{"id":1180,"date":"2010-06-04T12:25:27","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T16:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2010-06-04T12:25:27","modified_gmt":"2010-06-04T16:25:27","slug":"theatre-a-chorus-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-a-chorus-line\/","title":{"rendered":"THEATRE: A CHORUS LINE"},"content":{"rendered":"

A CHORUS LINE<\/em><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The iconic \u201870s musical, A Chorus Line<\/em>, is back in LA. If you\u2019ve never seen it, or just haven\u2019t in a while, now would be your chance. It\u2019s one of those shows that everyone must see at least once. And, although I\u2019ve seen it several times in my life, I was surprised by just how much I didn\u2019t remember! None of the major stuff, which I knew almost word for word, but the incidentals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As I was sitting in the opening night audience at the Pantages Theatre, I kept thinking that I had seen this cast before. It\u2019s the touring company, so it was a great possibility. The performers I thought were weak last time seemed to be the same. But, though it took a little detective work, I dug out the cast I saw in 2008, and only three were the same, including the girl with the best<\/em> voice, Stephanie Martignetti, as Maggie. (I don\u2019t want to name the weak performers because they don\u2019t really detract from the show, and the audience seemed to enjoy everyone.)<\/p>\n

But no matter which performances are lacking, I think it would be hard to mess-up the show in general because the music holds up so well. And the story of the plight of professional dancers has never been more in the public\u2019s consciousness than now, due to the popularity of shows such as So<\/em> You Think You Can Dance<\/em>. For instance, on SYTYCD<\/em>, we\u2019re seeing hundreds of fantastic dancers, and that\u2019s just a mere pittance compared to the number who auditioned, and only five of each sex will make the pared-down Top 10 this season. Such a shame. And even the winners don\u2019t get much fame; you have to really scrutinize the background dancers on variety shows to find even a past winner\u2019s face, while many marginal-at-best singers\u00a0on American\u00a0Idol<\/em> get to torture our ears, front and center.<\/p>\n

As often, I digress. But that shows you how relevant A Chorus Line<\/em> is to today\u2019s entertainment business. For those of you who have been living under a rock, the show is simply about a group of dancers who are auditioning for a Broadway show. The director makes them bare their souls and talk about their dysfunctional families and the like. Maybe that\u2019s where the creepy Nigel Lythgoe got the idea behind what he does to these poor kids on SYTYCD<\/em>! I\u2019ve always thought it was cruel on that<\/em> show, and it really bothered me again in A Chorus Line<\/em>. I really don\u2019t like to see people be forced to spill their guts. (Unless they\u2019re confessing to a crime, that is.) But that\u2019s the premise of this show, so I just went along with it, and enjoyed the music and dancing.<\/p>\n

My only big complaint was the lighting. I\u2019m sure it complies with the original design from 1975, but it was just way too dark, sometimes didn\u2019t highlight the person who was singing a couple of lines, and was generally making me drowsy. It really needed more pep. And light<\/em>!<\/p>\n

And I couldn\u2019t decide if the material was dated or not. I know the costumes are! But, in the show, the fictional dancers have to give their ages, and most were mid to late twenties, going up past thirty! Nowadays, most of them would be seventeen to low twenties. Sad, actually. And, I\u2019m seriously asking this–did they use the term \u201cgay\u201d in 1975? For some reason, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

A Chorus Line<\/em> is only one ninety minute act, and it goes by pretty quickly. To me, it\u2019s a must-see, especially for young people interested in musical theatre education. I think it\u2019s great when theatres produce old school musicals, (including South Pacific <\/em>at the Ahmanson, which I\u2019ll review next week,) and I think we should all take advantage of getting to see what previous generations did. In the case of A Chorus Line<\/em>, it proves the old adage that \u201ceverything old is new again.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Karen with Raini and Rico Rodriguez at yet another A-list event two days later. We're thinking maybe a sitcom for the three of them!<\/p><\/div>\n

One audience note: I was thrilled to run into one of new favorite actors there–Rico Rodriguez, who plays Manny on the hilarious Modern Family<\/em>. Not only is he perfect on the show, but he and his protective big sis, Raini, are lovely children. When I was telling Rico how much he makes me laugh, he said, \u201cThank you so much! That\u2019s really a big compliment to me.\u201d And then, instead of just dismissing me, Raini kindly said, \u201cWell, we have to get back to our seats now.\u201d Someone raised those children right! That\u2019s two people who wouldn\u2019t have horrible stories as characters in A Chorus Line<\/em>!<\/p>\n

A Chorus Line<\/em> running through June 13, 2010\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Pantages Theatre 6233 Hollywood Blvd. 800-982-2787 www.BroadwayLA.org\u3000<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A CHORUS LINE \u00a0 The iconic \u201870s musical, A Chorus Line, is back in LA. If you\u2019ve never seen it, or just haven\u2019t in a while, now would be your chance. It\u2019s one of those shows that everyone must see at least once. And, although I\u2019ve seen it several times in my life, I was<\/p>\n

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