I’m always surprised at how I seem to know every single one of the songs from 'A Chorus Line', even though I truly only remember watching it once.
The movie starring Michael Douglas was a firm favourite of mine as a kid and I guess I must have watched it enough times to be a serious fan of the musical. For the uninitiated or true fan, you’ll know the iconic 'What I Did For Love', 'One', 'I Can Do That, 'At The Ballet', 'The Music And The Mirror', and 'I Hope I Get It'. For anyone who has ever attended an audition, performed in the arts or participated in some way, it’s hard not to get emotional when watching.
The Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is presented by Theatrical. Running for two hours and twenty minutes with interval, each half felt like a minute as the cast brought a level of professionalism that you might expect at Her Majesty’s. This performance and production rivalled anything I have seen on the professional stage and each and every one of the cast, orchestra, crew and production team needs to be commended on that.
Image © Nicole Cleary
The dancing was outstanding, the dramatic performances outstanding, the singing outstanding, the orchestra outstanding. The list of outstanding just goes on and on. You could take someone who hates musicals to this show and I would bet you they would walk away toe tapping. There were times when I felt so moved that I thought I might cry (could be the ex-performer in me having a hard relate moment), then there were moments where the entire audience erupted into applause and vocalisations.
Executive produced by Andrew Gyopar and directed by Tahra Cannon, this was a world-class presentation of the classic. The stand-outs in the cast for me were Madeline Pratt who played the seasoned Cassie, Caitlyn Serong who played ‘tits and ass’ Val, Teresa Giansiracusa who played Diana and Lyla Digrazia as Maggie. Wow, what a set of pipes all of them had, however it was Lyla who I felt was the absolute stand-out as her voice filled the auditorium – so impressive. I would mark Lyla as one to watch as her talent absolutely shone in this production.
Image © Nicole Cleary
The choreography by Louise Panagiotidis had me at times thinking of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' with that big stage, '70s vibe. I loved the formation dancing which was just spectacular to watch. Music direction from Gabriel Taburet was so good that I was halfway through before I realised there was a live orchestra under the stage.
Overall, 'A Chorus Line' was stunning, emotional, beautifully presented and an absolute joy to experience. I’ll be going again. And maybe again. This is definitely one not to miss!
★★★★★
