By Dale King
The musical A Chorus Line doesn’t have dazzling sets, pricey costumes or high-tech special effects. The production — conceived and originally directed and choreographed by esteemed New York show creator Michael Bennett — is driven by the strength of its story — an audition for dancers desperate for jobs on Broadway — along with music and movement that truly deliver the goods.
Drama students at Florida Atlantic University are performing the popular Broadway staple through the end of July. They have literally put their all into the finale of their Summer Festival Repertory Theatre season for 2023, having spent four weeks working through all the show details on their own.
The students do get strong technical help from some folks with extensive stage credentials. The director is Matt Stabile, producing artistic director of FAU’s Theatre Lab. Award-winning keyboardist and music director Caryl Fantel leads a 10-piece live orchestra. Choreographer Jerel Brown, whose résumé is extensive, makes sure the footwork is top-notch.
The cast and crew do an enviable job of transforming an ordinary dance audition into an intriguing, personal cathartic story well worth watching. The players are interrogated by a tough-talking director to bare their souls about why they chose to become dancers.
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.
A Chorus Line brings 17 hopefuls to the stage, all of them desperate to get work (“I Hope I Get It.”) in a Broadway musical. The director, Zach (Kyle Smith) is tasked with choosing only four men and four women, so tension runs high.
To get to know them, he asks the hopefuls to talk about themselves. They do so reluctantly at first, then more easily, personally and often, quite frankly.
Sheila (Cait Siobhan Kiley) reveals that as a child, she escaped her vexing family “At the Ballet,” as did Bebe (Olivia Beebe) and Maggie (Nuelle “Elle” Saunders). Tone-deaf Kristine (Ashley Brooke Miller) tries vocalizing “Sing,” but her husband, Al (Anthony Blatter), must finish her off-key lines in proper tune.
Mark (Caitlin Foster), the youngest dancer, relates his first experiences with pictures of the female anatomy in a medical book while others share memories of adolescence (“Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love”). The tiny Connie (Sarah Romeo) laments the problems of being short, and Diana (Valerie Illan) sings about her pointless high school acting class (“Nothing”).
Mike (Mitchell Worrell-Olsen) latched onto dancing by watching his sister and boasts, in song, “I Can Do That,” joined by Richie (Doriyan De’Angelo Caty), Val (Daniela Moon), Judy (Caroline Slagle) 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.)
Stabile, in the program, says A Chorus Line depicts characters enduring “a grueling audition where they are asked to blur the lines of their professional and personal lives — all for the possibility of temporary employment.”
And “One,” perhaps the best-known song in the show, unifies the 17 individual souls on stage into “one singular sensation” in a sparkling finale with men attired in blue-and-white tuxedos and women in blue dresses.
A Chorus Line works well because a lot of people with a lot of ability have done a lot of work. Sarah Sun Park is energetic in her role as Cassie, particularly in the high-octane song and dance of “The Music and the Mirror.”
Joel Rodriguez earns honors for his portrayal of Paul, whose life was confused by his homosexuality, then shattered when his parents saw him in a drag show. His lengthy monologue is tearfully dramatic.
As Zach, Smith is a mysterious figure who talks mainly from the center of the auditorium in a forbidding voice.
A CHORUS LINE runs through July 30 at the Marleen Forkas Studio One Theatre on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. Tickets for each show are $27, and groups and package discounted tickets are available at www.fauevents.com or by calling 561-297-6124.