A Chorus Line

REVIEW: Windmill Theatre’s Production of “A Chorus Line”
-music by Marvin Hamlisch
The Bridge Theatre, Northbridge, Perth WA

Director/ Choreographer: Vanessa Harding
Producer: Joe McCabe
Vocal Coach: Phillip Shields

For some reason, while watching this production of “A Chorus Line”, my mind wandered back to the good old movie where a very young Michael Douglas played
the director, Zach. I donÂ’t usually like to refer to filmic versions of musicals when
I write my reviews, but I must say that I found the film rather a bore. This was not due so much to the music as I thought that Hamlisch wrote some rather memorable, comical tunes which stuck in my head a day or two. It is rather the whole plotline about a group of Broadway dancing hopefuls auditioning for a role in chorus, and they must pour out
their whole lives, miseries and all in front of an at times ruthless director, although I thought Douglas played the role boldly and with the right personality for the character.

Getting back to the point, I was always worried that the musical was going to be as painful as the movie experience and the worst part is you canÂ’t forward a live theatre performance with a remote control as you can a video. The theatrical production however strays somewhat from the film, they are of course two different genres, but I definitely think that theatre does more justice and I was impressed by this production.

LetÂ’s begin! Here are my major points about the show:

* One of the first things I noticed about this production was that it had quite a young cast which I found interesting. Perhaps the younger, the more energetic? This musical must have physically drained the life out of the cast with all the dancing and moving about. Heck I got tired watching! It was evident at the end, that the cast was tired which makes more realistic for the showÂ’s story.
* Wonderful choreography for an amateur production and the cast did an excellent job with the dancing. I was impressed by how the choreography managed to keep in line with such consistency and hardly any slip-ups. Well-done cast and Vanessa Harding for the direction and choreography.
* As I said in my review for Stirling PlayerÂ’s Oliver, I am not a fan of backing tapes as I feel it really does restrict the vocalist from making the music their own. You can often see the discomfort of a performer using a backing tape because instead of truly being accompanied, they look to be accompanying the backing tape! I guess in a show like this there does need to be consideration of the consistency of music required to accompany the choreography. All in all I still donÂ’t like the idea of pre-recorded music but sometimes it just canÂ’t be helped.
* There are some belty vocal numbers in this musical and I felt a lot of times that vocalists got to a certain point and lost control. I though pontential was there but this all comes down to better vocal coaching, which IÂ’m not saying was bad but could have been better.
* I was very impressed by the vocal quality of the chorus as a whole and some individual vocalists and I often wondered if some students from WAAPA were involved. Within the chorus, there was energy and enthusiasm required for numbers in this show, I thought particularly in the opening number “I Hope I Get It”
*American accents were generally done well, however there are so many different American accents that audience members can get confused when watching a foreign cast trying to put them on. You have got thick Texan accents that run to the more casual New Yorker style but as they say- you either got it or you donÂ’t. Some people really mixed accents which was very distracting and some found it so hard that you could often hear the Australian accent over the played ones. ItÂ’s hard not to notice accents in a piece of theatre like this. Generally well done though, you are talking in it for a couple of hours so
that is impressive enough.
* Some wonderful acting in this production, there are often moments when the characters are revealing themselves where the atmosphere can get quite intense. I thought that some of the performers really did live up to these roles. They are still so young and really still growing as performers yet they showed true professionalism and depth in character.

Now I would like to talk about some individual performers/characters within the show, those that I can remember- sorry I am pushed for time and it was a very long day and the fact that there are quite a few major characters!

ZACH – played by Lee Perry

For a large part of the musical, you can just hear the voice but you can still tell a lot
through it. In my opinion, this character is not ruthless in a human way but rather ruthless in a ‘director’ way. This is a difference which I will not illustrate but generally say that anyone who has been in a situation where a theatrical director has put them under the hammer, may understand. I think this character is at times both ruthless in a director under pressure way, which is how he is going to squeeze out the life and histories of the auditioning characters. I also think he is a honest and genuine character who is also obviously intuitive about people. Lee Perry captures this. I liked his interaction in the scene where Paul reveals his sexuality. I thought he reacted realistically and in a away that showed his somewhat caring side. I also thought great interaction with the character of Cassie and speaking of their past love affair. Lee Perry does what he can
to portray a character who obviously does not want to let his feelings be seen.


AL – played by Daniel Marsh

I thought this part was played well. I envisioned this character to be youngish, an almost
‘Fonzy’ from Happy Days wit. Daniel had a very good accent for the role, I think I picked up a causal Rhode Island style. I appreciated the interaction between Al and his on stage wife Kristine- it was was an adorable relationship. I enjoyed “Sing!”. It was one of the most entertaining numbers in this production, was very humorous and done brilliantly.

CASSIE – played by Vanessa Harding

By the way, nice direction and choreography Vanessa. You are the director right ? As there canÂ’t be two people called Vanessa Harding? I thought the acting was fine and she really felt for and suited the character of Cassie. I could really imagine intense feelings between this character and that of Zach throughout her performance. Dancing was beautiful and acting great. Not so strong in some of the vocal numbers which is a shame but I think this role was played well. You did a brilliant job with this show Vanessa.

CONNIE – played by Pia Meehan

I adore her catchphrase, “Always Wong – never White” (I think it is) This is an interesting character which although has a minimal role compared to some of the other characters, is like an comical offsider who tends to break any intense moments. Pia was very humorous when handling the ‘bosom’ moments.

DIANA – played by Avril Robertson

Generally played quite well but I think that there could have been more depth to the character. She is an important character with having two important, renown songs within the show, “Nothing” and “What I did for Love”. Avril has a big chest voice but she appeared to push too much sometimes and went slightly out of tune when belting in the higher register. I wanted to see more body language and expression than the hands on hips and roll of the eyes. I think there is more to Morales, sure she is a tough character but also has a lot of heart. Acting was a little rushed. Generally well done though.

DON – played by Stuart Laing

A good dancer. Even though there was quite a minimal amount of dialogue, what was portrayed was good with a nice accent and a strong voice. Good work.

JUDY – played by Jennifer Hayward

Quite a funny, ditzy character. Also a good comical offsider, particularly in the opening sequence when people numbers were being called out.

KRISTINE – played by Georgina Williams

I have already expressed that I adored the number “Sing!” with Kristine and Al. I thought that there was excellent interaction, it was very amusing. These two performers worked extremely well together. I actually believed they were a couple and they played very much like the characters in the film, which I think is good. Cute character!



MAGGIE – played by Sherry-Ann Hayes

A beautiful voice. More classically sounding at times but definitely outstanding.


MARK – played by Russell Pirie

A very funny performer. I remember seeing him as Thernadier in The Rockingham Production of Les Miserables. I thought he played the role very well and I found
the number “Hello Twelve” to be humorous and entertaining, Good use of voice and body language. Very suited to this role. Great work

MIKE – played by Chris Dodson

A great voice! As displayed in the number “ I Can Do That”. I can see a lot of potential in this young performer. He played the role very confidently and was very suited to the role.
Great movement and voice combined – excellent work! A well portrayed character with an attractive voice.

PAUL – played by Anthony Boladderos

I thought this was a very good character portrayal. I especially took interest in his scene
when spilling out his sexuality to Zach. He played the scene very boldly and it was really quite effective and I do not expect that it would be an easy scene to perform with all the intense emotions being portrayed. He captured the character well and gave a pull of the heartstrings. Great work.

SHEILA – played by Krystal MacMillan

I thought she portrayed this character very well and was very much like the Sheila in the film, which is an interpretation I liked. There is a mature type of sarcasm in this character and she is slightly cynical at times, in a humorous way. I think this is a character who is weary of the ways of the world as perhaps can be gathered from her mature age compared to maybe some of the other characters who seem so young and fresh compared to her. This can also be gathered by her attitude. Although we have a young actress here playing her, the characteristics of Sheila still came across strongly. Her vocal quality in some of the musical numbers was not as strong as her dramatic performance. I felt that more projection, tune and expression was required but she certainly became the character above all this. Wonderful work!

VAL – played by Claire Hopper

Another performer in the show with a brilliant voice! So young and with so much potential. She suited the character well vocally, dramatically, physically. There was lots of energy I thought was required for a part like this. Well cast. A nice though crude at times number in “Dance, Ten; Looks, Three” . It was very humorous and entertaining.
Well done!


I apologize for not being able to review each and every character. I generally thought the show was well cast and had a great chorus. I will now look at a couple of the numbers in the show:

“ I Hope I Get It”

This is the kind of opening number that gets stuck in my head and I thought that the chorus as a whole performed it well. There was energy and enthusiasm which is supposed to radiate from the characters, as not only is it the beginning of the show for the performers, it is for the characters the beginning of the audition process and they are bursting with energy. Sound of the chorus was quite full and energetic! Brilliant number!

“ I Can Do That”

I have already mentioned that I thought Chris has great voice. This number was vocally and dramatically impressive and entertaining. Movement matched these qualities and made it successful. I think this number suits being one of the opening numbers because it is quite energetic.

‘At the Ballet”

The ladies generally did a good job but I found that often, some of the vocalists lost pitch and timing with each other. I think timing is very important to make this number a success otherwise it can sound quite dreadful, which is a shame. I think in a number like this, it is not possible for dramatics to override the music as it is possible for some musical numbers to have drama substitute for a weak vocals. Yes, the girls are at times expressing in one voice- their lives and we should take their stories into consideration but what I also look at are the harmonies in the music and whether or not they are pleasant. I felt this piece required more work on the timing.

“ Sing!”

A very entertaining piece! Not exactly tuneful but humorous and a break from the dramatic aspects of the show. Daniel and Georgina were both very suited to the roles and
worked well together which made this successful and in my opinion, one of the most memorable numbers.

“ Hello Twelve”

Another memorable number, witty, funny and darn entertaining. I thought that Russell did a wonderful job in taking this number to itÂ’s full potential, engaging the audience quite well with his story on the antics involved in growing up. This number was expressed and projected well.



“Nothing”

The projection for this number was good but I felt that there could have been more expression and body language used although Avril did have a nice, big chest voice. IÂ’d also actually prefer for Morales to produce all the dialogue herself rather than get Don to provide some in the number because I really think it adds to her personality. Morales is a very honest character, not afraid to speak her mind. Her dreams have been tipped out repeatedly by Carpe and I really wanted to see how she would impersonate him. I thought that Avril needed to give more depth to this song because it is really is an acting and singing piece.

“Dance, Ten; Looks, Three”

Very good vocally and dramatically. Body language was well presented and a great portrayal of the character. Val is the type of woman that every woman pains with envy about, as can be seen through SheilaÂ’s various reactions to her. She is young, energetic, good looking in a Marilyn Monroe way with the body of Jane Fonda and she is very confident about herself because she knows she is stunning. This piece is cheeky and
perfect for her. Claire performed it brilliantly.

“The Music and The Mirror”

Nice dramatics between Zach and Cassie. I thought the choreography in this number was absolutely beautiful. I thought although the character was portrayed well in terms of personality and emotion as well as movement, I felt that vocal ability was weak and there were times during the number where I could sense that more a belt was required. The music came to various climaxes which I think needed to be accompanied by a belty voice. Character generally played well, good interaction with Zach. You could see they used to be in a relationship. Good work

“Finale: One”

IÂ’m not sure whether it was intentional but in this number I noticed the vocalists sounded very tired. It was of course the end of a very exhaustive show so perhaps I am being a tad harsh. Generally a good closing number. Great costumes! Great work!



End note:

Well done to Vanessa Harding, the cast and everybody involved in Windmill Theatre for this brilliant production of “A Chorus Line”. I look forward to seeing and reviewing future shows. A big round of applause-very entertaining!


The Review Master