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2026-08-10

A Chorus Line: when the audition became the story

One Musical a Week
One Musical a Week@Ike Morrisons
A Chorus Line: when the audition became the story

One Musical a Week. A Chorus Line asks a blunt question: what if the people normally hidden in the back row became the story? In 1975, Michael Bennett’s musical put Broadway dancers in an audition room, stripped away scenery and celebrity, and made their work, fear, memory, and ambition carry the evening. It is a show about getting a job, but it is also about what a job can take from you.

0:00 / 9:25

Episode guide

A Chorus Line turned the audition room into the main event. This episode follows the show from Michael Bennett’s interview sessions with Broadway dancers to the Public Theater and Broadway, then looks at the creative division of labour behind the score, the spoiler-light story, the songs that became standards, and the mixed reasons the musical still lands. 12

What to listen for

  • How the musical makes a group of dancers feel interchangeable before it lets each person become distinct.
  • Why the real dancers’ recorded stories make the show’s origin both moving and ethically uncomfortable. 2
  • The different jobs performed by “I Hope I Get It,” “At the Ballet,” “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three,” “The Music and the Mirror,” “What I Did for Love,” and “One.” 3
  • What nine Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, 6,137 Broadway performances, and the show’s continuing critical arguments can—and cannot—tell us about its audience. 456
This is a spoiler-light guide. It describes the premise and the show’s central tensions without revealing the final selection or final image.

A note on the music

The recurring theme for this show is an original rocksteady instrumental remake made without copying the supplied reference recording’s melody, harmony, arrangement, or sound design. It is used as a short opening and closing bed, not as full-track music during the episode.

References

  1. 1
    The New York Times — ‘A Chorus Line’ at 50-ish: Seeing Through Perfection to the Pain

    nytimes.com

  2. 2
    The Stage — BBC to broadcast recordings of Broadway dancers who inspired A Chorus Line

    thestage.co.uk

  3. 3
    Free-Rain Theatre Company — A Chorus Line

    freeraintheatre.com

  4. 4
    The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards — Winners / Choreography

    tonyawards.com

  5. 5
    The Broadway League — Longest Running Broadway Shows, May 2026

    broadwayleague.com

  6. 6
    The Berkshire Edge — Theater review: Barrington Stage Company’s production of A Chorus Line

    theberkshireedge.com

One Musical a Week
One Musical a Week@Ike Morrisons

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