speaks about his discovery of his homosexuality and Richie recounts how he nearly became a kindergarten teacher ("Gimme the Ball"). Finally, the newly buxom Val explains that talent alone doesn't count for everything with casting directors, and silicone and plastic surgery can really help ("Dance: Ten; Looks: Three").
The dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the next section of the audition, but Cassie stays onstage to talk to Zach. She is a veteran dancer who has had some notable successes as a soloist. They have a history together: Zach had cast her in a featured part previously, and they had lived together for several years. Zach tells Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and shouldn't be at this audition. But she hasn't been able to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance ("The Music and the Mirror"). Zach sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination.
Zach calls Paul, who has been reluctant to share his past, on stage for a private talk, and he emotionally relives his childhood and high school experience, his early career in a drag act, coming to terms with his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents' ultimate reaction to finding out about his lifestyle. Paul breaks down and is comforted by Zach. Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run-through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star ("One"). Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash what went wrong in their relationship and her career. Zach points to the machine-like dancing of the rest of the cast—the other dancers who have all blended together, and who will probably never be recognized individually—and mockingly asks if this is what she wants. Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I’d be proud to be one of them. They’re wonderful....They’re all special. I’d be happy to be dancing in that line. Yes, I would...."
During a tap sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that recently underwent surgery. After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can also end in an instant. Zach asks the remaining dancers what they will do when they can no longer dance. Led by Diana, they reply that whatever happens, they will be free of regret ("What I Did for Love"). The final eight dancers are selected: Mike, Cassie, Bobby, Judy, Richie, Val, Mark, and Diana.
"One" (reprise/finale) begins with an individual bow for each of the 19 characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one from the other: ironically, each character who was an individual to the audience seems now to be an anonymous member of a neverending ensemble.
