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SALT LAKE CITY -- Pioneer Theatre Company opens its season Friday night with the Tony Award-winning "A Chorus Line". Directing the show is a woman who was a member of the Broadway cast that first year, 1975.
The audition: what every aspiring or veteran Broadway dancer experiences. After more than 30 years, each new cast member of "A Chorus Line" can relate personally to the true stories the characters tell on stage.
"I think I've gotten to play this character as much as I have because I don't have to act. I can just kind of walk on stage and access 98 percent of what he has to say," says actor Miguel Angel Falcon.
Actress Elizabeth Clinard says her character is "sort of a ditsy girl, but she has a heart of gold and the same time. And I can relate to her because I get really nervous in auditions, and so I sort of understand where she's coming from."
So, how do audiences related to "A Chorus Line" almost 35 years later? Well, the director and cast say it has to do with today's economy.
The show's director, Patti D'Beck, auditioned for the Broadway show four times to get into "A Chorus Line" in 1975. It's popular, she says, because the theme is universal.
"Everybody is on the line these days with the economic climate that we're in. And we all know what it's about putting yourself forward, on the line, and trying to take a risk to survive and do what you wanna do and follow your heart and your passion, or pay the rent," D'Beck says.
Bottom line: it's about getting the job.
The ticket office is reminding patrons that this show contains some strong language and mature themes. "A Chorus Line" runs through Oct. 10 at Pioneer Memorial Theatre at the University of Utah.
E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com
