{"id":34569,"date":"2019-04-24T22:02:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T03:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=34569"},"modified":"2019-04-24T22:02:12","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T03:02:12","slug":"porchlight-continues-winning-streak-with-chorus-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=34569","title":{"rendered":"Porchlight Continues Winning Streak with \u2018Chorus Line\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Peter Thomas Ricci<\/p>\n

Over the years, Porchlight Theatre has established itself as one of Chicago\u2019s finest interpreters of American musical theater, and the company\u2019s new production of \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d is firmly in that tradition \u2013 bold, energetic, and beautiful, Porchlight and it\u2019s creative team have staged a true tribute to not just the theater, but the hopes and dreams that make it what it is.<\/p>\n

Given the show\u2019s popularity, the setup for \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d will likely feel familiar: a large group of dancers and singers are auditioning for a select number of spots in the chorus line of an upcoming musical directed by Zach, a choreographer of Bob Fosse-esque renown and temperament. After the initial dancing sequence weeds out the weaker performers, Zach interrogates the dancers one by one \u2013 as he explains, this particular show requires the chorus line to deliver dialogue, and he wants the right dancers for the parts.<\/p>\n

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It is through those interviews that we learn about the performers, and although some of their stories are funny \u2013 for instance, one dancer remarks on how, as a boy, he thought a wet dream was a sign he had gonorrhea \u2013 what really unites the dancers is their urgency, even desperation, to thrive as professional Broadway performers. \u201cChorus Line\u201d grew out of conversations that Michael Bennett shared with his fellow dancers in 1974, and that gripping authenticity \u2013 the fact that most dancers will not become the next Gwen Verdon \u2013 is why this production remains relevant, and Porchlight\u2019s production beautifully captures that spirit.<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Brenda Didier, the music direction of Linda Madonia, and the choreography of Christopher Chase Carter, Porchlight\u2019s large cast thrives, with Laura Savage, Drew Tanabe, Adrienne Velasco-Storrs, and Alejandro Fonseca especially good in their dramatic sequences. Furthermore, the acrobatic dancing of Terrell Armstrong deserves special recognition, as does the big voice of Aalon Smith, a senior at Columbia College Chicago starring in her second Porchlight production (she was excellent in last fall\u2019s production of \u201cGypsy\u201d).<\/p>\n

Overall, it makes for a delightful evening of musical theater, one that I am eager to once again experience.<\/p>\n

Highly Recommended<\/b><\/p>\n

Playing through May 31 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N Dearborn St, Chicago IL 60610<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets can be purchased at porchlightmusictheatre.org, or by calling 773-777-9884<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Peter Thomas Ricci Over the years, Porchlight Theatre has established itself as one of Chicago\u2019s finest interpreters of American musical theater, and the company\u2019s new production of \u201cA Chorus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,245,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-musical-theatre","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}