Ah, a night at the theater. A chance to put on your fancy shoes, toast the town and settle in as others perform for your amusement. The lives of kings, we lead!
Unfortunately, my interest in musical theater has only recently been sparked. I resisted musicals for much of my life - citing a long-running annoyance with the constantly exuberant, sing-songy, show-offy "Theeter Kids," as I lumped them, from my student days. The grudge kept me a little behind on my Broadway knowledge.
I'm catching up, though, as I've aged and mellowed, and as my life increasingly complicates, I've come to welcome the optimistic escapism of a musical. As I said Tuesday night walking up to see "A Chorus Line," "I'm just ready to sit back and watch some people dance."
Jaeger Lecoultre WatchBetween my need to make peace with the "Theeter Kids" of my youth and my need to be jostled into jolly spirits, "A Chorus Line" is just what the director ordered.
With no elaborate sets, costuming or special effects, "A Chorus Line" is a simple song and dance audition story set in 1975 - so, you know the leotards are awesome. The 17 hopeful performers competing for eight chorus spots line up and take turns sharing their back stories and personal goals that drive them to take the stage. Through the personal sagas, some sad, some funny, we get to know a range of performer "types," from the, "Dancing is all I've ever wanted Replica Swiss Army to do!" variety, to the slutty girl who's just not as good a dancer as the rest, to the accomplished star who has fallen back into humbling chorus line auditions.
The concept of "A Chorus Line" got me thinking about the detail work of a stage show, a topic that rarely occurs to me. I had never considered that even the smallest role in the least seen performance in history undergoes an audition process, ultimately a job interview where you sing and dance. Can you imagine if your job search process had such demands?
And, while I had long discounted the "faceless" performers in the chorus as not much more than scenery, I have new habits, thanks to the characters in "A Chorus Line." After all, speaking lines or not, those are all human beings on that stage, people's sons and daughters who have schooled and practiced and sang and danced themselves silly so that I might sit back in my fancy shoes and be entertained. "A Chorus Line," The Times-Union Center, 300 W. Water St.8
embroidered patches p.m. today; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday. (904) 632-3373, OF THE BLOG- People often ask me, "Laura, where can I go and see a good ol' fashioned rap battle these days?"Well, tonight is the seventh annual Hip Hop Hell Winter Freestyle Massacre at TSI Discotheque (333 E. Bay St.). At least 16 skilled linguists from all over the state will compete for prize money and, more importantly, bragging rights. The battle begins at 10:30 p.m. Tickets: $7, $10 for under 21.- Hello all ye children of the '80s! The 5 Points Theatre (1022 Park St.) has quite a treat for you: "The Breakfast Club" is tonight's $5 midnight movie. All the jocks, brains, princesses, criminals and basket cases are going to be there.- So, if you're not too keen on the tents and elephants circus this weekend, perhaps the RocBar Cafe's (1266 Beach Blvd.) Big Top Punk Rock Circus Spectacular is more up your alley. Musical line-up includes local punk favorites Whole Wheat Bread joined by lady-group ShiraGirl and California- based The Hopeless. Tickets: $10.