REVIEW

MILT THOMAS

I couldn’t get to sleep the night after I saw this show. Why? Because I could not get the most famous “One” from A Chorus Line out of my head after seeing the Riverside Theatre production!

This was the Star Wars of musicals (6137 performances, an all-time Broadway record until that thing about cats in 1997 and then the other thing about the Windy City in 2011). Well, it is now the all-time Riverside Theatre hit as far as I’m concerned.  The audience was certainly revved up (especially the woman who sat behind me screaming her approval after every number, thank you very much).

The story is well known – dancers hoping for what could be their last chance at a part, going through auditions and soul searching as they brace for the director’s decision on eight finalists.  Zach (played by Tom Berklund) has the unenviable job of deciding who’s in and who’s not. Much of his part is spoken offstage and I couldn’t help but compare his voice to the Hal 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey (“I’m sorry Dave; I’m afraid I can’t do that”).

This is definitely an “adult” musical, with very adult themes and language (a few words at times), but you can’t help but feel the fears, uncertainties and doubts of each cast member as they compete for what may be their final chance to perform.  The musical numbers were inspired by real-life stories of dancers and this production’s ensemble cast plays each part as though they owned it.

The show is entirely focused on what it takes to succeed, from the first cut to achieving that final reward — a part in the show.  It’s all about the dancing. Dance rehearsals were so well choreographed that when individual dancers erred it was clear the error was a setup for Zach’s next criticism of that individual’s performance.

The music is of course written by award-winning composer, Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away all too soon in 2012. Lyrics were penned by Edward Kleban, who also died in his prime. The aforementioned signature tune, “One,” is the show’s most famous. It starts off the second act and finishes the show, but stays affixed to your brain as it did mine for hours afterward. Each song relates to an aspect of a career dancer’s life, onstage or off. “I Can Do That” and “I Hope I Get It” reflect a dancer’s fragile optimism. A child’s dancing lessons and dreams of a future set the stage in “At the Ballet” while “What I Did for Love” reflects on what actually happened. “Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love,” and “Sing!” add humor to the mix, as well as “Dance: Ten Looks Three,” (not the original title) which reflects on what a woman must do when nature doesn’t take the right course.

The final scene/set piece is such an exciting contrast to the melodrama through most of the performance that I found myself cheering along with the rest of the audience! Their individual stories no longer matter in the real world for dancers as they become an anonymous, “Singular Sensation” to any production’s featured stars.

There are still tickets available, especially for the added performances on Sunday, January 17^th and Thursday, January 21, which is hardly enough time to prepare for Riverside’s next show (Over the River and Through the Woods, February 2-21).