Kelly Bishop, who played Sheila and won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, went on to play Baby's mom in Dirty Dancing and Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls.ġ6.
The chorus line character description tv#
Donna McKechnie, who won a Tony Award for playing Cassie in A Chorus Line, was briefly married to Bennett in 1976, but they actually first met as teenagers dancing on the musical TV show Hullaballoo.ġ5. When Williams asked how he might do that, Bennett suggested that he "think about how much I hate you." It worked.ġ4. Bennett was notoriously difficult to work with-before opening night in Los Angeles, he came up to Sammy Williams, who played Paul, and demanded that he produce real tears during his monologue that night. It was Neil Simon's then-wife Marsha Mason who called up Bennett and suggested (strongly) that he change the ending to be less of a downer.ġ3. In previews of the show, former star dancer Cassie didn't get hired. Bennett locked down those choices for the final show.ġ2. During the workshops, the characters that landed roles at the end of the show would change at every performance, so the actors would be genuinely surprised (and sometimes genuinely hurt). As an inexplicable thank you, Bennett sent Simon a set of satin pillowcases.ġ1. At one point during previews, Bennett had his good friend Neil Simon secretly punch up the jokes. (His story inspired the character of Paul, for which Sammy Williams won a Tony.)ġ0. One of the original dancers interviewed, Nicholas Dante, would go on to write the book for A Chorus Line with James Kirkwood, Jr. Bennett and his team played fast and loose with the interview material-for example, Maggie's story about pretending to dance around the living room with her father, "an Indian chief," was actually Donna McKechnie's story, and she played Cassie.ĩ. When A Chorus Line got picked up by Joseph Papp and the Public Theatre, the original dancers had to audition to play themselves in the final version-and not all of them got the job.Ĩ. In a contract signed early in the development process, the dancers involved sold their stories to Bennett for $1 each.ħ. Before that first interview session, four of the dancers-Sammy Williams, Thommie Walsh, Priscilla Lopez and Kelly Bishop-were so nervous about the event that they met up at Walsh's house to get stoned.Ħ. The concept of the show was truly original: a show with no real set, no costumes to speak of, no star and no narrative had never been seen on Broadway before.ĥ. Bennett played the interview tapes for Public Theater impresario Joseph Papp, and convinced Papp to fund a five-week workshop of a new musical, which was virtually unheard of for anything but experimental theatre in those days.Ĥ. He was inspired, believe it or not, by the Watergate hearings, and the "falsehood and apathy" that gripped the country in those days.ģ. Bennett, who had just worked with Peacock on Seesaw, was part of this first all-night interview marathon, and the stories he heard clicked with an idea he already had rattling around in his head-making a dance musical about dancers. Broadway lore has it that director/choreographer Michael Bennett thought up A Chorus Line from scratch, but the famous interviews on which the show was based-hours and hours of tape of dancers sharing their life stories-were actually started by veteran Broadway dancers Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens in January 1974.Ģ. To celebrate the show's big 4-0, we've rounded up 40 of our favorite fun facts about the game-changing musical, with a nod to the words that have been a part of this singular sensation from the beginning: "This show is dedicated to anyone who has ever danced in a chorus or marched in step.anywhere."ġ. The show, spearheaded by legendary director/choreographer Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, opened at the Shubert Theatre on July 25, 1975, and tells the story of 17 dancers vying for eight spots in a Broadway chorus. Forty years ago, A Chorus Line, the beloved downtown musical celebrating the lives of Broadway's hard-working dancers, made its way uptown to the spotlights and footlights of Broadway, and the American musical has never been the same.
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