Often mistaken as background decoration to leading actors, the chorus of a musical is usually the last introduced in the opening song and the first to bow at curtain call. Chorus performers usually do not have the spotlight unless they are stars in the making. And even then, the odds are not always in their favor.
In 1975, Buffalo native Michael Bennett conceived a show that gave chorus girls and guys a chance to tell their stories and have the spotlight shine on them for a change. "A Chorus Line" was a runaway hit, rewriting Broadway's history books as one of the longest-running musicals of all time.
Students in the Department of Theatre and Dance will present the legendary musical beginning this Thursday and running through April 13 at the Center for the Arts' Drama Theatre. The show features music composed by Marvin Hamlisch - who just last week signed on as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's new pops conductor - and lyrics by Edward Kleban.
Staging "A Chorus Line" is usually a straightforward task for the creative team involved. Although not contractually obligated, most companies or schools who present the show keep intact Bennett's original direction and choreography.
While theater and dance lecturer Lynne Kurdziel-Formato, who directs and adapted the choreography for this production, usually adheres to that tradition, this time things will be a little different.
"I always think a director-choreographer should do their own work," she said. "For this show, as an educational tool, (the students) will be exposed to original choreography."
This is the fifth production of "A Chorus Line" Kurdziel-Formato has been involved with since choreographing the Western New York premiere of it in 1985 at Studio Arena Theatre. Her involvement with this particular production is special. Of her cast, Kurdziel-Formato said:
"They can all really sing, they can all really dance."
Singing and dancing their way onto a stage is regular practice for her students these days, but it doesn't mean their work is easy. In reality, it's much harder than it looks, according to Kurdziel-Formato.
"People think it's crazy and fun," said Kristin Hopwood, a sophomore musical theater major who plays the eccentric Val. "Everyday we are putting our whole heart and soul out there."
It's the heart and soul that a chorus gives to their leading ladies and men that often go unrecognized. A symbiotic relationship between principle characters and the supporting ensemble requires more than one-dimensional hand gestures and harmonizing "oohs" and "ahs."
Presenting this revelation is what Kurdziel-Formato attributes to its 15-year Broadway run. Considered by many as one of the pioneering musicals in American history, she ranks it with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Oklahoma" and Jonathan Larson's "Rent," as introducing a new style of storytelling to musical theater.
The premise of the intermission-less show is simple: 30 or so Broadway chorus performers audition for their next potential job. As the group is quickly cut down to a single line of hopefuls, the director, Zack (played by Adam Zelasko, a sophomore musical theater major), asks each of them to tell a little bit about themselves.
For audiences, witnessing the sometimes comedic, sometimes tragic experiences of these talented and charismatic dreamers turns quickly from common eavesdropping to disconcerting voyeurism.
Robert Petrarca, a junior musical theater major, plays Paul, a homosexual who painfully recounts his childhood of sexual and emotional abuse. It is a difficult story to hear, and represents a turning point in the show where the average stories of childhood dreams become less optimistic and more realistic.
"These are human being issues," Petrarca said of the stresses that are exposed to the characters. The brilliance of Bennett's narrative is that it derives from actual chorus members' stories, shared during workshops and rehearsals. There's no holding back, particularly in Val's "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three."
In this segment, she sings of her apparent need for breast enlargements in order to stay attractive for casting directors. It's a comedic turn that not only accentuates an already adult script, but shines light on the actual conditions singers and dancers must maintain in order to stay in the job pool.
"For people who have never been to an audition, they see that not much changes," said Christine LaDuca, a junior musical theater major who plays Zack's former love interest Cassie. "Between a 32-year-old and a rookie, the audition process is the same."
Still, through thick and thin, stress and joy - and most importantly - job or no job, there's a reason these students and their characters go through it all on a day-to-day basis.
From the opening number "I Hope I Get It," which features a large group of unbalanced talent meshing together like oil and water, to the closing song, "One," which showcases the final cast in an endless kick line, the community of the group is the patchwork of "A Chorus Line's" quilt.
In a situation where art imitates life, the UB students featured in "A Chorus Line," though fresh in their education, demonstrate the drive exhibited by the characters they play.
"The second you're satisfied, you're done," said LaDuca. "You can't do this unless you love it from the bottom of your soul."
Alie Light, a senior musical theater major who plays the aging but feisty Sheila, sums it up simply: "We can't picture ourselves doing anything else."
"A Chorus Line" will be onstage at the Center for the Arts Drama Theatre from April 3 through April 13, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $12 for the general public, and can be purchased at the CFA Box Office or any Ticketmaster location.
