A Chorus Line

08/05/2013 – 11/05/2013

Year
2013
Author
Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante
Abstract
DIRECTOR'S NOTE A Chorus line is an incredibly poignant production to every person working in the performing arts industry. It speaks not only to dancers but to all performers, designers and creators working in the performing arts. The risk (and intention) with A Chorus line is that you can sit through 90 minutes of the histories of 17 dancers (and a director and his assistant) displayed through beautiful music, creative and technically stunning choreography and interesting, character history driven text; but then lose your audience to the sequins, lights and rehearsed "1-love-to­ dance" smiles in the final number "One". The glamour of performance is designed to encase an audience in a certain world, a certain outlook on life and a very specific view of performers and who they are as individuals -or in this case: who they are as a blended group. I believe every performance of A Chorus line has two audiences. The first is the audience who are swept away by the precision, glitz, passion and unity ofa chorus in any musical or theatrical production. The second is the audience of performers themselves, who really understand that feeling of fa:ade in a forced smile, or the emotional and physical pain of repetition in audition and performance. Both audiences can enjoy the entertainment of A Chorus Line, but at the same time, both audiences can take something truly personal away from it. When the cast weren't singing and dancing for hours on end in rehearsals I made sure we talked a lot about being special and being an individual. Zach sees how special Cassie is in the show because he knows her personally. He feels he has validated her talent by casting her in lead roles in the past and as a result she is seen by him to be more special than any of the other dancers on stage. Cassie's reply is simple, clear and culminates the entire message of the show for me, and I hope therefore conveyed to you: Everyone is special. "They're all special". The final scenes of the show focus heavily on what the performers would do if they couldn't dance anymore. I had the cast think about the one goal or aspect of their lives which they couldn't live without; something that they wouldn't be able to replace with anything else. The results varied from performing (music, dancing, and acting) to academic endeavours (medicine, law, and politics). Some results really touched me: being a mother one day; always having friends and family around; simply being happy and content with oneself. 1 asked them to think about how they would feel if they couldn't have that one thing in their lives anymore. That feeling is the ugly guts of the text: "What would you do if you couldn't dance anymore". It affects every single person, no matter their goals or priorities. That niggling question in the back of your mind of what you would do if it was all taken away? Thank you so much to the cast and crew, especially Cassie, Ant and Simone, for maldng A Chorus Line so incredible and so enjoyable to work on. Thank you to Trinity College for having me back again and congratulations to all for all the hard work that's been put into the show.
Director
Sara Tabitha Catchpole
Music director
Anthony Cardamone
Choreographer
Cassie Pennicuik
Designer
Sara Tabitha Catchpole
Cast
CAST Jay Kim Alex Horton Gretel Hayden Maiia Brent Nicholas Langford Gaby Lefevre Camille Nock Tom Li Taylor Callaghan Georgia Bettens Jessica Bradford Brad Den Heijer Ben Mahoney Bayden Hitchcock Laura Raiti Matt Geleta Alex Coppe James Alcorn James Allen Georgina Baker Ashley Broadway Freya Brolsma Nick Cole Matt hargraves Britt King Campbell Macgillvray James Roberts Phoebe Thomson Anna Wallace Jack Young Lily Chen Rob Lean Annie Aitken Maia Brent ORCHESTRA Conductor - Anthony Cardamone Orchestra manager - Audrey Moore Reed 1: Jordan LoPiccolo Reed 2: Shae Stabryla Reed 3: Nick Montgomery Reed 4: Luke Wilson Trumpet : Anthony Foon Trumpet: Katy Daivis Trumpet: Oliver Harley Trombone: Jessica Jacobs Trombone: Audrey Moore Bass Trombone: Josh Hooke Percussion : Luis Duhart Percussion : Shanley Price Keyboard 1: Laura Hanson Keyboard 2: Bradley Tjandra Keyboard 3: Chudi Wang Bass Guitar: Alexander Galligan
Crew
Producer: Simone Nathan Artistic Director: Gaby Lefevre Assistant Artistic Director: Camille Nock Set & Costume Design: Sara Tabitha Catchpole Lighting Designer: Will Pennington Stage Manager: Claire Robinson Assistant Director: Anna Wallace Orchestra Director: Audrey Moore Marketing Director: Aley Weisenberger Treasurer: Alena Broesder Fundraising Committee: Brad Den Heijer, Emily Lewis General Committee: Tom Li, Anthony Hall Set/Makeup/Hair/Bump In/Backstage: Amba-Rose Atkinson, Eloise Bentley, Renee Black, Bee Breadmore, Nina Breidahl, Stephanie Clarke, Tyson Holloway-Clarke, Harriet Craig, Samantha Davidson, Nichol Fyfe, Will Hargreaves, Rose Hewetson, Jackie Kirwan, Rachel Koh, Shu Lin, Rachael McCullough,Ainara Martinez­ Miranda, Gianna Morris, Aiofe Nicklason, Liam Nuttall, Katie Parrott, Ailish Puren, Heny Purnamasari, Anuja Ratwatte, Amelia Rogers, Namrata Satish, Claudia Weatherall, Olivia Whitaker