A Chorus Line

The show opens during an audition for an upcoming Broadway production. The formidable director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the 24 dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work ("I Hope I Get It"). After a round of cuts, 17 dancers remain. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong 8-member dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. Wanting to learn more about them, he asks the dancers to introduce themselves. Reluctantly, the dancers reveal their pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to the end of a career.

The first candidate, Mike Costa, explains that he is the youngest of 12 children. He recalls his first experience with dance, watching his sister Rosalie's dance class when he was a preschooler ("I Can Do That"). Mike replaced her one day when she refused to go to class—and he stayed. Bobby Mills tries to hide his unhappy childhood by making jokes. As he speaks, the other dancers distrust this strange audition process and debate what they should reveal to Zach ("And..."), but since they all need the job, the session continues.

Zach is angered that the streetwise Sheila Bryant is seemingly not taking the audition seriously. Opening up, she reveals that her mother married at a young age and her father neither cared about nor loved them. At age six she realized, as had fellow auditionees Bebe Benzenheimer and Maggie Winslow, that ballet helped her escape her unhappy family life ("At the Ballet"). Scatterbrained and tone-deaf Kristine Urich-DeLuca laments being unable to sing, while her husband Al finishes her phrases in tune ("Sing!").

Mark Anthony, the youngest dancer, relates his first exposure to the female anatomy and his first wet dream, while the other dancers share their own memories of adolescence ("Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love"). The 4'10" Connie Wong laments the problems of being short, and Diana Morales recollects her horrible high school acting class ("Nothing"). Don Kerr remembers his first job at a nightclub and Judy Turner reflects on her problematic childhood while some auditioners talk about their parents' opinions ("Mother"). Greg Gardner discusses discovering his homosexuality and Richie Walters recounts nearly becoming a kindergarten teacher ("Gimme the Ball"). Finally, the newly-buxom Val Clark explains that talent alone isn't everything, and silicone and plastic surgery can really help improve one's image and career prospects ("Dance: Ten; Looks: Three").

The dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the audition's next section, but experienced dancer Cassie Ferguson, who has had notable successes as a soloist, stays onstage to talk to Zach. They have a history together: Zach had previously cast her in a featured part, and they had lived together for several years. Zach tells Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and shouldn't be at this audition. However, she explains her current inability to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance ("The Music and the Mirror"). Zach relents and sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination.

Zach calls Paul San Marco, who has been reluctant to share his past, onstage for a private talk, and he emotionally relives his childhood and teenage years, his early career in a drag act, facing his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents ultimately discovering his lifestyle and disowning him for it, before breaking down, with Zach comforting him. Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run-through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star ("One"). Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash the issues in their relationship and her career. Zach points to the machine-like movement of the other dancers, who have all blended together and will probably never be recognized individually, and mockingly asks if she wants this. Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I’d be proud to be one of them. They’re wonderful....They’re all special. I’d be happy to be dancing in that line. Yes, I would...and I'll take chorus...if you'll take me."

During a tap sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that recently underwent surgery. After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can also end in an instant. Zach asks the remaining dancers what they will do when they can no longer dance. Diana leads the company in "What I Did for Love".The final eight dancers are selected: Mike, Cassie, Bobby, Judy, Richie, Val, Mark, and Diana.

"One" (reprise/finale) begins with an individual bow for each of the 19 characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes. As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one from the other: ironically, each character who was an individual to the audience seems now to be an anonymous member of a never-ending ensemble.[1]

• "I Hope I Get It" – Company
• "I Can Do That" – Mike
• "And..." – Bobby, Richie, Val, and Judy
• "At the Ballet" – Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie
• "Sing!" – Kristine, Al, and Company
• "Montage Part 1: Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" – Mark, Connie, and Company
• "Montage Part 2: Nothing" – Diana
• "Montage Part 3: Mother" – Don, Judy, Maggie, and Company
• "Montage Part 4: Gimme the Ball" – Greg, Richie, and Company
• "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" – Val
• "The Music and the Mirror" – Cassie
• "One" – Company
• "The Tap Combination" – Company
• "What I Did for Love" – Diana and Company
• "One (Reprise)/Finale" – Company

Notes

• Zach – The imperious, successful director running the audition
• Larry – Zach's assistant

The Auditionees

• Don Kerr (#5) – A married man who once worked in a strip club
• Maggie Winslow (#9) – A sweet woman who grew up in a broken home
• Mike Costa (#81) – An aggressive dancer who learned to tap at an early age
• Connie Wong (#149) – A petite Chinese-American who seems ageless
• Greg Gardner (#67) – A sassy Jewish gay man who divulges his first experience with a woman
• Cassie Ferguson – A once successful solo dancer down on her luck and a former love of Zach's
• Sheila Bryant (#152) – A sassy, sexy, aging dancer who tells of her unhappy childhood.
• Bobby Mills (#84) – Sheila's best friend who jokes about his conservative upbringing in Buffalo, New York
• Bebe Benzenheimer (#37) – A young dancer who only feels beautiful when she dances
• Judy Turner (#23) – A tall, gawky, and quirky dancer
• Richie Walters (#44) – An enthusiastic black man who once planned to be a kindergarten teacher
• Al DeLuca (#17) – An Italian-American who takes care of his wife
• Kristine Urich-DeLuca (#10) – Al's scatterbrained wife who can't sing
• Val Clark (#179) – A foul-mouthed but excellent dancer who couldn't get performing jobs because of her looks until she had plastic surgery
• Mark Anthony (#63) – The youngest dancer, who recounts the time he told his priest he thought he had gonorrhea
• Paul San Marco (#45) – A gay Puerto Rican who dropped out of high school and survived a troubled childhood
• Diana Morales (#2) – Paul's friend, another Puerto Rican who was underestimated by her teachers

Cut Dancers

• Tricia (#131) – A dancer who prays for a job
• Vicki (#60) – A dancer who's never studied ballet
• Lois (#63) – A dancer who excels in ballet
• Roy (#36) – A dancer who can't seem to get the right arms for the dance
• Butch (#14) – A dancer who gives attitude in the audition
• Tom (#40) – A dancer who is also an all-American jock
• Frank (#59) – A dancer who keeps looking at his feet

The musical was formed from several taped workshop sessions with Broadway dancers, known as "gypsies," including eight who eventually appeared in the original cast. The sessions were originally hosted by dancers Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens. The first taped session occurred at the Nickolaus Exercise Center on January 26, 1974. They hoped that they would form a professional dance company to make workshops for Broadway dancers.

Michael Bennett was invited to join the group primarily as an observer, but quickly took control of the proceedings. Although Bennett's involvement has been challenged, there has been no question about Kirkwood and Dante's authorship. In later years, Bennett's claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted not only in hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well.[11] During the workshop sessions, random characters would be chosen at the end for the chorus jobs based on their performance quality, resulting in a different "cast" being selected every run-through. However, several of the costumers objected to this ending, citing the stress of having to change random actors in time for the finale. This resulted in the ending being cut in exchange for the same set of characters being "cast."[12] Marvin Hamlisch, who wrote A Chorus Line's score, recalled how, during the first previews, audiences seemed put off by something in the story. This problem was solved when actress Marsha Mason told Bennett that Cassie (Donna McKechnie in the original production) should win the part in the end because she did everything right. Bennett changed it so that Cassie would always win the part.[13]

In 1975, the rights for a film were sold to Universal Pictures for $5.5 million plus 20% of the distributor's gross rentals above $30 million.[20] Universal subsequently sold the rights to PolyGram.[42] The film was released in 1985, starring Michael Douglas as Zach. It also featured Alyson Reed and Terrance Mann as Cassie and Larry respectively. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough with a screenplay by Arnold Schulman. It was produced by Cy Feuer and distributed by Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing only $14 million from a $25 million budget. Songs "Montage Part 1: Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" and "Montage Part 4: Gimme The Ball" were cut and replaced with "Surprise, Surprise", a new song written by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban. "The Music and the Mirror" was also cut and replaced with "Let me dance for you" written by Hamlisch and Kleban. "What I Did for Love" was sung by Cassie instead of Diana and was sung as a counterpart during "The Tap Combination." Songs "And...", and "Sing!" were cut entirely.

As Kelly Bishop, who played Sheila in the original Broadway cast, later noted, "it was appalling when director Richard Attenborough went on a talk show and said 'this is a story about kids trying to break into show business.' I almost tossed my TV out the window; I mean what an idiot! It's about veteran dancers looking for one last job before it's too late for them to dance anymore. No wonder the film sucked!"

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• Long, Robert Emmet, Broadway, the Golden Years. Continuum International Publishing Group 2001. ISBN 0-8264-1883-X
• Flinn, Denny Martin, What They Did for Love: The Untold Story Behind the Making of A Chorus Line. Bantam 1989 ISBN 0-553-34593-1
• Hamlisch, Marvin, The Way I Was. Scribner 1982. ISBN 0-684-19327-2
• Kelly, Kevin, One Singular Sensation: The Michael Bennett Story. New York: Doubleday 1990. ISBN 0-385-26125-X
• Mandelbaum, Ken, A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett. St. Martins Press 1990. ISBN 0-312-03061-4
• McKechnie, Donna and Lawrence, Greg, Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life. Simon & Schuster 2006. ISBN 0-7432-5520-8
• Stevens, Gary, The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line. Applause Books 2000. ISBN 1-55783-221-8
• Viagas, Robert; Lee, Baayork; and Walsh, Thommie, On the Line: The Creation of A Chorus Line. New York: William Morrow & Company 1990. ISBN 0-688-08429-X

• Official website
• Every Little Step film website
• ​A Chorus Line​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​A Chorus Line​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Tony Award Winners and Nominations 1976