Choreographie: Michael Bennett
Music: Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics: Edvard Kleban
Book: James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante


Story:

Zach, director and coreograph, is looking for 4 female and 4 male dancers to a Broadway-musical.

Only 8 dancers with the right skill and the right looks.

The audition begins.. in fact the whole musical is an audition.

They dance, sing and tell their story, a story of the youth, the domestic expectations, the development, the growing-up. In short: The life of a dancer.

"A Chorus Line" shows the off-stage-reality: Hope and glory. Sorrow and despair. Ambitions and envy. Laughter and cry.

And a bit couldn't-care-less. The youngsters and the old-timers all striving for the same goal; a job in the chorus line.

The songs:
The music and the mirror, from a Swedish production 1 I hope I get it
2 I can do that
3 "And"
4 At the Ballez
5 Sing!
6 Hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love
7 Nothing
8 Dance: Ten: Looks: Three
9 The music and the mirror
10 One
11 The tap combination
12 What I did for love
13 One: Reprise


Today, I want you to tell me about your stage name...

The first spoken lines.. Zach is located in the middle of the audience, talking to the dancer who have lined up on the stage front:

Zach: Today, I want you to tell me about your stage name, real name if it´s different. And I also want to know where you were born and when... We´ll start on the end, stage right, please.
Don: Ah - twenty-six.
Zach: Start with your name and step forward.
Don: My real name is Don Kerr. Ah - Kansas City, Kansas. October 20, 1951.
Zach: Next.
Maggie: Maggie Winslow.
Zach: Louder.
Maggie: Maggie Winslow. Sometimes known as Margaret, Margie, Peggy. All of above. Whatever, it's real and I was born in San Mateo, California an a Thursday evening at 10:40 p.m., August 17, 1950.
Mike: I'm Mike Costa. It used be Costafalone. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, July 9, 1953, which makes me twenty-four.
Zach: Next.
Connie: Connie Wong. It's always been Connie Wong. I was born in Chinatown - Lower East Side.
Zach: Your age?
Bobby: Go on. Miss Wong.
Connie: Ah - December 5, four thousand six hundred and forty-two. The year of the Chicken.
Zach: Next.
Greg: My real name is Sidney Kenneth Beckenstein. My Jewish name is Rochmel Lev Ben Yakov Meyer Beckenstein, and my professional name is Gregory Gardner. Very East Side, and I do not deny it. Born August 2, 1945
Val: Well, as far as I'm concerned I'm Valery Clark. But my parents think I'm Margaret Mary Houlihan. Couldn't you just die? I was born in the middle of nowhere. A little town called Arlington, Vermont. Bye.
Zach: How old are you?
Val: Old. No - twenty-five.
Sheila: I'm Sheila Bryant. Really Sara Rosemary Bryant, which I really hate. I was born August 8, 1948 in Colorado springs, Colorado. And I'm going to be thirty real soon... And I'm real glad.
Bobby: I'm Robert Charles Joseph Henry Mills, III, that's my real name too. I come from upstate New York near Buffalo. I can't remember the name of the town. I've blocked it out. Born, March 15, 1952.
Bebe: My name is Bebe Benzenheimer - and I know, I gotta change it. Born June 6, 1950. I come from Boston. And here I am!
Judy: My name ist Judy Turner. My real name is Lana Turner. No, no - it's always been Judy Turner. Born July 21, 1947. Oh, I was born El Paso - El Paso, Texas.
Zach: Good, next.
Richie: My name is Richie Walters. I'm from Herculanium, Missouri. I was born on a full moon on June 13, 1950. And I'm black.
Diana: My real name is Diana Morales. And I didn't change it 'cause I figured ethnic was in. Six-ten-fifty. You got that? And I was born on a Hollywood bed in the Bronx.
Zach: Go on, Diana...

ONE, singular censation.......


The 9 Tony Awards won by A CHORUS LINE in 1976:

1. BEST BROADWAY MUSICAL

    A Chorus Line New York Shakespeare Festival/Joseph Papp (producers)

2. BEST ACTRESS IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    Donna McKechnie -- A Chorus Line

3. BEST ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    Sammy Williams -- A Chorus Line

4. BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    Carole Bishop -- A Chorus Line

5. BEST DIRECTOR OF A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    Michael Bennett -- A Chorus Line

6. BOOK OF A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    A Chorus Line -- James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante

7. BEST SCORE OF A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    A Chorus Line -- Marvin Hamlisch (music) and Edward Kleban (lyrics)

8. BEST LIGHTING DESIGNER OF A BROADWAY PLAY

    Tharon Musser -- A Chorus Line

9. BEST CHOREOGRAPHER OF A BROADWAY MUSICAL

    Michael Bennet and Bob Avian -- A Chorus Line


Links

to

other

sites:

A Chorus Line - Fox Theatre
A Chorus Line, swedish version
A Chorus Line (1985) , the movie
OSCAR
The Musicals Home Page
Yahoo! - Arts:Performing Arts:Drama:Musicals
Yahoo! - Arts:Performing Arts:Drama:Musicals:Shows
'Red, Hot & Blue: A Salute to American Musicals'
Jill Hobgood's Musical Sites List
The best Musical Sites in the Web
Looking for friends interested in musicals!!!
Mr Showbiz
What is running On Broadway now ?

My homage to screen workers - Intro- Credits - Links- Pictures