A Chorus Line is a phenomenally popular musical that is based on a relatively simple plot line. It follows the experience of seventeen Broadway dancers as they audition and compete for spots in a production chorus line. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music for it and the lyrics were by Edward Kleban. James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante wrote the book. Not only is the concept relatively simple, but the musical is set on a bare Broadway theatre stage. This was a unique structure in musical theatre that has a long tradition of elaborate stages and scenery. The spectacle is often as important as the music itself.
It originally ran Off and then on Broadway in 1975 and became an immediate hit. It’s success in the box office and critically had been unprecedented. It received twelve Tony Award nominations that year and won nine of them. It ran for 6,137 performances making it the longest running Broadway musical at the time. It still remains to be the longest running Broadway musical that was created in the United States. In 2006 a revival of the musical was produced and it is currently touring across the nation. Theatre tickets for area performances can be acquired through the venue themselves or found online.
The musical has enjoyed great popularity and successful productions throughout the world, and continues to be one of the musical theatre cannon’s favorite offerings for many people. Some of the popular songs in the musical are I hope I Get It, I Can Do That, One, The Music and the Mirror, and What I Did For Love. Audience members often leave the performance singing or humming their favorite song. Musicals are a stable of the Broadway tradition and continue to remain the most popular and constant offerings the Great White Way presents. And while these established musicals from previous eras are enjoying great current success in revivals, the new trend is to create a musical based on animated films, such as the Disney shows, and specific areas of music and musicians.
