Canceled twice, company finally brings huge Broadway hit to Modesto’s Gallo Center
After having to cancel the show twice, a Modesto theater company finally gets its chance to present “A Chorus Line.”
Modesto Performing Arts offers the hit Broadway show June 18-26 at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
“This show has literally been three years in the making,” MPA’s General Director Paul Tischer said in a press release. “It was originally scheduled for 2020. The show was fully cast, but just as we were starting rehearsals the COVID virus hit and everything had to be (canceled). So we rescheduled it for 2021, but that, too, had to be canceled. So now, fingers crossed, it is set for this June 2022.”
“A Chorus Line” opened on Broadway in 1975 and became the longest-running musical at that time, according to the press release. Originally choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett, the “show is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre – the chorus dancers.”
In the show, dancers go through the “final, grueling audition for a new Broadway musical,” the release said. “It’s also a celebration of the American musical itself, our country’s unique gift to the world.”
Tischer directs the production, with music direction by Marie Maxfield and choreography by Rene Daveluy, artistic director for Modesto’s Central West Ballet.
Daveluy also performs the role of Zach, the choreographer auditioning the dancers.
Among the show’s songs are “What I Did For Love,” “At The Ballet,” “The Music and the Mirror” and “Dance: Ten, Looks: Three.”
After the delays, some of the original actors cast by MPA no longer were able to perform, so additional auditions were held to fill those roles, Tischer said in the release.
“But the cast we now have is excellent. It is, however, probably one of the most difficult Broadway shows to rehearse and perform because of its lengthy and often complex music and dance numbers,” he said. “But I think the audiences will love it, as they have ever since it opened on Broadway in 1975.”
The show contains adult situations and language, and is not recommended for children, the release said.
“A Chorus Line” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. June 18, 24-25; 2 p.m. June 19 and 26. Tickets are $21-38 at www.galloarts.com.
“A Chorus Line” is about competition, according to the release, “the common denominator that grabs the audience and holds (its) collective heartstring until the final ultimate choices are made.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
