PRODUCED with singular precision, this is a first rate resurrection of one of the great Broadway shows, last seen in London in 1976.
A Chorus Line is not a great musical. Marvin Hamlisch's tunes are serviceable, but he was never in the top league of Broadway composers, and the book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante is no great shakes.
What sets it apart is the innovative and inspired staging by Michael Bennett. This production is one of those carbon-copy affairs, directed by Bob Avian who co-choreographed it on Broadway in 1975, but smacks of a franchise, but when the cast are dancing the show takes wing. The star of the show is undeniably the stauesque Leigh Zimmerman brilliant as Shiela, the 30-something blonde with a gift for wisecracks. When she is on stage one looks at nobody else. Scarlett Strallen as Cassie, the failed star seeking a comeback job sings her big number, The Music and the Mirror, very well indeed but her dance routine fails to thrill. And while Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Diana delivers the closing ballad, What I Did For Love, superbly, it comes out of the blue as previously her character has made no impact at all.
Of the men Adam Salter, who gets to perform I Can Do That, does some amazing things.
As a dance show A Chorus Line is well worth seeing, even if the final chorus line in golden evening dress and top hats belting out One Singular Sensation is something of an anticlimax – and it is obvious from the start who is going to fail the audition.
HHHH
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article