Tom After all the advertising on TV, radio and the newspapers, Kate and I finally succumbed to consumerism and caught A Chorus Line @ Marina Bay Sands Theatre.
So is A Chorus Line worth it?
Well, we bought the Category 2 tickets at $128 each and were able to catch the entire show at a relatively good seating.
The catch in purchasing tickets at the musicals is to try as far as possible to buy tickets at the border of each category. That is to say, if you are purchasing the category 2 tickets, try to book early and get tickets that are at the first row of category 2 where the border transits from category 1 to category 2. So in that sense, you are purchasing (almost) a category 1 ticket at a category 2 ticket price. This goes for the rest of the categories as well.
The next thing is to determine the show that you want to catch, early on. Why? This is because shows at MBS (Marina Bay Sands) usually have an “early bird” ticket promotion at 15-20% discounts.
Well, savvy theatre/broadway/musical goers would already know that. So, Let’s get to the show proper!
About A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is really about the stories behind each dancer auditioning for the part of a chorus. A chorus, we believe, refers to the dancers that dance in harmony or synchronisation, in contrast to a solo dance (do correct us if we’re wrong!).
Dancers were eliminated from the beginning because of their inability to dance in synchronicity (dance in step) or simply cannot dance according to the requirements of the chorus line.
After the first round of elimination, the next part of the show focused on the stories behind each of the dancers and how they came to be what they are today – dancers. Some tell of stories of admiration for dancers, costumes. Others tell of heartbreaking stories of finding themselves, learning to dance and gaining acceptance/popularity. Still there was a particular dancer who had a relationship with the choreographer. She was identified by him to become a star dancer and she moved to Hollywood to pursue her career. However, she did not succeed and merely played some minor roles in shows and forgettable moments in advertisements. She then came to realise that she belonged to the chorus line and begged to be given a chance to be back in the chorus line.
So did she make it? Well, it’s up to you to find out!
Likes
Let’s talk about what we liked about the show
1. The tunes were catchy. If you can recall the chorus that the advertisements show? It resounds in your mind even after the show! This is because the tunes of A Chorus Line are really catchy and enjoyable.
2. Dance Choreography. Although we’re not dancers, we could see that alot of emphasis was placed into the dance choreography. Even the parts when the dancers were supposed to dance out-of-synch, they were planned such that the words of the choreographer matched the dance and brought laughter to the audience. When the chorus line came together proper, they were actually dancing VERY close to each other, the choreography must have been done and thought through with such precision that the dance was able to be seamlessly and beautifully executed.
3. Emphasis on the Storyline. Musicals usually play emphasis on the sounds, costumes and staging. But A Chorus Line is simplistic in those aspects. Instead, it places emphasis on developing the characters of the dancers who auditioned.
Dislikes
1. Not what we expected. As we left the theatre, a kid said to her parents ” I prefer Wicked and Lion King better”. Well, we sort of agreed with the girl. Not because we caught Lion King or Wicked (rich girl caught all 3 shows at MBS!) but because we expected a musical to be full of colours, props, staging, costumes and all. Our experience of watching Mary Poppins set the expectation for us.
2. Singing was so so. Compared to the musicals that we have seen, the singing in A Chorus Line was not that impactful. Although we did like the duet between the couple where the guy ended each line of the lady.
Verdict
Overall, A Chorus Line is a show worth watching. For those of us in the musical, theatre, production setting, you could definitely relate to the stories of the dancers. We even noticed people sitting next to us that were able to sing most of the tunes!
But, you do need to adjust your expectations. It is really more about the stories and less about the stage (performers only had 1 change of costume). Enjoy the dance choreography and listen carefully to the lyrics/words of the dancers as they depict the stories and characters that A Chorus Line wants to bring across to you.
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