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Post by mattnyc on Aug 27, 2023 22:47:51 GMT
2025 will be 17 years since the last revival closed. I don’t think people are going to be turned off by the original staging which is still one of the most brilliant things to have ever been on Broadway. Plus I can’t imagine them saying “To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking musical, here’s a new take on it”.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 27, 2023 23:35:04 GMT
Given the simplicity of the concept for the show, there isn't much you can do short of overcomplicating everything for the sake of being 'new'
Sure you can change up the choreo. The cast would almost certainly be more representative of contemporary Broadway casting.
But it is still a show set in an empty theatre space with a big final transformation at the end.
I am sure, however, that there will be someone who thinks that by adding in some live video work or some such hack that they can improve it.
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Post by mattnyc on Aug 27, 2023 23:41:18 GMT
I mean this is one show I pray Ivo never touches lol
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Post by SuttonPeron on Aug 28, 2023 0:00:18 GMT
This show needs to stay as it is, full stop. It´s a museum piece that´s worked phenomenally for fifty years, that certainly wouldn´t need any "reimagining". Stories don´t need to be set in modern times for them to be relevant. Quite the contrary if you ask me.
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Post by viserys on Aug 28, 2023 8:07:49 GMT
I think it would be quite fascinating (as an experiment) to do an updated version that reflects contemporary problems for the dancers, whether it's (mental) health issues, racism/discrimination or social media stuff - not sure if this is still a thing, but I remember that some years ago, performers were sometimes excplicitly chosen because they had a huge social media following in the hope this would serve as marketing for the show, but maybe producers have by now realized that this can also backfire. There's also regular upheaval around disappointed fans turning against "their" faves on social media for some perceived misdeed or other.
So I think it would be nice to hear fresh stories - but I realize that this would be a fully different show then. If the original is staged, it should be staged "as is" and not be tinkered with. I do wonder though if people would still be willing to pay full Broadway whack for a show set on an empty stage these days.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2023 9:13:21 GMT
I mean this is one show I pray Ivo never touches lol
Agree 100%, but now I would at least like to hear him opine on what his production might look like as you've got me thinking.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 28, 2023 9:23:24 GMT
I think it would be quite fascinating (as an experiment) to do an updated version that reflects contemporary problems for the dancers, whether it's (mental) health issues, racism/discrimination or social media stuff - not sure if this is still a thing, but I remember that some years ago, performers were sometimes excplicitly chosen because they had a huge social media following in the hope this would serve as marketing for the show, but maybe producers have by now realized that this can also backfire. There's also regular upheaval around disappointed fans turning against "their" faves on social media for some perceived misdeed or other. So I think it would be nice to hear fresh stories - but I realize that this would be a fully different show then. If the original is staged, it should be staged "as is" and not be tinkered with. I do wonder though if people would still be willing to pay full Broadway whack for a show set on an empty stage these days. That sort of reworking should never be performed as A Chorus Line. It could be Another Chorus Line or A New Chorus Line. But it always angers me when radical reworkings are sold under the same title as the original. And Broadway audiences have seen bare bones productions in recent years. Mr J Lloyd isn't one for sets and his productions have sold.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 28, 2023 9:30:24 GMT
Curve reworked it. It didn’t work.
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Post by woobl on Aug 28, 2023 11:12:49 GMT
There's only Baayork Lee holding the flame to the original production now - with Bob Avian's passing a few years ago she's the only one that's allowed to recreate Michael Bennett's choreography, at least in a 1st class replica production.
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Post by Jon on Aug 28, 2023 11:17:06 GMT
Theatre isn't a museum where things have to be in deep freeze forever so reinventing A Chorus Line wouldn't be a bad thing.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 28, 2023 11:36:19 GMT
But what do you mean by reinventing?
It is what it is. A snapshot 0f Broadway at a certain point in history based on verbatim accounts from real people.
Sure, the aesthetic can be tweaked. The choreo changed. Reorchestration, of course.
But that doesn't change the fundamentals of the piece.
What sort of reinvention are you after?
What benefit would that have over something that just honours the script and the score?
No one has argued that you only have to present it by recreating the original production. New productions are possible and desirable.
But how far does reinvention go before it ceases to be what the authors created?
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Post by mistressjojo on Aug 28, 2023 11:43:16 GMT
Theatre isn't a museum where things have to be in deep freeze forever so reinventing A Chorus Line wouldn't be a bad thing. We had a new production last year in Sydney . It was a limited run but completely sold out, despite being postponed twice due to Covid. So the audience is there for the show, in whatever form it takes. www.darlinghursttheatre.com/achorusline
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Post by woobl on Aug 28, 2023 15:44:59 GMT
Whatever the case, a revival would do well I think. The 2006 revival recouped in only 19 weeks. Chorus Line barely has a set and few costumes so it isn't insanely expensive to run weekly. A short run to celebrate "50 years" Shame the same couldn't be said for the 2013 London revival...
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