Sadler’s Wells, London
August 2, 2024
The multi-award winning A Chorus Line draws back the curtain on the audition process for a Broadway show. But that’s really just the setting. With its original foundations in the experiences of real-life performers, what the show is actually about, is what it takes to be a musical theatre dancer. A very human show about real people, it explores why they do what they do. The final number apart, it’s not glitzy and it’s not glamorous but, beautifully directed by Nikolai Foster, it is a terrific piece of theatre. Oh yes, and the singing and dancing are top-notch too.
Taking place wholly in the rehearsal room and largely in real-time, over its hour and fifty minutes (there’s no interval but don’t worry, the time flies past) it reveals hard truths about the dance world: the difficulties of simply getting a job, and the transitory nature of them when they do. It is as relevant today as it was back in 1975 when it was made.
At the centre of everything is casting director, Zach, played by Adam Cooper. He’s as interested in what makes each of the dancers in front of him tick as how, and how well, they dance. A sort of puppet-master, one by one he pulls their strings getting them to reveal more and more about their lives and their personal motivation for becoming a dancer.
and Jocasta Almgill (Diana Morales) in A Chorus Line
Photo Marc Brenner
As each member of the cast gets a chance to shine, we see that, while they may be auditioning for a chorus, they are a group of people with very different backgrounds and motivations.
As they tell us about themselves, many of the auditionees are filmed live by Zach’s assistant, Larry (Ashley-Jordan Packer), the close-ups projected behind and above the action. Far from getting in the way or being a distraction, the pictures seem to get right inside each person, amplifying their stories and somehow making them more intimate.
Each monologue is interspersed with song and dance that always emerges naturally from the story. But while you cannot help but feel for those auditioning, but you also find yourself making your own judgements, effectively becoming part of the process as you decide who you would like to make it through. While one or two characterisations are a little overplayed, most are realistically drawn.
Photo Marc Brenner
There’s no hiding place in dance auditions and it’s the same with the private histories that the dancers confide. Indeed, and while A Chorus Line may be a musical with dance at its heart, one of the highlights of the show comes as Manuel Pacific as Paul, a shy, complex, vulnerable figure who is initially very reluctant to open up, tells of his homosexuality (remember the show was first made when attitudes were rather different to today), coming out at Catholic school, performing in drag shows, and hiding it from his parents. Pacific is magnificent. He made you feel and left you wanting to know more. You could have heard a pin drop as the audience hung on his every word.
Just how fickle fate can be, how easily a chance can vanish, is demonstrated later when Paul, having won everyone’s heart, falls and injures his knee. He’s out. It’s just a shame the scene feels rushed. No sooner has it happened than he’s helped away and the audition continues. The show must go on.
The most impactful song is left to almost the end, when Diana (Jocasta Almgill) takes the lead of ‘What I Did For Love.’ Dancers will get every sentiment in it, but it’s a number that has a resonance to everyone. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one whose eyes watered.
Photo Mark Brenner
Elsewhere, Carly Mercedes Dyer puts in a stellar turn as the no-nonsense Cassie, the director’s ex-girlfriend, who wants to begin her career again. Zach reckons she’s too good for the chorus line, but Dyer is powerful as she makes her case to be part of it once again.
Backing everything are the excellent band, led by Matthew Spalding. But what a shame they are only visible for a short period about an hour in, when the piece of set they sit on is turned so we can see them.
As befits the setting, the whole show is performed in practice clothes, except the finale. As we suddenly rush ahead in time to the show, the dancers reappear in identical golden suits and perform ‘One.’ It may be the only tune of the evening that sits in the memory, but what a tune. Fabulous dancing too, highlighting the unity and synchronicity needed for the number. It is, to paraphrase the lyrics, a singularly sensational finale.
A Chorus Line is at Sadler’s Wells to August 25, 2024, then touring nationally to October 5.