Regional Reviews: Seattle

A Chorus Line Retains Sparkle and Heart
5th Avenue Theatre

Also see David's review of Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika

The Company of A Chorus Line

The unmistakable Bennett moves and stagings of numbers are vibrantly executed, and the cast's voices serve the classic Marvin Hamlisch/Edward Kleban songs well (and this time I really savored the underscoring musical motifs of the scenes, too, so well played by a terrific band lead by maestro Sawyer). Yet Bennett's sensitive honing of the cast's characters is also key to the production's success as we see a mixed bag of Broadway show dancers, or gypsies as they are known in the biz, whittled down to 16, out of which only eight men and women will be chosen for chorus and bit parts in support of what was known in that era as a "Big Lady Show" ( Mame, Hello Dolly!, Applause, etc.). These people must blend into a tight unit, a line, and not stand out too much, per Zach, the show's director/choreographer/Bennett facsimile. He is wary of using his one-time chorus find Cassie, who has returned at the ripe "old" age of 32 hoping to rejoin the line after a failed brush with Hollywood stardom. Zach asks each of them to talk about their lives and how they became dancers. Many of their words in the script by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante and in the Kleban song lyrics came right out of the mouths of those who did workshops for the show, many of whom played in the show later, though not necessarily as themselves. This was pre-AIDS crisis Broadway when gay liberation was just going into high gear, so there were as many male homosexual characters in the show as heterosexuals, though interestingly no out lesbians. To direct a young cast, many of them must have needed a full day to have certain references to know forgotten stars and faded stars such as Robert Goulet and Troy Donahue explained to them, but you wouldn't know it from the performances.

Some of the characters tell their stories in spoken word and some have narratives in song form, and naturally there are stand-out turns. Stephen Diaz is a heart-wrenching Paul without overplaying the pathos of his moving tale of acceptance by his family. Chryssie Whitehead as Cassie has the show's showpiece dance solo "Music and the Mirror" and her sensitive portrayal makes us really root for Cassie to get Andrew Palermo's hard-driving yet compassionate Zach to let her back into his world, despite their checkered romantic history. Taryn Darr in the saucy role of Val, who was once noted as having "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three", and is 11 years more sassy, confident and hilarious as she was in her last go round in the role (she will be succeeded in the latter part of the run by Meaghan Foy.) Katrina Asmar, the only principal to have two featured vocals, pushes her comic drama school tale "Nothing" too hard for laughs, but rebounds to make a strong impression leading the show's anthem "What I Did for Love."

"At the Ballet" is my personal favorite use of song and staging to tell a story in a musical, and it soars through the confident talents of Trina Mills as the age-conscious Sheila, self-deprecating Bebe of Taylor Niemeyer, and winsomely dreamy-eyed Maggie of Sarah Rose Davis, whose big note towards the close of the number earned its performer a well-deserved hand from the audience. Richard Peacock is a force to be reckoned with as the African-American Richie who knew there was more in life than shouting "Gimme the Ball" in neighborhood sports. McKayla Marso is a comic treat as the goofy, always trying too hard, Judy Turner, and as Mallory King is appealing as the tonally challenged Christine who, along with Paul Flanagan's affable husband Paul, must explain she doesn't "Sing." Gabriel Corey is dandy as Mike, all the more impressive as his song "I Can Do That" has to be the least well developed character number in the otherwise fine score. Greg McCormick Allen shines as usual in the thin role of Zach's assistant Larry, Momoko Sugai is a perfect fit as the height challenged Connie Wong. Rounding out this fine company are sterling performances by Scott Brateng as masculine gay man Greg, endearing Connor Russell as Mark the baby of the group, Eric Esteb as strip club veteran Al, and in the most succinct capture (including costume) of what a swishy gay male Broadway dancer circa 1975 was like, let's hear it for the all stops out gusto of Charlie Johnson.

Tom Sturge's lighting design is totally in sync with the cinematic fluidity Bennett originally elicited for this show, with scenic and costume coordinators Erick Holden and Michelle Terese Grimm ensuring the show look as close to the Broadway original as possible. Nobody here has tried to reinvent the wheel, just to honor it, and in that, this A Chorus Line succeeds wildly.

A Chorus Line runs through September 28, 2014, at 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave., Seattle; For tickets and information call 206-625-1900 or visit www.5thavenue.org.