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PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Dazzling to the eye and ear, Barrington Stage Company's 50th-anniversary production of "A Chorus Line" makes an emphatic case for the value of the iconic musical's legacy. It opened Sunday and continues through Aug. 8 at BSC's Boyd-Quinson Theater, under the direction of Alan Paul, now in his fourth summer as artistic director.
As was evident from Paul's first production at Barrington Stage, the powerful 2023 revival of "Cabaret," he reveres old musicals that offer song-and-dance spectacle and emotional honesty. Unlike his "Cabaret," this "A Chorus Line" shows a more direct lineage to the original production, which was conceived, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett based on Broadway dancers' personal stories gathered during a 1974 roundtable discussion/group-therapy session about their lives and careers. The Tony Award-winning music is by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and the book, also Tony-winning, is by Nicholas Dante and James Kirkwood, working from recordings of those original sessions.
Theater Review
"A Chorus Line"
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Barrington Stage Company at the Boyd-Quinson Theater, 30 Union St., Pittsfield, Mass.
Running time: Two hours and five minutes, no intermission
Continues: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; matinees, 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, through Aug. 8. Additional performance: 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7.
Tickets: $50.96 to $124.80, including fees (youth, half price)
More info: 413-242-6411 and barringtonstageco.org
Almost everything on the Pittsfield stage looks, sounds and feels familiar, from the lineup at the beginning of 17 dance gypsies auditioning for eight spots in the ensemble of a new show, to them at the end, doing a kick line in gold lamé tuxedos during a reprise of the song "One." In between, with Bennett's original choreography recreated by Parker Esse, come a dozen songs, including the montages "At the Ballet," with its shimmering harmonies, and "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love." The latter remains a remarkable exploration in song of teen years as experienced by artsy kids in a cross-section of 1960s America who shared little more than dance and familial dysfunction.
Told over an intermissionless two hours, "A Chorus Line" alternates group numbers showing off top-notch voices and dancing - except when they're supposed to be bad, which presents its own challenges - with characters' revealing biographical scenes and stories. Among the best are a confessional by the shy, awkward Paul (Rafa Peppen) and an extended conversation between the show's director, Zach (Danny Binstock), and Cassie (Deanna Cudjoe), his former lover and a star dancer trying to return to the stage, even if it means taking an ensemble role. The character was based on the life of Donna McKechnie, Bennett's partner on stage and off, who originated it and won a Tony Award. Cudjoe is outstanding in Cassie's big number, "The Music and the Mirror."
"A Chorus Line" likely would survive a rigorous reimagining. Perhaps it could be successfully transformed, like Barrington Stage's sensational 2016 production of "The Pirates of Penzance" or director John Doyle's stripped-down Broadway versions of shows including "Sweeney Todd" and "Company," in which the cast also play instruments to provide their own musical accompaniment. But the 50th anniversary of "A Chorus Line" was not the time for such an experiment.
Paul, Esse, music director/keyboardist Helen Gregory, their cast and 10-member orchestra truly do honor to the original show and its history. Their faithful production celebrates an enduring musical that revitalized a flagging Broadway when it arrived 51 years ago last month, going on to win nine Tonys and the Pulitzer and running for 6,137 performances over 15 years. If you've had almost every note and lyric stored in your memory's theater library for decades, as I have since seeing a 1980 touring production of "A Chorus Line" at Proctors in Schenectady as a preteen, Barrington Stage's revival offers pure nostalgia on every page.
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