In an empty theatre, on a bare stage, casting for a new Broadway musical is almost complete. For 17 dancers, this audition is the chance of a lifetime. It's what they've worked for - with every drop of sweat, every hour of training, every day of their lives. It's the one opportunity to do what they've always dreamed -- to have the chance to dance. This is A Chorus Line, the musical for everyone who’s ever had a dream and put it all on the line. Winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for drama, this singular sensation is the longest-running American Broadway musical ever.
With nineteen main characters, it is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical, A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. A Chorus Line features a wonderful score including ‘One’, ‘What I Did For Love’ and ‘Dance 10, Looks 3’.
The original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Buffalo, N.Y. native Michael Bennett, was an unprecedented box office and critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history up to that time. It remains the longest running Broadway musical originally produced in the United States, and the fourth longest-running Broadway show ever. The show has enjoyed many successful productions worldwide and was revived on Broadway in 2006.
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, his claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted in not only hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well.
