A Chorus Line

The same day, only now in the evening, looking forward to watching A Chorus Line, I did wonder how this would pan out having watched the professional tour only last year. I knew the cast should be roughly a fifty/fifty split of male/female cast and here there were fewer male cast members.

I really need not have worried, this show had outstanding performers in the principal line-up with the characters they created. My goodness they could dance as well as sing, not only these principals, there was also an amazing company of dancers to back them up. It was good to see a range of ages tapping and dancing their way through the show. This show would not have been the show it was without you.

There was a nicely stripped back stage, all the black legs were taken out to reveal bare walls with just 5 mirrors across the back of the stage. Walking the auditorium and seated in the audience were Andrew Cleaver and Rachel, respectively Choreographer Zach and assistant Laurie, not easy roles because one must know the whole script to slip their lines into the correct places in the dialogue and be on stage at the correct point. These were both well played and I guess it was a change for Andrew to sit and ‘rest’. There being no set as such the lighting plot to this show was crucial and this was a well-designed plot, probably more important than the costumes which initially were ‘rehearsal’ costumes. This is a show that ends in glitz and glamour and it certainly did with the black and gold finale costumes with great lighting, singing and dancing.

There were some outstanding performances and some of the cast were living examples of the back stories of the characters. It has been a bit difficult to match the cast to the characters but the singing and dancing that the cast gave such as Jess Auciello gave as Diana was great, the dance routine that Nicola performed as Cassie, Charlotte’s Judy and Becky’s Sheila were stand out. Jazz’s portrayal of Mikki and Emily as Bebe brought out the best of some of the younger cast. I believe that Val in the orange leotard was Chloe, strutting across the stage, a good portrayal of someone who spent money to look her best. We had a wonderful couple with Andrew Downing as Al and his dancing wife Kristine perfectly portrayed by Carrie, Abbirose and Mel as respectively Maggie and Roberta, well performed. I think the remaining named characters who also danced their way to glory were Jenny as Gracie, Kara as Connie and Jess Beeton as Donna. All these actresses had great vocals for their songs and they also spoke a monologue of some sort relating their life experience, these were all clearly and confidently proclaimed. There was however one monologue that was not only the longest but the most emotional for the audience to listen to. This was delivered with a confidence, eloquence and emotion that belied the young age of cast member Barney Cooper. As Paul, the audience were in awe of you, the way you performed this brought a silence to the theatre, that silence when you finished was all the applause you needed. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one with a tear in an eye. As Tessa Davies from NODA said ‘faultless and beautifully portrayed’. Throughout the show you gave a great performance, have a great voice and not only that you learnt to Tap dance as well.

This show zipped along from the opening number ‘I hope I get it’ to the final bows, I loved the iconic song ‘One Singular Sensation’. To the amazing synchronicity of the dancing, the solo dances, the ballet dancers, the sound and rhythm of the Tapping, all brilliant. As I said back stage to the company, they should have been sat in the audience to watch and appreciate the amazing dance routines, they were amazingly good. I said at the beginning I wondered how the show would pan out with only four male cast, I need not have worried. I am so glad that I saw this show, Congratulations to all and well, well done, I loved it.

Come From Away will have a lot to do to beat this, but then it’s completely different, it’s so not a Dance show.

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