It Really is a Singular Sensation

A Chorus Line, 1975. A Chorus Line, 2008.

It holds.

The Ahmanson. Through July 6.

As the treasurer and eventual president of the theatre goers club in high school, of course we saw A Chorus Line. Suburban kids on a school bus go to town. That’s when Times Square still had Nathan’s and whores.

A true whore quote from one whore to another while getting a load of me,
“That kid ain’t even old enough to have a hard on and he’s already smoking cigarettes.”

I listened to the cast album for most of high school. I really did believe that everything was probably more beautiful at the ballet. Or at least I understood wanting to leave your life to be somewhere more interesting.

The show at the Ahmanson is very close to the original, with all the original choreography. Not easy stuff. There are so many choreographed mistakes, since it is the staging of an audition. I remember the actors in the original production being more desperate. These Ahmanson actors did not have as great a need. Also, for whatever insane time reason, all the songs were sped up. This was irritating. There was no reason to speed up the songs. The play did not feel so much 1975 as it felt 2008, but maybe that’s just how things go. The movie, Hair, was really Hair-1979.

A Chorus Line is powerful. It is universal. It speaks to anyone who passionately loves something and just really wants to be a part of it. The music by Marvin Hamlisch is intricate and intelligent. What I Did for Love is the simplest song.

The grueling audition (competition) grating against the humanism (communalism) is really at the heart of all societal trouble, especially in the West. A Chorus Line has lasted all these years because of its combination of great music, spare yet huge choreography and the appealing 1970’s awareness of the “me” in the “we”.

These days, it just seems downright hokey to hear someone talk about their life story. But the 70's paved the way for people to open up to "Tell it like it is." This telling ultimately advanced all of society. A Chorus Line is part of that social line-up. I grew nostalgic for a time when you could talk about strong feelings and ideas and people would not even think to respond uncomfortably, "Tell me how you really feel," or "Too Much Information."

We are back to all competition and people hiding in their positions. Of course, the next wave of progress is soon upon us.

Tuesday night and the place was packed. Worth the trip. Completely enjoyable. Sharp, well done stuff.