A Chorus Line (1985)

Directed By Richard Attenborough

Released December 20, 1985

Screenplay by Arnold Schulman

Musical Concept by Michael Bennett

Book Written by James Kirkwood Jr. & Nicholas Dante

Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB

"Hopefuls try out before a demanding director for a part in a new musical."

I wanted to start this blog off with the opening scene from the movie because I bet most people have never watched this movie. Either because they hate musicals, have never heard of it, or think it is only a dance movie. While I love this movie because of all the dancing and the fact it is a musical, it is not just that. This movie has a lot of great characterization that proves to be very entertaining. It is in my list of top five musicals of all time. It is entertaining and the music is catchy as well.

This movie started off as a Broadway musical before it became a movie in 1985. In fact, it is in the list of one of the longest running musicals of all time. It was first brought to the stage in July of 1975 and ran until 1990. It won the Tony for Best Musical, Book, and Score in 1976. In total it ran for 6,137 performances.

Now I want to take a moment to talk about the idea of musicals, since this is the first one in my blog so far. And for the sake of another type of argument, I am talking about movie musicals. I think this genre of movies is well respected by people who enjoy them and trashed by people who don't like them. People who don't like musicals normally don't enjoy watching dancing, don't enjoy the lack of true dialogue due to singing, they think musicals are cheesy, or they think musicals are a form of chick-flick. To all that I say, it depends on the musical. To me, an avid musical lover, I think there are different levels of musicals. You have musicals like Les Misérables where there is no dialogue, so it is heavily music based, but it is not flashy and doesn't have dance scenes. Musicals like this are centered around the story. Then there are musicals like High School Musical and Grease where people randomly break out into song and dance, but the rest of the movie is normal and has a lot of dialogue. Finally, you have musicals like Singin' in the Rain where there are musical numbers, dance numbers, and dialogue but they are all centered around the fact that people are suppose to be singing. In Singin' in the Rain's story it is because they are making a musical. That is the category I would classify A Chorus Line in. There is a story, dialogue, singing, and dance numbers, but they are there for a reason. So to the people who don't like musicals, I think your problem is you just need to find the right type of musical because there are many different levels of musicals. The Greatest Showman, Chicago, Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, La La Land, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and every Disney movie. All of these are different in their level of production and storylines, you just have to find what fits for you. 

Okay, now focusing on A Chorus Line. First of all, like I had mentioned in my blog about The Breakfast Club this movie also constitutes as a one room film. It takes in the auditorium with a few flashback shots, some basement shots, and some establishing outside shots. But other than that, the characters are only filmed from that stage. In fact, for most of the movie they don't even leave the stage. This comes with it's own difficulties because unlike The Breakfast Club, these characters are mostly standing on stage and talking. Occasionally, they dance and sing, but for much of the time they are standing and talking without any props. This is where strong characterization becomes very important. Without that, you would be watching a film where people stand and talk about their lives and dance. Not something that a lot of people would say sounds interesting (expect for my dance fans out there). When these characters, though, are so different and have over-the-top personalities, you don't mind as much that nothing is going because the things they say and the dancing make up for it. Here are two prime examples of how the personalities drive the story. Both of these songs are hilarious in their content and the actors go full out in their portrayal which makes audiences stay and watch.

Now with talking about characterization, the thing I hate about this film is the character of Cassie and the relationship between her and Zach. It is not needed! Her personality compared to everyone else on the cast is so boring and unoriginal. Her singing is only so-so and I never enjoy her parts of the movie. It takes away from the rest of the story by them throwing in a romantic relationship. That's not what this story and movie is about, you don't need it. It is as if they added in this storyline at the last minute. It is probably added to help break up the musical a bit, to make it more entertaining, but I would rather see more of the other people. Even the role of Larry is more interesting than Cassie and he isn't even doing any of the dancing or singing.

Speaking of Larry, I love him as a character but one thing ruins him for me (only slightly). Just before seeing this movie, I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time. I hated that movie, which is a very different type of musical (VERY DIFFERENT!). So after seeing that movie and then watching A Chorus Line I thought the lead in Rocky Horror was Larry. It wasn't until right now that I realized that the actors are different in these two movies. I thought Larry (Terrence Mann) was Tim Curry who plays Dr. Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror. Just look at the resemblance! Even though I now know they are different actors, I will never be able to stop associating them together. Especially with that 80s hair, they look like the same person. 

                     

                        Tim Curry (Rocky Horror)             Terrence Mann (A Chorus Line)

This leads me into my last topic for this movie. The 80s style is supper prevalent in this movie. The dance attire and the outfits of Larry and Cassie, highlight the peak of the 80s look which is centered around workout attire. You have the sweat bands, layered shirts, high leotards, and very teased out hair. Most of the time when people go to 80s themed parties, I feel like they channel their inner Chorus Line dancer with their workout look. The other thing that is very prevalent in the 80s was how skinny everyone was and how scandalous many of their outfits really were. Just look at the tiny tops, the height on the leotards that have most of the girls's butts hanging out, and the amount of skin that is shown. Now I know dancers now-a-days are not much better, but I feel like in this instance the 80s win for more scandalous, tight-fitting, and high-rise workout attire. Everything present day is just very tight.

Well that's all I have for you this week. Feel free to leave me a comment to tell me what you think about musicals, the 80s attire, or just this fabulous movie in general. Thanks for reading!

*Fun fact: Lea Thompson, who played Marty McFly's mom in Back to the Future, turned down a role in A Chorus Line to be in Back to the Future. She was asked to play Kristine DeLuca, the awkward quiet blonde. Do you think she made the right choice? 

Larry: "Don't you know the combination, Sheila?"

Sheila: "I knew it when I was in front!"