Director/choreographer Michael Bennett had long wanted to
do a show that put the spotlight on that class of performers
known as "gypsies," not the stars, but the unknown
dancers, the faceless artists that persevere in the chorus, suffering
through the endless auditions and almost constant rejection that
comes with a life in the Theatre. So in 1974, he rented a studio
and invited 24 dancers to talk about their personal and professional
lives. These sessions were recorded, written down, and eventually
pieced into a libretto by playwright/novelist James Kirkwood
and Nicholas Dante, one of Bennett's dancers. Academy-award winner
Marvin Hamlisch was brought in to compose the music, and Edward
Kleban wrote the lyrics. Bennett even brought in playwright Neil
Simon who--although uncredited--added several of the great one-liners
in the play.
A Chorus Line would revolutionize the way audiences
view musical theatre. It broke away from the rigid story line
of traditional musicals, instead weaving together the stories
of the ensemble cast into a seamless whole. It broke new ground
technically as well, becoming the first show on Broadway to use
computers in the control booth.
A Chorus Line opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre
on April 15, 1975. After an initial run of 101 performances,
it moved to the Shubert Theatre where it would remain for almost
fifteen years, breaking box office records and winning almost
every possible award including 9 Tony Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards,
the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle
Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the London
Evening Standard Award, a special citation Obie Award, and even
a Gold Record Award from Columbia Records. The show finally closed
on April 28, 1990, after 6,137 performances. It has been produced
in over twenty countries and continues to be popular around the
world. The 1985 film version features Michael Douglas.
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