A Chorus Line
The Lowry, 30 April 2010
This was a beauty, despite one or two flaky moments in the singing department.
There is a confessional aspect to the show – each dancer is required to speak about herself / himself before the choreographer decides on the final chorus line-up – and psychoanalysis (as procedure) was probably necessary to its creation. Certainly, it feels as though the dancers are on the couch. In the absence of a grand narrative (along the lines of boy meets girl, etc.) small individual stories must suffice.
Behind all the glitz and glamour, the bed-rock theme seemed to be conformity. To get into the chorus line and stay there, you mustn’t be too individual, too vital, too alive. Only those who can be part of the pack, an affiliate of the flock, need apply. For the rest, it is either stardom or oblivion: they are fully exposed to the caprices of the world.
A curious musical, focusing on the chorus line as melting pot and issues of acceptance & rejection, winning & losing; but then again most musicals are curious if you dig deeply enough.
That the show ended with a big, life-affirming number almost goes without saying – it is the American way. And who’s to say this ain’t grand? The costumes and young women were scrumptious: leggy and curvaceous and delectable and vibrant.
But spare a thought for those who couldn’t fit in, the freaks and misfits and outsiders. When do they get to make a declaration of independence? Where is their America?
A Chorus Line is a classy entertainment that hands out wings to the chosen.
It is at The Lowry until 8 May. Details here.
Jildy Sauce 