![back on the chorus line back on the chorus line](https://i0.wp.com/scottthompsononline.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ChorusLinePoster-Adj.jpg)
Broadway attendance was at a near all-time low of 6.6 million before the musical premiered. It is not an exaggeration to say that A Chorus Line saved Broadway. Clive Barnes of The New York Times said, “the conservative word for A Chorus Line is tremendous, or perhaps terrific.” A Chorus Line quickly transferred to Broadway and had its first performance on July 25, 1975. The show was a massive hit immediately after it premiered at The Public Theater. Throughout the development process, the cast and creative team worried that the show might be too insular, too focused on the business. But it wasn’t until “At the Ballet” that they knew they had something special. From these character developments and personalities, Hamlisch and Kleban fashioned songs – for instance, they thought of the song that became “Sing!”during the actress’s poor singing audition. Most fascinating was that all of the stories were true – and the process was deeply emotional for the cast who were used to not being allowed a voice in the creative process. The cast members also contributed their own stories that enhanced the characters. Several dancers played versions of themselves and others played characters created from combining several different dancers’ stories. There was no real script to start with and each role was created organically, individually crafted to suit the talents and personality of the person playing it. A Chorus Line is unique in its development. The first workshop was on August 4, 1974. However, Bennett was the one who drove the show. Edward Kleban would write the lyrics and later James Kirkwood came on as a co-bookwriter. Hamlisch had always wanted to write a Broadway musical and accepted. He asked Marvin Hamlisch, then a three-time Academy Award® winner and Hollywood’s hottest composer, to write the score. Then Bennett approached longtime collaborator Bob Avian to assist with choreography.
![back on the chorus line back on the chorus line](https://www.youarecurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/IMG_0451.jpeg)
First was Nicholas Dante, one of the dancers at the interviews whose story turned into Paul’s moving monologue, to develop the book from the recordings. Bennett then invited the other collaborators to the project.īennett drew from friends to help shape the piece. Papp allowed Bennett an unprecedented amount of workshop time for the project and planned to open it in his theater complex, The Public Theater. Bennett knew he had something with the material and pitched his idea to Joseph Papp, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival ( NYSF), who loved it. The event lasted twelve hours, but there was still more to tell and another evening was scheduled and recorded. As the evening continued, the stories grew and encompassed everything from childhood traumas, insecurities, sexuality and more. The interviews began in a circle with each dancer stating their name, where they were born and why they started dancing. On a snowy Saturday evening in January 1974, they did just that.
![back on the chorus line back on the chorus line](https://www.metropolisarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/c-line-25.jpg)
They decided to get together a group of dancers to share their stories and experiences. Coincidentally, Bennett had been thinking along the same lines – although his idea was for a show, not a troupe.
![back on the chorus line back on the chorus line](http://tbrnewsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/JWE-A-CHORUS-LINEw-700x357.jpg)
They knew they needed a name and Bennett was a well-known Tony Award®-winning director and choreographer who got his start as a chorus dancer. Peacock and Stevens thought of an idea to create a theater troupe of just Broadway dancers and approached their friend Michael Bennett with their idea. As musicals became more expensive to produce (and flops were abundant), Broadway began to struggle in the early 1970s which caused many dancers to be out of work. The idea behind A Chorus Line began with two Broadway dancers, Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens. How did this musical, called “the first reality show” by original cast member Baayork Lee, capture such an iconic role in American culture? But then, the show won the Pulitzer Prize, nine Tony Awards®, and a host of other accolades. For an era that relied on showy elements, this was the anti-musical musical. It’s a completely ensemble show with no large scenery, no costumes (except the final number), no intermission and no star. A Chorus Line changed musical theater forever when it premiered in 1975.