The cast of the Ordway’s A Chorus Line. Photo by Rich Ryan.

A Chorus Line is one of a very small number of large-cast musicals still performed by major companies. It features no fewer than 17 principals, 15 of whose job is to make you care about them and root for their being cast in the show-within-a-show (there’re also 9 others who don’t make the first cut – them’s thar breaks). It’s a musical that really does feel different from every other musical, filled with delightful and often moving character moments – something for everyone. It’s also a show that feels right at home in the expanse of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts’ Music Theater – much more so than most touring shows, which have to scale to varying venue sizes.

Something that contemporary productions of A Chorus Line must face is an invisible pressure to conform to the show’s iconic cast album, which many viewers will have listened to exhaustively. Raymond Berg’s musical direction steers its own course, which is good; these particular spins feel warmly authentic to the characters. Interestingly enough, some of the cast members have made something of a professional specialty of this show – Tiffany Chalothorn (Connie) even appears in a book about the musical.

The arc of this show has many different beats, many of which are quite striking in this particular production. The trio “At the Ballet,” featuring Sheila (Pilar Millhollen), Bebe (Katie Hahn), and Maggie (Amanda Lea LaVergne) is especially beautiful rendered in its rendition, as is Cassie (Molly Tyne)’s dance-and-ballad breakout in “The Music and the Mirror” – also an excellent piece of choreography by co-director/co-choreographers Kerry Casserly and James Rocco. With the show being delivered without intermission, it’s a long train-ride to the finish, but never feels slow or rushed.

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Basil Considine

Basil Considine was the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader from 2018-2022. He served as Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic for the Arts Reader's first five years, before succeeding Hanne Appelbaum. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.

Basil was named one of Musical America's 30 Professionals of the Year in 2017. He was previously the Regional Governor for the National Opera Association's North Central Region and the 2021-2022 U.S. Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Madagascar.

Latest posts by Basil Considine (see all)

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