A Chorus Line: The History Behind the Line 

Missing from your "In Memoriam" list is Michel Stuart, who originated the role of Greg and, sadly, died unexpectedly in 1997. He had left Broadway and dancing but had successfully segued into producing and costume design. At the time of his death, he was living in Los Angeles. Nonetheless, thank you for a fantastic and informative video.

This was not how I expected to find out Cats made more than A Chorus Line but it still hurts.

I think Bennett completely underestimated the effect the ending of the show would have on the audience. He had said he wanted the audience to be horrified that here were the dancers and they all morphed into ONE. But while he staged it with that intention, what happens to us as an audience. As the dancers come out one by one, we recognize them and applaud, usually wildly. Then, as the number goes on, you find yourself looking at them, and saying to yourself, "Oh there's Sheila and Paul..." Then the exhilaration of the number reaches it peak, and you realize these wonderful people who have just spent two hours sharing their lives, are amazing at what they do. This exhilaration and astonishment are what the audience leaves feeling. Not horror.

"Based entirely on her fab self" AIN'T IT THE TRUTH. God bless Kelly Bishop.

A Chorus Line has been my favorite since the 80s. I'm old, but Paul's monologue brought me to tears.

As of December 17th 2022 we can add RON DENNIS TO THE MEMORANDUM. RIP RON!❤️

Well, I just stumbled onto this video. You being so young, how did you get all this info? Lovely job. FYI, Chris Chadman was also a part of the workshop and left with me to do CHICAGO. It was such a monumental event in our young lives; many of us are still in contact to this day. Thank you. Candy Brown

Experienced the original at the Papp. Now it’s a piece of theatre history. I will always treasure those moments.

Terrific job...we saw the original show in September 1975 after it moved to the Schubert...remains the best show we’ve ever seen...truly spectacular....thanks for doing this

I lived upstairs from Michon Peacock while the marathon talk sessions for A CHORUS LINE were going on. I really wanted to be a part of the TALK THERAPY but she said the workshop was only for Broadway Gypsies, one of which I wasn't. She told me that the sessions went on all night based on MARATHON THERAPY which was in style at the time. I forget the year. Michael Bennett and Michael Stuart were also at Michon's apartment eating omelets and she invited me down to meet them.

Fun fact John Leguizamo sites A Chorus Line has one of his main reasons for getting into showbiz in his own Broadway stand-up comedy freak

I never got to see A Chorus Line on stage. I did how ever see the movie made in 1985 when I was 15. Seeing some of the on stage footage I have it is close to the Broadway version. I saw the movie Grease in theaters at age 8 and fell in love with musicals. Then when A Chorus Line came out my mind was now away. I know I watched it 10 times that week it was on. I know it isn't anything like seeing a production on stage but it was a magical time for me when I saw it. It is one of my favorite musicals. Beauty and the Beast is my all time Favorite. I did see that one on stage. There is no comparison. You can't explain the magical feeling seeing it live to someone. They have to experience it for themselves. Great video by the way..love you guys channel ❤

your channel is so underrated like y’all deserve so much more hype. there aren’t enough theatre analysis channels

Thank you for this Video. I was an 80s kid who grew up watching the movie version, listening to the soubdtrack, and singing "One" in choir. I've always been curious about the Musical's history and origin. And I still watch the movie and listen to the songs to this day. It's hard to deny it's power and impact. Thank you again.

My favorite Broadway musical of all time!! I never tire of hearing stories of its origin! I was a figure skater in the 70’s and my fellow skaters and I played the soundtrack to death during practice sessions. Eventually I choreographed a group number to ‘I Hope I Get It’ for a summer ‘showcase’ competition. Ironically my group competed and won the gold medal as I traveled to Atlantic City to rehearse for the Ice Capades ‘corp de’ ballet’ - like Paul, I had a career ending injury (or two or three). Looking back, I am more proud of the win for choreography than any other accomplishment in my 12 years on the ice. During the early days of lockdown when members of the revival cast and of various touring companies did a socially distant ‘I Hope I Get It’ that I caught on RU-vid, it was such a bright spot for me during a very depressing time. I must have watched it 25 times the day I discovered it! I hope if they do a revival for the 50th, they don’t change a thing. I know it’s dated, but also timeless!

Again, you've done a fantastic job of going behind the facade of the show to expose how it got to be what it became. Much has been said about the personal characteristics of Michael Bennett. It's no coincidence that his idol was Jerome Robbins, another taskmaster and perfectionist. But I don't think this show would have become what it is had it not been driven by Michael Bennett's vision. I don't want to minimize at all anything that the musical's other creators as well as every dancer who provided their life's story to the ultimate success of this musical. The original cast and perhaps the first international touring company can never be matched. There have been and will be revivals that are great to see. But they lack the look and authenticity of the dancer who was working and living in 1975. It's like the original cast of Follies. You can never add the human element that the original cast members brought to the characters in that show and the fact their careers started during or soon after followed the original Ziegfeld follies. Same thing with A Chorus Line. Please do more of this. Thank you.

Something about A Chorus Line is so magical. Thank you for this video!

This channel is so underrated oh my god

A huge shame (a crime) that a high quality video of the original was not made - have see the low quality black & white video which of course is better than nothing. Fortunate to see the first National Tour in SF with many of the original actors, despite sitting high in the 2nd balcony, what a special night at the theater.

I grew up listening to the OBC record and saw it in Chicago in the early ‘80s. I wish I could have seen the 2006 Broadway revival, not just for the show itself, but also because the director Zach was being played by Michael Berresse, who went to my brother high school (our single sex Catholic schools in Joliet, IL were brother/sister schools), and we were in the same cast of Appointment with Death in 1982. I have had fun following his success on stage over the years!

NICK DANTE was originally the author of the show and was I think taping and transcribing the interviews of the dancers but because he was not literate enough and was also working at RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL dancing between shows and rehearsing for about $300 a week, Michael Bennett called in James Kirkwood to write the show. NICK DANTE however was listed as co writer and received a large share of the money while Michon Peacock received about $25,000 with which she bought some new furniture and some other necessities.

A Chorus Line was my absolute favorite show after seeing it about a dozen times since 1976. This video showed me a ton of new information I never knew. Thank you!

So well done! I saw the show twice in the late 70s in San Antonio. It's still my favorite too. Maybe it's because my dance teacher as a kid in NY state, had been a Rockette. Then I moved to the middle of nowhere in the South at 13 and my formal training was gone. I felt a lot of what ifs watching ACL...that's my story.

THANK YOU!!! In your next video, will you explore the life and times of three dancers who blazed a trail in the early 1980s; Debbie Allen, Irene Cara, and Gene Anthony Ray? These three represent so much more than the film and TV series "Fame". This was the first time that African-American dancers, singers and actors/ actresses had been given the spotlight of mainstream success since ... the days of Sammy Davies Jr and Eartha Kitt.

I don't expect you to respond to this comment either but I'm still wonderfully glad to have found your channel both as a theatre fanatic and an elder gay man who found his way out of the closet through the love of and involvement in theatre - all forms not just musicals but I do love Broadway musicals otherwise they might revoke my "gay card" {don't leave home without it!}😂. Your analysis and behind the scenes look at classic Broadway shows is thoroughly researched as well as fantastically entertaining. A Chorus Line is my absolute favorite musical and you nailed it! I saw two professional Broadway tour company productions: Kansas City, KS - 1978 & Las Cruces, NM - 1983. Almost endlessly listened to the OCR all through college and would embarrass friends and colleagues by belting out the T&A sections from Dance 10, Looks 3 in public. Thanks for reviving those memories! 😊

This is SO well done, and I'm SO excited that I found your channel!!! Thank you Drama Dorks!!

Fantastic analysis, thank you for teaching the wonderful history of ACL

Your channel will blow up in some time with these youtube random algorithm, just be patient and keep doing video!!

Have been a theatre nut all my life and when I saw ads for a touring production coming to the Los Angeles area, I decided to go not knowing anything about the show. I assumed it was some sort of dance extravaganza and nothing more. I went mostly because of its 15 year Broadway run and figured it had to be worth my time. I will never forget that first performance. The show ended and I was in shock at what an incredible show it was. It made me cry multiple times which I simply was NOT expecting and it wasn't just an empty dance spectacular as I had assumed it would be. It was so much more. It was about humans and the human condition. I loved it so much, I purchased another ticket for a performance a few days later. I was naughty and audio recorded that performance, hehe. That was back in 1997. The theatre was the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. I have since seen the show many more times. Flew to San Francisco in 2006 to catch the pre-Broadway run of the revival at the Curran Theatre and saw many regional and touring productions. I was there for the revival national tour's closing engagement at the Pantages in Los Angeles. I estimate I've seen the show about 15-20 times and could go for more. So glad you got to play Paul! I did his monologue for a theatre class I took years ago and it was surreal being up on a stage doing that long and emotional scene. I could relate as I am gay as well and that just made it so real even though I've never been a dancer, nor have I ever dabbled in putting on female clothing or being a "pony," hehe. Thanks for this, I loved it. I'm obsessed with the opening choreography. I know it by heart and dance it when I'm alone every now and then.

So happy I found your channel! Keep up the great work :) I’m always itching for some good theatre analysis/investigations.

I'm really glad the artists whose personal stories provided the origin material are finally receiving fair recompense. The original process sounds rather exploitative tbh, particularly given Bennett's degree of power in the industry at the time (hence the way he could potentially have impacted their careers if they refused to sign over their IP to him....? 😕) Thank you for your balanced coverage on this one Luca! Thought you did a good job of highlighting both Bennett's genius and the potential problems with his process?

Thank you for this!!!

this is amazing - thank you so much for educating me on this x

I just love your channel , keep going !! So interesting

I love your channel. Your research and presentation are top notch!

Thank you so much for this! So very thorough! I performed as Bebe in a professional production of ACL in Chicago in 1999, and it was directed/choreographed by an original touring member, so we had all the original choreography. Hardest show I ever did!

What a great video! Loved it!

This deserves more love. Commenting for the algorithm. ;)

Wow this is such an in depth analysis!! I'm definitely subscribing! 👏🏼☺️

Wonderful video!!! Thank you!

I saw A Chorus Line in a touring production in 1978 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA. It was the first musical I ever saw, and the first musical recording I bought. I was fortunate to see its 2006 revival on Broadway. This piece left an indelible mark on me in a good way.

Well done. Thank you very much.

Very good. Thank you.

i love this channel so much!! you guys are gonna get big

i needed to watch this video for my Performing Arts A-Level class and my god i loved every second of it. Thank you so much!

I’m late to this video but i’m so glad i found it- i did vals monologue in eigth grade and i’ve frequented it for auditions since, and after watching the “ every little step “ documentary last year in my freshman year of highschool i’ve had a fondness for a chorus line. i’m so glad i found this channel and thus this video, there’s so much i never knew.

fabulous video!

Great video. Learned some stuff about ACL I didn’t know!!

Excellent video.

I enjoyed your story telling

Can you do a billy Elliot video?? 🙏🏾❤️ comparing the actual historical events to how they are portrayed on stage and in filem

i could watch all of these videos the rest of my life

Thank you.

Really really interesting- saw it in 1881 on Broadway I love these behind the scenes - your boyfriend is a lucky man - take care

It's hard to find much history on this show, so thank you so much for this video!! Do you guys plan to take a look at the 85 film version at all - seeing as it's got so many changes from the stage version?

I love the film with Michael Douglas as Zach

You guys are what Waiting in the Wings wishes they could be. Loved the video!! Have you read Ken Mandelbaum's book, A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett? If you haven't, I think you'd really like it :)

Amazin...

NICK DANTE was a friend of Michon and we were all involved in NISHERON SHOSHU BUDDHISM.The NICHOLAS FITNESS STUDIO were a lot of the original project took place was owned by another Buddhist Chanter who was gay and was forced to get married when NISHOREN SHOSHU insisted on it. Michon who was pretty high up in Buddhism supported that.

i audibly gasped at the “1 dollar” info drop

RIP Sammy Williams

True pleasure.

I saw A Chorus Line when I was 11 or so...probably too young to appreciate it. I didn't care for it at the time...but now it's about 18 years later and I'm wondering if I would enjoy it now as a jaded theatre school drop-out

wow I am so glad I watched long enough to learn that the dancers were compensated with writing credits. Playwrights use actors stories and notes and ideas so much in the workshopping process and then just discard them with the 50 bucks or whatever for the week.... its really a huge issue. I LOVE a chorus line and had they only been compensated 1 buck for their life rights i couldn't have watched it again!

Great! Remember you did a scene from "Chorus Line" when you were a little kid?

Thank you so much for creating this video! It is one of my favorite shows of all time (along with In the Heights) and there was so much i didn’t know about the creation of it. Super interesting. I’m curious, how do you feel about the movie? It was the first version of the show i saw when i was a teenager so i do like it, but i know people that hate it lol.

This is what I've waited for...

As indicated on the cover of the Playbill you show, the date of the final performance of the original production of "A Chorus Line" was April 28, 1990, not April 18.

Sign their stories away for a $1.00?!! And signing away royalty rights?!! Agreement signed didn't have royalty rights either, smh. The dancers forgot the business in Show Business

Michael B actually did ask personal questions during the auditions when the show was moving to Broadway.

i nerded the fuck out to this. good content.

"The dancee mentality of not asking questions."

OMG, at 04:41 Michael Bennett's face looks to be covered in Kaposi's Sarcoma lesions.

RIP Ronnie Dennis

Wowowowowowo

Did Netflix ever do a special or anything?

Michael was a genius. Like most incredibly gifted people, he was complex and his brilliant successes (Company , Follies A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls literally helped musical theater to evolve to a more modern form much like Oklahoma didn’t in the 40s and Gypsy in the 50s) and acclaim elicited a lot of jealousy and feelings of betrayal, emotions that are part of the very fabric of Show Business ( see All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane or Gypsy and Follies). At the end of the day, it’s all Michael. After all, who other than he, of people that were involved in ACL can claim anything like all of his achievements . I feel like this video was unfair to the memory of one of the GIANTS of musical theater for the latter part of the 20th Century. Michael Bennet, thank you, you are not forgotten and YOUR genius lives on.

I adore ACL. I wanted to be a "gypsy," when I was little.

❤️💜❤️💜

If they revive it in 2025 I really hope they stick to the original story and don’t modernize it.

i have no idea why Michon isnt credited with that show.....it was she and Tony

Do you have the rest of the lyrics to confidence?

RENT. Johnathan Larsen. Also a cast driven story.

Rhonda is part of tye cast.

We just had a revival

Eloquent.

Cassie was Zach's ex-girlfriend, not ex-wife.

I liked the original more. New broadway shows cast too many attractive people. I find that annoying. Sometimes they cast masculine men too which I hate. It'd be nice to start seeing feminine men in the lead. Broadway now hardly ever makes shows focused on lgbtq stories.

hey kids how about Michon Peacock,,,,we started together in St Paul.............she made my whole career

a bit odd that almost all of the shilling for Bennett comes from his ex wife Donna

Pretty crappy that the people who contributed their stories got screwed over. The writers/producers could have done better with this.

Don't get me wrong, I loved this video and you did a great job, but please try to control the vocal fry.

Good job, but you whitewashed Bennet's viciousness.

What your being is about

hey what about Michon peacock>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I always get personally offended when people talk about the "My Life Story For $1". First off, they didn't get $1. Some of them got a Broadway show. Michael Bennett gave all of them a percentage of his profit of the show, whether they part of the taped sessions, or the workshop. And truthfully, no one would know any of their stories if Michael Bennett didn't pull this together. We only know these people because of this show.

Walk out with dignity Michael? Bullshit. The original cast had no rights, no residuals, no touring companies money and nothing made with original album, posters, all with their images. They were robbed plain and simple.

gosh the fake B-Roll. what's the need? You narrative is great and you've got actual documentation. Drop the fake stuff;

Can you STOP showing the awful cast from the movie version especially Michael Douglas who's career almost ended. And dont get me started on the ending with "Cassie" up in the rafters singing to herself some bizarre song.

no one gives Michon Peocock the kudos she needs.....she and tony did it all