A Chorus Line: The play inside a play
Actors perform Montague four, the dance seen in upcoming musical. Left to right: sophomore Amalia Alexander, freshman Matthew Bloss-Baum, freshman Emma Hart, junior Krissy Hornbuckle, and junior Kevin Hong. (Photo by Charlie Adams)
October 31, 2019
This year’s fall musical, A Chorus Line, is set on a stage, in a theater, with actors, directors, and auditions. Although it sounds like these are the raw ingredients to any play, this is exactly what sets A Chorus Line apart from anything Mason has seen before.
“It’s pretty meta because the set is the stage. In the show, the director is auditioning actors,” said senior Ciara Curtin, who plays Judie Turner one of many auditioners in the play.
A Chorus Line takes the audience through a sequence of intense and demanding auditions that involve detailed dance numbers, challenging vocal sections and emotional backstories.
“A lot of times you see a show and there are three leads and then the ensemble is in the background,” said Mr. Shawn Northrip, the George Mason director of A Chorus Line. “The chorus is about 19 people and all those 19 people equally and everyone has their story. Some are super funny and some are sad.”
The play celebrates the ensemble and shines a light on the intricacies and differences of these characters that make them human and make this play such a perfect mirror into our own world.
Senior Avery Collins, who plays the role of Zach the director, has worked his way to bigger parts starting with Chicago and last year’s performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Collins explained that he feels “a lot more stress,” this year, but that landing the larger role is also an honor.
Collins and many other Mason actors must learn numerous detailed dance steps that range across all sections of dance – which, according to Mr. Northrip, the audience should be looking forward to.
Curtin explained that this year’s musical is different from previous Mason productions “in the sense that the dance has to be incredibly sharp. A lot of our rehearsal time is just dancing… acting as the last priority.”
A Chorus Line is, to Mr. Northrip, the musical that made him want to be in theater. It will be showing the week before Thanksgiving on November 21, 22, and 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the George Mason Auditorium.
