A Chorus Line. Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Lyrics by Edward Kleban, Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante. Sadler's Wells Theatre, Roseberry Avenue, London EC1 to 25 August 2024.

4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.

“Good if not a singular sensation.”

Everything but the kitchen sink appears to have been thrown at this version of the famous 1975 Broadway musical which originated at the Curve in Leicester and has now arrived in London. It is energetic, splendidly danced, and as befits productions today video cameras are used to photograph individual members of the cast as they get their solo moments which are transmitted on a large screen at the back. The scene is a Broadway theatre where auditions are being held by Zach. the director, for the chorus and as they line up and go through their paces he interviews them and we learn who they are and why the have ended there. It was revolutionary in 1975 but today some of the questioning does seem slightly in questionable taste – probng just a little too far. If I recall the director in the Michael Bennett version at Drury Lane was never seen but was a voice from the back of the stalls. Here, however, we get Adam Cooper coming on and off and it really does not improve things. He sounds remote when off stage and remarably unimpressive on stage whereas Zach is actually something of a monster. Nor does the fact that today's singing style tends to have singers shout songs and whenever there is a note that can be held to do so interminably. Also at the end of the Bennett version the impact was the arrival of that immaculate chorus line all in top hars and tails madeup of people we had come to know now completely anonymous. Here the entire cast comes on swamping the place.

That said the production by Nikolai Foster certainly gives the customers their money's worth and Sadler's Wells should be packed for the run. Yet not all the songs packed quite the punch they should have done and did in the Bennet version. Nor does the solo for Cassie, the director's one time lover and now a failed leading lady and film actress who has come back to audition for a role in the chorus stand out. It should be very moving and Carly Mercedes Dyer does everything asked of her very well as Cassie butThe Music and the Mirror fails to achieve the impact it should have done. The same is true for the big Act One and Two closing numbers - Nothing and the show's power ballad What I Did for Love. They come. They go. As for that video screen when each of the would be members of the line get their solo moments the close ups of their faces do not actually add to the impact of their stories. There is nothing wrong with taking a fresh look at an old musical – operas and plays get reworked all the time. Here one feels that nobody had anything new they wanted to say and they changed things because they could do so and had all those lights and cameras at their disposal.

Cast

Adam Cooper – Zach.

Carly Mercedes Dyer – Cassie.

Jocasta Almgil – Diana.

Lydia Bannister – Bebe Benizenheimer.

Bradley Delarosbel – Gregory Gardner.

Archie Durrant - Mark Anthony.

Joshua Lay – Al Deluca.

Mireia Mambo – Richie Walters.

Kanako Nakano – Judy Turner.

Manuel Pacific – Paul San Marco.

Ashley-Jordan Packer -Larry.

Kate Parr – Maggie Winslow.

Rachel Jayne Picar – Connie Wang.

Redmond Rance – Mike Costa.

Chloe Saunders -Val Clarke.

Toby Seddon -Bobby Mills.

Amy Thornton – Sheila Bryant.

Louie Wood – Don Kerr.

Yuki Abe, Fin Adams,Katrina Dix, Laura Hills, Josh Kernan,Joshua Steel – Ensemble.

Creatives

Director – Nikolai Foster

Choreographer – Ellen Kane,

Set Designer – Grace Smart.

Orchestration & Musical Supervisor – David Shrubsole.

Costume Designer – Edd Lindley.

Lighting Designer – Howard Hudson.

Sound Designer – Tom Marshall.

Musical Director – Matthew Spalding.