A Chorus Line

Annotation for KRRR! 2020 by Michael Šenovský

And 5, 6, 7, 8... Step, slide, kick and down. Turn, right, left. Step, slide, kick...

Foot stomping, scraps of conversation, sweaty palms, worried faces, tense bustle... But also smiles, excited leaps, sighs of relief, the furious clatter of dancing heels. What's causing all this commotion? Zach (Michael Douglas), a famous Broadway producer, is preparing a new musical. Long lines of male and female dancers are queuing far outside his theater doors just to audition for small chorus roles. Who will he choose, who will be the lucky few? And who is Cassie (Janet Jones), who somehow can't keep up in the rush? Is the warm welcome with head choreographer Larry (Terrence Mann) a hint of a shared past that holds untold secrets?

The 1985 film Chorus Line is an adaptation of the legendary Broadway musical by Michael Bennett, which won nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The rights to make it into a film were originally purchased by Universal in 1975. However, after both Michael Bennett and a number of other directors declined to participate in the project, the Dutch music publisher PolyGram bought the rights and Richard Attenborough, who had previously directed Gandhi (1982) and A Bridge Too Far (1977), took over the direction.

However, this now-forgotten adaptation was not a success after its release in cinemas, even though it featured the original music by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Edward Kleban and followed the original in terms of storytelling. At first it seems like a regular backstage musical, a classic Hollywood subgenre with a long tradition, which motivates the presence of musical numbers by setting them directly in the environment of theatrical musical performances. However, it soon takes a somewhat different path. The boundaries of the familiar genre are shifted to give way to an unexpectedly introspective narrative, as it gives insight into the diverse human destinies of its characters.

The proven genre motifs are thus seamlessly complemented by those unconventional elements, especially through great music, energetic musical numbers and excellently cast dance roles.