Thoughts on A Chorus Line (and some Chicago)

 

via performerstuff.com/Columbia Pictures

"First of all, let's get one thing straight: I never heard of The Red Shoes, I never saw The Red Shoes, I don't give a shit about The Red Shoes ..."

I've told you all about my one former professor and director, my "Ms. Karp," the one who taught a class on this history of musicals. I remember us talking about A Chorus Line, specifically the movie adaptation. Certain I'd win some brownie points, I recounted Kelly Bishop's story from On the Line, about how mad she was after catching an interview with Richard Attenborough. "'This show is about kids breaking into show business.' ... He doesn't even know what the show's about! It's not about that!" You have no idea how surprised and disappointed I was when the teacher took Attenborough's side.

Say what you will about Rob Marshall having most of the musical numbers in Chicago as taking place in Roxie's mind, it was a unique approach and he committed to it. Compare that to ACL making too much out of the relationship between Zach (Michael Douglas) and Cassie (Alyson Reed). I laughed when Zach complained about how Cassie's talent would pull the audience's focus away from the rest of the chorus, because Attenborough and screenwriter Arnold Schulman were practically doing the same. That's another point for Marshall and Bill Condon. They had stars, they didn't have to make them.

As ACL played out, I started thinking about how the story has aged. Zach looking to fill a chorus with people who can be themselves shouldn't be jarring, but it is when you consider how many shows are revivals or based on existing properties. Imagine that for a moment: "Okay, I want you to show me yourself. You'll be playing a role that a good portion of the audience expects you to do exactly the way someone else did it." If I remember right, the movie almost had a meta framework, that the 16 auditioning dancers weren't trying out for Zach's show*, but the film version of A Chorus Line.

*Okay, so it's apparently built around a leading lady and has a small chorus to also play ensemble roles. Zach also tells the dancers he's looking for a 1930s style. Chicago is set in the '20s and has two leading ladies, but for whatever reason, I couldn't help but imagine that it was the show Zach was directing. And that "One" would be replaced by "Roxie."

" ... But I'm straight. I'm not too bright, but I'm not too dumb. And, uh, I'm not too talented. But you know me, Zach. You show me what to do, and I'm gonna do the exact same way, eight shows a week forever."

You can play Chicago from a '20s perspective, a '70s perspective or a 2020s perspective, but it's always been a period piece. ACL became one. That happens. It's just odd to see it be a period piece twice over. The graft of the '70s material and the '80s-friendly inclusions just doesn't take. "Surprise, Surprise," performed by Richie (Gregg Burge), is at least better than "Gimme the Ball." But it's still not good. I was surprised to see that it's credited to Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban. Schulman, fyi, took over for James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Jeffrey Hornaday (Flashdance, Madonna's Who's That Girl and Girlie Show tours, Teen Beach Movie) joined Attenborough in filling Michael Bennett's roles.

I'm happy to say I liked a lot of the ensemble in ACL. Vicki Frederick is a delight throughout as Sheila ("Why is it only my ass that ever gets invited places?"). She, Michelle Johnston and Pam Klinger are touching when they sing "At the Ballet." Even though she seems to have been cast more for her singing and personality than her dancing, Audrey Landers is still a lot of fun as Val. I suppose it's telling that I preferred the girls over the boys. Of the later group, I'll give my crown to Tony Fields as Al (that portion I quoted above is sad in general, even more so by the end of the movie) and Cameron English as Paul. That said, I liked Terrence Mann as Larry the best, and he wasn't even technically on the line.

A good adaptation, like Chicago, complements its source material. One of the nice things about bad adaptations is that they inevitably remind you of how much you like what was there before. I've been singing "Dance 10, Looks 3" and "Nothing" for the past few days. ACL might not be as fresh as it was back in the day, but it still has an emotional hold that its movie version occasionally achieves. Nothing -- not adjusting the context to "What I Did for Love," not shooting and editing the musical numbers so unflatteringly, not thinking it's a musical about young people breaking into show business -- can change that.

"Do you ever think about what you're gonna do when you stop dancing?"

"For me?"

"Yeah."

"Real life, I guess."

ACL, Not Recommended. Chicago, recommended.

Thoughts:

-- "You're all looking at my tits now, aren't you?"

-- Box Office: Grossing $14.2 million on a $25 million budget, ACL opened wide at No. 13 and came in at No. 60 for 1985. Chicago, for its part, had a $45 million budget, grossed nearly $171 million, opened wide (more than 1,000 theaters) at No. 3 and came in at No. 10 for 2002. 

-- Awards Watch: ACL was Oscar-nominated for "Surprise, Surprise," its editing and its sound. The latter two were also BAFTA-nominated. At the Golden Globes, it scored nominations for Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy and Best Director of a Motion Picture. Chicago, meanwhile, won six out of 13 Oscars it was nominated for (I'm still pissed Richard Gere didn't get a nod), two out of 12 BAFTAs and three out of eight Golden Globes. For the latter awards, Catherine Zeta-Jones was nominated as Best Actress alongside Renée Zellweger, similar to how Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera were both up for Best Actress in a Musical (and lost to Donna McKechnie for ACL).

-- Critics Corner (ACL only, I didn't have time to research reviews of Chicago): "Almost everyone appears to have been directed to overreact," Vincent Canby wrote. He also didn't like Douglas ("brings a singular lack of charm and conviction") and Reed ("without special graces as a dancer or singer."). A few performers got good notices, like Burge, Frederick and Matt West in People and English, Frederick and Landers in Variety. People: "Sanitized, homogenized, conventionalized ... so cautious it lacks even the sleazy energy of a real desecration." "A classic play has been reduced to a decent movie," Gene Siskel concluded. David Denby: "It's a grim, tense, humorless picture."

-- Unlike some of the other stage shows that were adapted for Thoughts On entries, both ACL and Chicago seem to have outlasted their movies. The original production of ACL hung around Broadway for more than four more years after the film flopped, while the Chicago revival, assuming it reopens, is now more than 17 years removed from Marshall and company. 

-- "Oh, yes, I'm going to be 30 real soon. And I'm real glad."

-- At some point, readers, I will do a full commentary on Chicago itself. Tomorrow's post will be on the Best and Worst of 1985. If you want to share your own ballots, here are the categories:

Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress -- you may have five best with five alternates and five worst with five alternates (20 choices altogether).

Ensemble and Song -- 10 choices each, only the best.