A Chorus Line Musical

THE leggy blond sits at a utilitarian desk, black bodysuit revealing the long, lean lines of a dancer, repudiating her fiftysomething age. Trish Garland, between clients at her Sherman Oaks storefront Pilates studio, has just returned from the recent opening of the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line." Garland's interest in the show was more than casual.

Dancer Rachelle Rak climbs "up a steep and very narrow stairway" to a dressing room at the Broadhurst Theatre to await the worst news of her professional life: She will not be getting the role of Sheila in the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line," an ambition she has poured her whole life into, not to mention the rigorous eight months of the audition itself.

BROADWAY Opened Shubert Theatre: July 25, 1975. Scheduled Broadway closing: March 31, 1990. Total performances, as of March 31: 6,014. Total members of the Broadway company over 15 years: 511. Total N.Y. attendance: 6,543,058 (as of Feb. 19). Producers: New York Shakespeare Festival, Plum Prods. (Michael Bennett).

"I hope I get it." That line may express the hopes of the characters in "A Chorus Line," but the performers in the touring production at the Ahmanson Theatre already have it. If you don't believe us, just consider the punishing routine these young dancers are enduring. For each show, the principal cast performs two intermissionless hours of high-kicking dance numbers interspersed with 13 soul-searching songs.

Broadway said goodby Saturday to "A Chorus Line" in an emotional final performance that included tears, cheers and a standing ovation for the musical's cast, both past and present. "This show is dedicated to anyone who has ever danced in a chorus or marched in step anywhere," producer Joseph Papp said as the show ended a 15-year run of 6,137 performances, the longest in Broadway history. "Take a final bow 'Chorus line,' " Papp said.

Whenever an ensemble of players so connects with audiences the way "A Chorus Line's" performers did in 1975, there is a bond created that never seems to loosen. They came onto the scene unexpectedly, a group of unknown Broadway gypsies whose on-stage characters seemed to represent the aspirations and cynicism of the era.

Dancer Rachelle Rak climbs "up a steep and very narrow stairway" to a dressing room at the Broadhurst Theatre to await the worst news of her professional life: She will not be getting the role of Sheila in the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line," an ambition she has poured her whole life into, not to mention the rigorous eight months of the audition itself.

"I hope I get it." That line may express the hopes of the characters in "A Chorus Line," but the performers in the touring production at the Ahmanson Theatre already have it. If you don't believe us, just consider the punishing routine these young dancers are enduring. For each show, the principal cast performs two intermissionless hours of high-kicking dance numbers interspersed with 13 soul-searching songs.

Marvin Hamlisch promises to light up the sky in a unique way this weekend at the Hollywood Bowl. The composer, who has won three Oscars, four Grammys, two Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globes and the Pulitzer Prize, is conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane in a concert of movie music and musicals.

It may have been the last night of Broadway's longest-running show, but the atmosphere was far from funereal. As the sun went down, the Shubert Theater's marquee for "A Chorus Line" went on turning the theater once again into the show business landmark it had been for the last 15 years. This time there was a new feature, the lyrics to the musical's most popular tune.

Oh, THOSE mirrored panels. When they turn to reflect a stage full of lithe dancers in leotards and muscle shirts, you can't fight the thrill. Cue the straw hats, tight glutes and heartbreak: "A Chorus Line" has arrived at the Ahmanson Theatre, a syncopated time capsule of urban boogie, gay pride and natural curl. In 1974, dancers Tony Stevens and Michon Peacock teamed with Broadway master Michael Bennett to interview a roomful of professional hoofers. The dancers were not kids but veterans.

THE leggy blond sits at a utilitarian desk, black bodysuit revealing the long, lean lines of a dancer, repudiating her fiftysomething age. Trish Garland, between clients at her Sherman Oaks storefront Pilates studio, has just returned from the recent opening of the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line." Garland's interest in the show was more than casual.

In the 1975 battle of the great Broadway director-choreographers, it was no contest. The Michael Bennett show "A Chorus Line," risque for its day but fiendishly effective in selling the hopes and dreams of its hopers and dreamers, seemed as if it would run forever. The Bob Fosse show "Chicago," all cynicism and dark shadows, a triumph of corruption over sincerity, appeared destined to eke out a season or two and then fade. But "Chicago" has enjoyed a surprising reversal of fortune.

An original cast member of the landmark Broadway musical "A Chorus Line," Trish Garland said she's in the same kind of shape she was in more than two decades ago when she played the role of Judy Turner. On Monday she and a few of her fellow "A Chorus Line" buddies demonstrated how fit they've stayed through the years.

Marvin Hamlisch promises to light up the sky in a unique way this weekend at the Hollywood Bowl. The composer, who has won three Oscars, four Grammys, two Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globes and the Pulitzer Prize, is conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane in a concert of movie music and musicals.

After "A Chorus Line" premiered in 1975, could anyone continue to look at Broadway's rank-and-file hoofers merely as scenery with good legs? The musical showed that each individual in every chorus line has a story, a living photo album of dreams and regrets, loves and fears. The tall one on the left? That's Sheila, who found at the ballet the light she lacked at home. The pony-tailed blond is Kristine, tone deaf but inseparable from her uxorious spouse, Al, who keeps her on key.

Seldom has the Inevitable come with such surprise. After a record 15 years on Broadway, "A Chorus Line" is closing on March 31. "The End of the Line" was the headline of its last advertisement. Well, there are worse disasters, and 15 years "isn't bad" for a Broadway show. . . . But of course "A Chorus Line" isn't just a Broadway show. Being about a mythical kind of musical, it became a myth itself.

The main reason for mounting a new production of "A Chorus Line" in Los Angeles was to present it in a smaller-than-usual theater--on more of the intimate scale that its creator Michael Bennett originally envisioned. But after only eight weeks, the show, which opened to many rave reviews, is set to close on Sunday. As the co-producer of this production, it's been a sad lesson in Big Squeeze economics of mid-size theater today.

The main reason for mounting a new production of "A Chorus Line" in Los Angeles was to present it in a smaller-than-usual theater--on more of the intimate scale that its creator Michael Bennett originally envisioned. But after only eight weeks, the show, which opened to many rave reviews, is set to close on Sunday. As the co-producer of this production, it's been a sad lesson in Big Squeeze economics of mid-size theater today.

It may have been the last night of Broadway's longest-running show, but the atmosphere was far from funereal. As the sun went down, the Shubert Theater's marquee for "A Chorus Line" went on turning the theater once again into the show business landmark it had been for the last 15 years. This time there was a new feature, the lyrics to the musical's most popular tune.