TBT: A Chorus Line Opens Off-Broadway
In the June 1975 issue of Dance Magazine, then–managing editor Richard Philp spoke to director and choreographer Michael Bennett about his latest musical, an off-Broadway production titled A Chorus Line that had recently begun previews.
“I wanted to do something on dancing,” Bennett said. “I started thinking about the days when my life was really the simplest—when I was very young and I was in the chorus, and I was very happy. I started wondering why I got out of dancing. And, then, what drove me to get into the business in the first place. What drives anybody to get into the business?”
The resulting show about auditioning dancers transferred to Broadway that July and ran until 1990, picking up a dozen Tony Award nominations and winning nine, including for direction, choreography (shared by Bennett and Bob Avian), and acting—for Donna McKechnie (“She does me in!” Bennett commented), Kelly Bishop, and Sammy Williams—as well as a Pulitzer Prize.
“I want the audience to walk out of the theater saying, ‘Those kids shouldn’t be in a chorus!’ ” Bennett told us. “And I want the people in that audience to go to other shows and think about what’s really gone into making that chorus. I want them to ask: ‘Who’s behind the star? Who else is on stage?’ And I want every chorus kid in the country to say, ‘If those chorus kids can do it, maybe I can do it!’ ”
