The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line - Hardcover

Stevens, Gary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557832218 ISBN 13: 9781557832214

Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2000

Synopsis

(Applause Books). "A grand performance ... a first rate read." Digby Diehl, Good Morning America "The nostalgia book of the year ... it's hard to see how anything could be so comprehensive." Cleveland Plain Dealer "The most wonderful gift book for a musical fan!" Kathie Lee Gifford, Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee

About this title

From Library Journal

Apart from several tables of production data and over 300 photographs, The Longest Line consists mainly of interview snippets with several dozen of the cast members and production staff of A Chorus Line, Broadway's longest running musical. The book is arranged in chapters on various topics such as casting, designing, selling, and marketing the show. Except for a page of notes and a glossary, there is no context or synthesis provided by the book's compilers, who have seen the show over 100 times between them. There are no direct quotations from the show's conceiver and choreographer Michael Bennett (who died in 1987), its composer (Marvin Hamlisch), or one of its lead performers (Donna McKechnie, Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical); thus the book is weak on the show's creative aspects. Nevertheless, buried inside the trivia and the petty gripes of many of the interviewees are valuable nuggets of information and an enlightening overall impression, which theater scholars may find useful. For that reason, libraries supporting advanced research in American theater, as well as public libraries with fanatic client interest, should purchase. Libraries already holding Ken Mandelbaum's superior A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett (LJ 6/15/89. o.p.) can pass on this one.?Rob Melton, Univ. of Kansas Libs., Lawrence
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

From its opening in 1975 until the final curtain call in 1990, the musical A Chorus Line stirred audiences with its stories of aspiring Broadway dancers. This oral history combines 300 photographs (eight pages in color), memorabilia and reminiscences by 125 cast and crew members, including costume and lighting designers, musicians, press agents, understudies and stage managers. They discuss seemingly every angle?how the show affected their lives and careers, the changes in interpretation that occurred over the years, heated firings, the casting process, road tours, production problems, even drug use among cast members. Neil Simon tells how he wrote "maybe 25 or so new lines" at director Michael Bennett's request, which Bennett reportedly adapted or inserted into the original script by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. All serious fans of the show will want this delightful reprise of the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1557832218
• ISBN 13: 9781557832214
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258