Review: Barrington Stage's "A Chorus Line" Recaptures the Magic in Final Weeks
RI founder, theater reviewer, and child of the 70's, Dan Shaw was moved to tears by a production as powerful as ever.
Photo by Daniel Rader.
I was apprehensive about going to “A Chorus Line” at Barrington Stage Company (running now through August 8 at the Boyd-Quinson Theater, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield). I remember seeing it as a teenager in 1978 (three years into its 15-year Broadway run) and identifying with the 17 young dancers confessing their insecurities and ambitions as they audition for a Broadway show (even though I wasn’t a theater kid myself). Having listened to the cast album dozens of times and knowing every word to every song, I feared that seeing “A Chorus Line” today might upend my memories, that it might not have stood the test of time.
I needn’t have worried. Barrington Stage’s sensational revival of “A Chorus Line” makes clear why the show is a dramaturgical marvel. It’s a musical without sets or costumes (except for the finale), and yet it's spectacular. Instead of special effects on stage, the fireworks explode behind your eyes, and the Barrington Stage production of “A Chorus Line” will make your heart somersault with joy.
In some respects, “A Chorus Line,” which won nine Tony Awards in 1976, is a period piece. It’s the quintessential musical of the Me Decade, the era of the human potential movement and consciousness-raising. When the hopeful dancers are interviewed by the fearsome director/choreographer Zach (played here by a commanding Danny Binstock), their awkward reticence and discomfort does not jibe with today’s teens and twentysomethings who know how to exude sparkle, confidence, and enthusiasm from making TikToks and YouTube videos. Still, “A Chorus Line” has timeless appeal: every hopeful dancer on stage could be you or me, pursuing their passion and trying to become their best selves.
Barrington Stage’s revival is perfectly cast, and the actors’ performances have been fine-tuned by director Alan Paul down to every raised eyebrow. Since all the songs are showstoppers, it’s almost unfair to single out certain performers for bringing down the house. But Anthony DaSilva, as a New Jersey native named Mike, who sings “I Can Do That”—about taking his sister’s place in her dance class when he was four and staying “the rest of my life”—is a joyful presence throughout the two-hour show and he dances with the delight of someone thrilled to be on stage.
Gaby Albo, who plays Diana (aka Morales) from the Bronx, nails the sassy humor and heartbreak in “Nothing,” a song about surviving a heartless high school drama teacher; she also leads the company in the show’s anthem, “What I Did for Love,” with pitch-perfect poignancy. Scarlett Walker as Sheila is hilariously haughty, and Jonah Nash, as Richie, is a live wire who knows how to milk laughs. And Deanna Cudjoe is breathtaking as Cassie, whose solo turn, “The Music and the Mirror,” is simply electrifying.
While it’s the songs and dances that make “A Chorus Line” indelibly memorable, I had forgotten how good a book (by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante) it has to match Edward Kleban’s crackerjack lyrics. Indeed, one of the most moving moments is Zach’s spoken interview with Paul, played soulfully by Rafa Pepén (who early in the show sings, “Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don’t know,” which are lines that always choke me up.) You could hear a pin drop during Pepén’s extended monologue that he makes a tour de force.
The only flaw in “A Chorus Line” is the script’s dictating that the curtain call be incorporated into the dazzling signature dance number, “One,” so you don’t have a final opportunity to give the cast—and the ten-piece band that plays Marvin Hamlisch’s brassy score to perfection— the prolonged standing ovation they deserve.
