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A Chorus Line
At a trial for a forthcoming Broadway production, director Zach and his assistant choreographer Larry put the gypsies through their paces. Each dancer is anxious for work ("I Hope I Get It"). The director informs the aspirants that he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. Zach wishes to know more about them, so he asks them to introduce themselves. With unwillingness, they disclose their pasts. The stories normally develop chronologically from early life incidents through adulthood to the end of a career. The first aspirant to speak is Mike; he tells the director that he is the youngest of 12 children and was exposed to dancing when he was in pre-school. Bobby attempts to hide the misery of his childhood by making jokes. As he tells his story, the 17 dancers have qualms about this bizarre interview process and deliberate what they should disclose to Zach ("And...") but since they all need the job the session continues.
Zach is annoyed when he senses that the shrewd Sheila is not taking the audition seriously. Talking freely she narrates that her mother married at a young age and her father neither loved nor cared for them. When she was six, she recognized that ballet was a reprieve from her family life. Bebe states that she joined ballet to feel beautiful as she felt that she was not a beautiful child. Maggie felt that ballet provided her security as someone was always there, unlike the father she has never had ("At the Ballet").
The vague Kristine is tone-deaf, and her complaint that she could never "Sing!", is broken up by her husband Al finishing her phrases. Mark the youngest of the dancers recounts his first knowledge with pictures of the female anatomy and his first wet dream, and the other dancers share memories of puberty. Gregory talks about his finding of his homosexuality and Diana recalls her awful high school acting class. In the same manner all the aspirants talk about their past.
After the personal revelation, the dancers are sent downstairs to learn a song for the next round of the audition, but Cassie stays back to talk to Zach. Cassie and Zach know each other; in fact they had been living in earlier. Zach informs Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and she should not waste her time. Cassie informs him that she wants to be a part of the Chorus so that she can at least convey her passion for dance. After intense practice and slight mishaps the eight dancers are finally selected: Cassie, Bobby, Diana, Bebe, Val, Mike, Mark and Richie.
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A Chorus Line, a musical adapted from a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and music by Marvin Hamlisch, in its previous avatar as a Broadway production took home 9 Tony Awards. The highly popular show was revived on Broadway in 2006.
