No. 9. “At the Ballet” (A Chorus Line, 1975)

By Marvin Hamlisch (music), Edward Kleban (lyrics), James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante (book). Conceived by Michael Bennett.

A Chorus Line was an unlikely phenomenon. It began when director/choreographer Michael Bennett led a series of conversations between dancers from Broadway choruses in which they shared stories about their childhoods, their dreams, and their love of dance. Bennett, and many of these dancers, developed these conversations into a concept musical that seamlessly integrated music, dancing, and dialogue to explore this community united by a shared passion. As it draws the audience in emotionally, the audience seems themselves in the humanity on stage. With so many stories to share, ideas to explore, and ways to tell them, Bennett and his collaborators needed a unique process to distill it all into an integrated piece. They needed space and permission to try out ideas and build sequences from scratch, with collaboration from the cast and designers. This was the birth of the Workshop process—rehearsal periods that don’t culminate in public performances. It ironically led to a show that would have more public performances than any in Broadway history at that point—a 15 year run. Now nearly every show that opens on Broadway has at least one workshop as part of its development (even if they aren’t as loose and experimental as Bennett envisioned).

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