SPOTLIGHT ON
A CHORUS LINE TAKES THE STAGE It was a late January night in 1974 when Michael Bennett (a choreographer, director, and of course, dancer) placed a tape recorder in the center of a studio floor. He was surrounded by dancers of all ages and experiences. He’d gathered them all for an idea that he had about a new musical: one that would come to be called A Chorus Line. In that room, over a number of sessions, the dancers left behind their life stories, their hopes and dreams, their fears of fewer jobs for dancers on Broadway...and about 30 hours of recordings. Bennett, disillusioned by what he The cast of A Chorus Line. Photo by Martha Swope. called “the falsehood and apathy” of the political world, gathered these tapes and created a performance that would “show people being honest with one another.” And honest they were—A Chorus Line, created from these tapes, was an amalgamation of harsh, devastating, hopeful, and triumphant stories, all based on the lives of real dancers. With these recordings in hand, Bennett introduced the idea to producer Joseph Papp, who gave him permission to use the Public Theater to workshop the show. A Chorus Line premiered in 1975, instantly taking the theatre world by storm. After three months, it moved to the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 6,137 performances—once the longest running show on Broadway, now the 7th longest.
The cast of A Chorus Line. Photo by Martha Swope.