Paramount's 'Chorus Line' remains true to original

Posted January 21, 2012 12:00 pm

By Scott C. Morgan

An ensemble of chorus dancers are lined up to reveal private aspects of their lives during an unconventional audition in “A Chorus Line,” now through Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Courtesy of Liz Lauren of Paramount Theatre

When asked about the careers of chorus dancers in the PBS documentary “Broadway: The American Musical,” director-choreographer Tommy Tune was quoted as saying, “It's not for sissies — contrary to popular belief.”

Nevermore than any other backstage musical, “A Chorus Line” from 1975 delves into the drive and difficulty of trying to make it as Broadway performer (not the star who gets the most applause, but the background chorus “gypsies” who go from show to show trying to eke out a living).

Now at the Paramount Theatre is a superlative production of “A Chorus Line” led by director/choreographer Mitzi Hamilton, a former dancer who played a vital role in the show's creation. Hamilton took part in the original workshops where dancers told their stories to director/choreographer Michael Bennett, who then shaped the raw material with collaborators like composer Marvin Hamlisch, lyricist Edward Kleban, and playwrights James Kirkwood and Nicolas Dante into a smash hit musical that won the Pulitzer Prize and nine Tony Awards

You can see how Hamilton knows the show inside and out, from masterfully re-creating much of Bennett's original choreography right down to the subtle shows of affection between the dancers. But Hamilton also isn't afraid to put her own stamp on the show, which has its plusses and minuses.

Die-hard fans of “A Chorus Line” will undoubtedly question the Paramount's insertion of an intermission, since the show originally played without a break. While Hamilton places the intermission at the show's only appropriate moment, it does break up the flow of the material (especially since it comes right before Paul's emotional coming-out story touchingly performed by Jay Reynolds Jr.).

Hamilton and set designer James Dardenne also do away with the original production's famous rotating mirrors, favoring instead a mirrored wall that descends and rises from above. While this decision allows for an amazing finale showing an overhead perspective among other great glittery effects by lighting designer Michael Rourke, earlier in the show it does make you wonder why stage hands would be doing the work from the flies during a Broadway audition.

Paramount's “A Chorus Line” features a cast full of standout performers, including a few veterans of Broadway and touring shows.

Luis Perez makes for a very gruff-voiced Zach, the director/choreographer who puts the auditioning dancers through an emotional wringer as he asks them all to reflect on their lives and why they became showbiz dancers. Largely a disembodied voice through most of the show, Perez does come into his own when passionately confronting his former lover, Cassie (Jessica Lee Goldyn).

While I would have preferred to see a little more vulnerability from Goldyn's steely Cassie as she asks for a chorus job just to survive, she does show off an amazing dancing talent in “The Music and the Mirror” that definitely can't be ignored.

As the jaded bombshell Sheila, Kristina Larson-Hauk (a recent Radio City Music Hall Rockette) is not only winning with her sarcastic humor, but also emotionally revealing in the childhood coping trio “At the Ballet” shared with the great Maggie of Katie Spelman and Bebe of Laura E. Taylor.

Carl Draper and Bobby Johnson are wonderful with their effete humor respectively as Bobby and Greg, while Pegah Kadkhodaian makes for a no-nonsense Diana Morales. Kadkhodaian leads the cast in the penultimate number “What I Did For Love” with plenty of anthemic grace as it hammers home the importance of striving to pursue dreams, even if they end up being fleeting in the end.

Paramount's “A Chorus Line” is not only a reminder of life's challenges that are worth struggling through, but of the greatness of the musical itself. “A Chorus Line” is definitely a show to cherish over and over again.

An ensemble of chorus dancers line up with their resume photos during an unconventional audition in A Chorus Line at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Courtesy of Liz Lauren of Paramount Theatre

The ensemble of A Chorus Line perform the grand finale at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Courtesy of Liz Lauren of Paramount Theatre

Cassie (Jessica Lee Goldyn) shows her need to dance, even if its in the chorus, in the number The Music and the Mirror in A Chorus Line at the Paramount Theatre. Courtesy of Liz Lauren of Paramount Theatre

The ensemble of A Chorus Line perform the grand finale at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Courtesy of Liz Lauren of Paramount Theatre

&#8220;A Chorus Line&#8221;

★ ★ ★ ½

Location: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com

Showtimes: 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays; through Sunday, Feb. 5

Running time: Approximately two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission

Tickets: $34.90-$46.90

Parking: Nearby pay garages

Rating: Profanity and discussed sexuality makes this one for older teens and adults

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