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Jul 18, 2023

A Chorus Line Sparkles, Syncs Steps and Storylines

Chloe Fox (Sheila) sings, as Christopher Tipps holds up Resa Meshina. Photo by Scott Treadway. Flat Rock – A Chorus Line delivers the moves both physically and emotionally, at the Flat Rock

Chloe Fox (Sheila) sings, as Christopher Tipps holds up Resa Meshina. Photo by Scott Treadway.

Flat Rock – A Chorus Line delivers the moves both physically and emotionally, at the Flat Rock Playhouse.

The record-setting Broadway musical runs through Aug. 6, and opened July 13 to a packed crowd.

A Chorus Line features brilliant Marvin Hamlisch’s lively and jazzy music, Edward Kleban’s catchy lyrics, and tap dancing in unison. The signature song is “One,” reflecting dancers coming into synch. Its lyrics describe a “singular sensation” of an attractive woman with “maddening poise, effortless whirl.” The extended “One” dance reprise is a show-ending crowd pleaser, with dancers in gold costumes looking refined and happier than ever.

The most exhilarating number is “Montage: Gimme the Ball,” with modern dance moves all about the stage. “Montage” closes the first of two acts.

“The Music and the Mirror” is artfully staged. Alexandria Van Paris as Cassie dances to a mirror and then to three mirrors. The live band is behind several mirrors at the back of the stage, instead of fully hidden backstage as usual.

Diana (Monica Garcia Bradley) sings “What I Did for Love” quite well. The song was recorded by Josh Groban in 2015, among many others. “The Tap Combination,” “At the Ballet,” and “I Hope I Get It” are among numbers. Richie Walters (Christopher Tipps) is among prolific dancers, as in prior FRP production Cinderella.

Matthew Boyd Moore as feisty, short Jersey boy Mike sings “I Can Do That.” He recalls how, at age four, he figured he’d someday dance like pros. “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three” has Val Clark (Alexandria Nicole Garcia) singing about T&A. She notes she was graded a ten for dancing proficiency in auditions, but merely a three in looks – until she got breast implants.

Indeed, at its heart, A Chorus Line is about each dancer’s current nature and personality-shaping experiences. Director Zach (Jason Watson) coldly probes these contestants to find out who is most coachable.

Rare for a musical, A Chorus Line earned a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It won nine Tony Awards, and had a record-long Broadway run in 1975-90. The film version in 1975 starred Michael Douglas as Zach.

Zach auditions 17 ambitious finalists for eight career-defining spots on a Broadway chorus line.

Antagonist Sheila

Zach molds them from culturally diverse, competing individuals into a synchronized ensemble. He seeks “unison dancing at every head and body angle. You must blend.”

There is much humor, tension, and dancing along the way. The auditioning dancers have their quirks. Some are aggravating, and keep challenging the director’s directions. In real life, they would have no chance at passing an audition.

Brassy, temperamental Sheila Bryant (Chloe Fox) is the main antagonist. Zach moves her from the front of two dance lines to the back one. “Sheila, do you know the (step) combination?,” Zach sarcastically asks. Sheila snarls and retorts, “I knew it when I was in the front!”

When a dancer is severely pained by injury at the audition, Cassie asks if anyone has Valium handy. Of course, hyper Sheila does. The audience on Saturday night howled at this revelation. Aging Sheila complains about her parents. Slender redhead Fox is outstanding as Sheila. Fox was Cinderella’s conniving stepmother.

Eccentric, head-shaved Bobby Mills (Josh Levinson), goofy Judy Turner (Amanda Tong) and Maggie Winslow (Emily Grace Tucker), and scratchy-voiced Kristine Urich-DeLuca also spark laughs.

Paul San Marco (Steven Rada), among others, recounts sad, conflicted childhoods. Normally standoffish, Zach ends up consoling Paul with a lingering hug. Proud Puerto Rican Diana wants to prove her teachers were wrong about her limited potential. Connie Wong (Resa Mishina) futilely kept stretching to reach five feet in height, to avoid height bias. She said that “the only thing that grew was my desire” to make it as a dancer.

Cassie reveals much about herself and Zach in their private chat. They lived together. She left. She felt neglected as Zach focused on directing, and pressured her to follow his own upward ambition. She tried acting in Los Angeles but concluded she is meant to instead dance in NYC. Zach thinks a chorus line is beneath Cassie, picks on her in his direction, but eventually gives her a true chance at resurrecting her career.

A dancer’s career-ending knee injury reminds the others the body is delicate, and their careers can suddenly end. Zach asks about their post-dance career plans. Diana then sings “What I Did for Love” about loving dance. The theme is undeterred optimism, free of regret for taking risks to succeed.

West Henderson new grad Peityn Reasoner is in the cast. These A Chorus Line actors succeed where their characters tried – by making the grade. They excel line by line, step by step in “singular sensation.”

Next up at FRP is psychological thriller A Girl on the Train, Aug. 17-Sept. 2.

For A Chorus Line tickets, check: flatrockplayhouse.org/a-chorus-line.

Tags: A Chorus Line, arts, sparkles, steps, storylines, syncs, T2729