A Chorus Line high steps into Gaslight Dinner Theatre June 26-Aug. 2

Release Date: 6/13/2008. Expired: 8/2/2008

The cast of 'A Chorus Line' at the Gaslight Dinner Theatre includes (left to right) B.J. Rowell, Steven Riggs, Karley Willocks, Greg Pragel, Emilee Furmanski, L.A. Pauza, Jennifer Stone, Bonnie Johnson, Bryan J. Wlas, Catherine Hammer, Tawny Frey, Valton Jackson, Nathan W. Brown, Stacie Riggs, Holland Taylor, Graham Keen, Alvaro Barned and Katherine Jett.

The stories of Broadway dancers who toil anonymously as members of the chorus became a smash hit musical when A Chorus Line kicked off its record-breaking 15-year run in 1975. The “singular sensation” comes to the Gaslight Dinner Theatre at The Renaissance Center in Dickson this summer for an extended run.

The Gaslight presents A Chorus Line June 26-Aug. 2. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays beginning with a buffet dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and include dinner, drink, dessert and the performance. Senior matinees for patrons 55 and over are Thursdays and Fridays beginning with a buffet lunch at 12 p.m. Tickets are $20 and include lunch, drink, dessert and the performance.

A Chorus Line does contain mature language and subject matter.

Set on a bare stage in New York, A Chorus Line tells the story of a group of Broadway dancers, known in the business as gypsies, who are auditioning for parts in an upcoming show. The director listens as each of the dancers reveals portions of his or her life through song and dance and slowly narrows the field to his final selection of eight dancers.

“The beauty of A Chorus Line is that it allows the audience to get to know the characters as individuals, when the members of the chorus in big musicals usually work the hardest outside the glare of the spotlight,” said Pacer Harp, artistic director for The Renaissance Center and director of A Chorus Line. “We see the hopes and dreams of newcomers and the jaded desperation of veteran gypsies as each dancer tells his story. Then, after getting to know them, they again become indistinguishable parts of the overall production in one of the greatest show-ending numbers in Broadway history.”

Written by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway in 1975 and closed in 1990 after 6,137 performances. In 1983 it became the longest-running musical in Broadway history, but now ranks fourth on that list behind The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Les Miserables.

A Chorus Line received 12 Tony Award nominations, winning nine, including Best Musical and Best Score, as well as winning the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, one of a few musicals to be so honored.

A revival opened in New York in 2006 and is still running.

The show spawned a 1985 movie version directed by Richard Attenborough and featured Michael Douglas as Zach, the director. The dancers included Audrey Landers, who had been starring on television in Dallas, Nicole Fosse, daughter of legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, and Alyson Reed, now featured as Ms. Darbus in Disney’s smash High School Musical series.

“Large-cast musicals full of dancing have become extremely popular in the Gaslight Dinner Theatre,” Harp said. “We kicked it off with Anything Goes in 2006 just to see if we could make big shows with huge dance numbers work inside our intimate theatre. It was such a hit we followed with Chicago the next year and opened 2008 with My Fair Lady. We are excited that we can continue that trend by presenting some of the greatest dancing ever to hit Broadway in a show all about dancing on Broadway.”

The Gaslight Dinner Theatre’s cast of A Chorus Line includes 22 dancers trying to catch the eye of Zach, the director (B.J. Rowell, previously seen in My Fair Lady and Chicago). The dancers include veteran members of the Renaissance Repertory Theatre Company as well as several newcomers to The Renaissance Center.

Returning from previous productions are Bryan J. Wlas (My Fair Lady, Smoke on the Mountain, A Grand Night for Singing), Nathan W. Brown (My Fair Lady, Anything Goes, A Grand Night for Singing), Catherine Hammer (My Fair Lady), Tawny Frey (My Fair Lady, The Dining Room, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), Stacie Riggs (Chicago), Holland Taylor (My Fair Lady), Alvaro Barned (Chicago), Katherine Jett (Run for Your Wife, Chicago, Lend Me a Tenor), Bret Churchill (Chicago, My Fair Lady) and Emma Jordan (My Fair Lady).

Making their Gaslight Dinner Theatre debuts are Steven Riggs, Karley Willocks, Greg Pragel, Emilee Furmanski, L.A. Pauza, Jennifer Stone, Bonnie Johnson, Valton Jackson, Graham Keen, Bryce Connor, Caitlin Teal Little and Faith Kelm.

For more information on the Gaslight Dinner Theatre production of A Chorus Line, call (615) 740-5600 or visit www.rcenter.org. To purchase tickets, call (615) 740-5601.

The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Theatre page for more about community and professional theatre.

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