By Dale King
Delray Beach Playhouse has set up its main stage for “one singular sensation” — the musical A Chorus Line — which has returned to South Florida for a three-week summer run that already packed DBP’s audience space and drew standing ovations at opening shows in its first weekend.
The production — conceived and originally directed and choreographed by esteemed New York show creator Michael Bennett — does an enviable job of transforming an ordinary dance audition into an entertaining, well-performed mélange.
Compiled from actual recordings of dancers discussing their lives, A Chorus Line is based on a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The splendid local rendition de-glamorizes the grind that chorus members go through to fulfill their love of dance and desire to get paying work.
Veteran Director/Music Director Michael Ursua has cobbled a cast that excels mainly in dance but is also well-schooled in vocals and storytelling — all a critical part of this runup to a new Broadway musical.
Ursua describes the ensemble production as “half dazzling song and dance and half docudrama. It’s a show that asks us to see beyond the entertainment to the human underneath.”
Top-notch choreographer Alex Jorth deftly guides the performers’ footwork, reproducing and actually enhancing the steps originated by Bennett, which adds to the show’s precision.
A Chorus Line brings 17 hopefuls to the stage, all desperate to get work (“I Hope I Get It”) in a Broadway musical. The tough talking, but ultimately soft-hearted director, Zach (Bruno Faria, who replaces the original lead player for the run of the show), has the unenviable task of selecting only four men and four women for the final show.
Zach tries to break the ice by asking the highly agitated collective to talk about themselves. They do so — reluctantly at first, then more easily, injecting more personal information about their growth years and life-engaging escapades.
Sheila (Amanda Lopez) reveals that as a child, she escaped her vexing family “At the Ballet,” as did Bebe (Jade Master) and Maggie (Madison Pappalardo). Tone-deaf Kristine (Laura Swartzendruber) tries singing “Sing,” but her husband, Al (Michael Materdomini), must finish her off-key lyrics in proper tune.
Mark (Gianfranco Di Marsico Salazar), the youngest dancer, relates his first experiences with pictures of the female anatomy while others sing and share other memories of adolescence (“Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love”).
The tiny Connie (Cam Davis) laments the problems of being short, and Diana (Demi Master) sings about her pointless high school acting class (“Nothing”).
Mike (Jorge Valero) latched onto dancing by watching his sister and boasts, in song, “I Can Do That,” joined by Richie (Desir Dumerjuste), Val (Anna Cappelli), Judy (Lauren Wickerson) and company. Then, Judy reflects on her own troubled childhood and Val explains how talent alone doesn’t make a star, but silicone and plastic surgery can. (“Dance: Ten; Looks: Three,” known politely as the “T and A” song.)
What isn’t known until later is that Zach has had a love affair with Cassie (Lauren Cluett, another cast substitution) whose career is in the dumps. Zach says she’s too good for the chorus, but she protests that she needs the work and is willing to rejoin the chorus at least to express her passion for dance. Their fierce rift nearly explodes during the rehearsal.
The penultimate song in the show, “What I Did for Love,” gives Diana a forum to display her vocal talents, with haunting, accompanying harmony from the rest of the company. And “One,” perhaps the best-known song in the show, unifies the 17 individual souls on stage into a spectacular, colorful finale.
Cluett gives her all to the Cassie role, particularly in the high-energy, signature song and dance of “The Music and the Mirror.”
Anthony Lobo also deserves honors for his portrayal of Paul, whose life was muddied by his homosexuality, then shattered when his parents see him in a drag show. His lengthy monologue is tearfully dramatic.
As Zach, Faria is a mysterious figure who talks mainly from the back of the auditorium in a deep, forbidding voice. Lisa Lowe plays Frank, Zach’s assistant, with lots of gusto and fine dance steps.
A Chorus Line plays through Sept. 15 at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. in Delray Beach. Tickets can be purchased online at delraybeachplayhouse.com, or by phone at 561-272-1281.