Friends and Neighbors

Everybody on stage has a story.

Everyone who serves as part of a show got there in their own way, has their own inspiration, brings their own baggage. At best those qualities illuminate the final product, but sometimes the things that make the performers special are flattened in service of the director’s vision. And yet, the actors, dancers, and other artists who make the shows happen keep going out to make them, whether it’s for the love of the art or just to secure another job, and so the world keeps going round. A Chorus Line is an electrifying, bittersweet ode about the people who make art, the sacrifices necessary to do so, and whether or not it is all worth it in the end.

Park Square Theatre’s new production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical (timed for the show’s 50th anniversary) is an embarrassment of talent. The cast of more than two dozen actors take to the material like ducks to water, perfectly embodying the neuroses and dreams that come when you’re auditioning for a show. The show follows a group of actors as they audition for parts as dancers in a Broadway show, with the director Zach (Tyler Michaels King) encouraging them to share their backstories and what led them to dancing as part of their audition. What results is a melange of different stories about the cast members, from the flamboyant Greg (James Grace) to the confident Sheila (Camryn Buelow) to the neurotic Kristine (Sarah Jeune Christenson) and the vain Val (Dayle Theisen), among many others. All of these characters are based on real people known to original directions Michael Bennett and bookwriters James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante, which makes their personalities ring true, even when they are expressing them through song and dance.

Director Stephen DiMenna (working with Michael Bennett’s original choreography) gives the show a fast-moving energy, shifting from one story to another with little pause. Whether it’s one of the large-scale numbers like “Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love”, the gorgeous solo “Nothing” delivered by Diana (Marley Ritchie) or a heartbreaking monologue by Paul (Steven Rada), it’s always executed beautifully. Just as impressive as the control of energy is the control of tone. This is a show that loves theatre without over romanticizing it. A subplot involves Cassie (Emily Scinto) who is the ex-girlfriend of Zach. Zach doesn’t want to cast her, not because she’s no good, but because he thinks she’s too good. He always thought Cassie was destined to be a star and considers dancing in the chorus beneath her. Cassie, for her part, has given up on pursuing stardom and just wants to find work. Zach at times seems to be trying to sabotage Cassie’s audition, singling her out during group numbers with tips that only serve to throw her off (the deliberate insertion of mistakes by auditioners, both obvious and subtle, is a highlight of the choreography) Contrast that with the sequence where Cassie dances on her own, where she is as graceful as can be. There’s another moment where, as Cassie and Zach argue, the ensemble continues to dance behind them, and while the choreography remains the same, the tone shifts and the movements start to feel colder, almost ominous. Is that really what Cassie wants to reduce herself to?

These and other ideas in A Chorus Line apply far beyond musical theatre. How many times have you felt like you’ve had to subjugate yourself for the sake of a job, or had a boss whose micromanagement has gotten in the way of your work? For the characters of A Chorus Line, dancing is as much of a lifeline as any other job, and like anyone else who loves what they do, the frustration is worth it. This is embodied fully in the late number “What I Did for Love”, as Diana leads the cast in a beautiful song about how they’ll never forget the love they had for dance, even when they can’t dance anymore.

A Chorus Line is an exciting, funny, and challenging production that anyone who is into theatre can love. But even people without a background in theatre can relate to the ambition, passion, and heartbreak on display in the show.

A CHORUS LINE plays at Park Square Theatre through June 14th