A Chorus Line
![Watch film A Chorus Line — A Chorus Line (1985) Original Trailer [HD]](https://www.acmodasi.in/amdb/images/posters/6/n/a-chorus-line-1985-75zgT.jpg)
Short description
A large group of dancers gathers on a Broadway stage to try out for a new musical being assembled by director and choreographer Zach. The field is whittled down through rounds of cuts until seventeen remain, competing for a small number of places in the chorus. Among them is Cassie, a dancer who once had a romantic history with Zach and left New York to try her luck in Hollywood. Now she needs the work badly enough to audition for him, and their shared past complicates an already demanding process. Zach and his assistant Larry push the remaining candidates to talk about themselves as well as dance, turning the audition into an examination of who they are and why they want a place in the line.
The film is an adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Richard Attenborough as the sixth of the twelve features he made. It follows Gandhi in that sequence and came shortly before Cry Freedom. Michael Douglas plays Zach, with Alyson Reed as Cassie, Terrence Mann as Larry, and Gregg Burge, Vicki Frederick and Michelle Johnston among the large credited cast. Arnold Schulman wrote the screenplay, and Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin produced.
Released in December 1985, the film cost about 25 million dollars and returned roughly 14 million worldwide, so it did not recover its budget in cinemas. On TMDB it holds a rating of 6.2 out of 10 from around 206 votes, while the critics' score stands at 5.3 out of 10 from 44 reviews, placing the two measures fairly close together.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original musical premiered at the Shubert Theater in New York on July 25, 1975. A year later, it received Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score, and was staged 6137 times, a record for the time. This record was surpassed only by the musical “Cats,” which ran for 7485 performances.
- In some close-ups or distant shots of the dancers, Val is absent, although she should ideally be rehearsing with the others. She is also barely present in the dance number at the beginning, when Zach sends everyone onto the stage. Moreover, she is missing from the end of the song "Surprise, Surprise" and during Cassie's performance of "What I Did For Love." The reason is that the actress wasn't a very good dancer, and they decided not to film her in the most complex dances.
- At one point, John Travolta was considered for the role of Zach.
- Pam Klinger and Charles McGowan, who played Maggie and Mike, met on the film set and later married.
- Madonna auditioned for one of the roles under her own name, but director Sir Richard Attenborough rejected her.
- In the dance scene (when the audition ends), the audience sees dancers who have already been rejected. This scene was originally intended to be shown at the very end, as in a Broadway musical.
- Michael Bennett (1943-1987), the choreographer and director of the original musical, was actively involved in the project at its early stages, but later left because he wasn't given room to work. He advised producer Cy Feuer (1911-2006) not to focus on the relationship between Michael Douglas and Alison Reed in the film.
- Director Richard Attenborough was very keen to cast unknown actors in the roles of the troupe members. Audrey Landers worried that she was too well-known to audiences after filming the series “Dallas” (1978-1991), but fortunately, Attenborough hadn’t seen it.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
