In some of the books I've read on A Chorus Line, an early concept was discussed.

Apparently, Michael Bennett and the other creators originally wanted to select a random woman from the audience each night to bring up onstage during "One", to be the unnamed "star" of the show Zach's directing. This woman wouldn't have had to do a darned thing. The chorus line would have guided her, made her look marvelous, and basically given this Jane Average from the audience all the "star quality" that the lyrics gushed over.

This would have made the point that the "stars" in numbers like these (like "Hello Dolly" and "Mame") aren't really that special at all, and that these anonymous chorus dancers are far more special and important than we realize...they're the ones making the star seem so great!

That sounds like it would have been a pretty cool concept. What do you guys think? Would it have worked?

hmmm. i personally dont like the concept. outta curiosity, where have you read this? i dont recall it being in the forward in the Applause Books released script.

Mainly, in a book I got at a used-book fair called "What They Did For Love", about the making of the show. It might have been mentioned in the book "On The Line" and/or "A Chorus Line And The Musicals Of Michael Bennett."

the book sounds fab - Ill hafa keep an eye out for it at used book places, or ebay.


thanks!

i LOVVVVVVVVE the idea, however, let's be honest, some people in the audience might suffer from mental / physical problems which could pose as problems.... i mean, what if , somebody gets called and has a panic attack on stage.

and i'm sure there would be opportunists that would be called up there and later sue becuase they suffered, "emotional trauma".

but very interesting post.

Nope, I don't think it would have worked.

I think it would have worked just fine.

Back when I was around 6 or 7, my family went to see The Letterman (I'm showing my age now) in concert. During their concerts, Tony Butala used to come into the audience and pick people to sing. I was facing him as he walked down our aisle and he was asking if anyone knew someone who knew how to sing well. Little did I know that my mom was pointing at my head. He stopped at me and I sang "Sing, Sing a Song" in front of about 3,000 people. I have a picture of it somewhere.

I think those opposed, are so because it works just fine the way it is.

That seems fun.. Only if they pick me every night!

JK!

Essentially "Spelling Bee" did that but they interviewed people who volunteered before the show. Then they called the people selected for a short pre-show rehearsal of what they are supposed to do.

But what the selected audience members have to do is simple and the cast literally drags them through it. The dance number is just forming two lines and swaying and bobbing, then they form a circle and start jumping up and down holding hands. Very crude stuff but since the cast are "children", it looks fine.

In "CATS", Rum Tum Tugger picks, totally at random, a female audience member and does a simple dance in the aisle with her. One time I saw a woman refuse, she was too nervous despite coaxing from RTT.

But for ACL, I don't know how they can make an audience member fake it. I mean it is all about dancers who have a lot of training. In the two I mentioned above, bad under-rehearsed dancing is expected but wouldn't make sense in ACL especially if they want the audience member to "look good".