A Chorus Line

0:00
Welcome to Synchronized Movie Trivia
A CHORUS LINE

0:40
Appropriate use of the 'Broadway' font, I would think.

1:10
The 'Golden' theater 252 West 45th Street
In 1980 the Golden hosted the small musical
'A Day in Hollywood and a Night in the Ukraine'
Priscilla Lopez wins her first Tony in that show.
Priscilla Lopez is A Chorus Line's original 'Diana Morales'
You'll meet Morales in a moment.

1:40
Interior: the Mark Hellinger Theatre
237 West 51st Street (not very close to the Golden)
In 1956, this stage saw the original production of 'My Fair Lady'
And with it, the discovery of Julie Andrews
In 1991 this theater was converted into a church
A move Broadway lovers consider sacrilegious

2:40
The Manhattan Bridge – completed 1909
This taxi is coming from either JFK or La Guardia airport.
On its way to midtown theater district.
The driver would have taken the mid-town tunnel.
But that wouldn't have looked as nice on film, would it?

4:00
This is an old styled 'Checkered Cab'
Made famous from the TV series 'Taxi'
Only 2 Checkered Cabs are in use in Manhattan today
As you can see, it’s the only cab of its kind on the street

6:10
Watch for the guy that says 'I've never been cut this soon.'
Don't worry, he'll have another chance.
Most of these extras will change costume and be 'cut' 2 or 3 times

6:30
Keep in mind they just learned this entire routine in one shot.
Welcome to Broadway kids.

9:00
Take a look at the guy about to sit down in the red and black.
Same guy that said 'I've never been cut this soon.'
See, told ya he'd have another try.
(He still gets cut again though.)

9:50
Terrence Mann (Larry the Director's Asst) a true Broadway star
The original Rum Tum Tugger in Broadway's "Cats"
The original Beast in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast"
The original Javert in Broadway's "Les Miserables"
The original Chauvelin in Broadway's "The Scarlet Pimpernel"

13:30
Cassie gets out of the cab on 44th street and is running south
Neither the Golden nor the Mark Hellinger theaters are in this direction
This girl is REALLY gonna be late.

13:45
Hmmm.. now she's entering the stage door of the Imperial theater.

16:11
OUCH!

16:15
Which theater would that be?

16:17
OUCH!

17:00
The LONG way.. then the WRONG way.

17:20
Michael Bennett, the choreographer and director of the Broadway show,
was involved with the film production in the beginning,
he left because producers would not give him more creative control
He advised not to put the film's main focus on Zack and Cassie

18:00
The original Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theater
July 25, 1975
It won the 1976 Tony Award for the Best Musical
The Tony Award for Best Book
And the Tony Award for Best Score
The show ran for 6,137 performances, setting a record
That record was later broken by "Cats", which ran for 7,485 performances

24:50
Pam Klinger (Maggie) and the next guy Charles McGowan (Mike)
They met during this production, became a couple and eventually married

25:35
Justin Ross (Greg) also played Greg on Broadway

26:00
Vicki Frederick (Sheila Bryant) actually played Cassie on Broadway

26:50
Michelle Johnston ('BeBe' Benson)
She played the head choreographer (Gay) in the 1995 film 'Showgirls'
She was also a featured dancer in the films:
The In Crowd (1988), Dick Tracy (1990) and Chicago (2002)
She has since choreographed over eleven television shows and movies

27:00
Janet Jones (Judy Monroe)
Married Wayne Gretzgy in July 1988
They have five children

27:35
Tony Fields (Alan Deluca) was also one of the Solid Gold Dancers
He was also in Michael Jackson's Music Video 'Beat It'
[He died of cancer in 1995]

27:50
Nicole Fosse (Kristine) is the daughter of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon

28:15
Audrey Landers (Val) left a successful role on 'Dallas' to be in this film

28:58
OOOFF!!!
A typical answer from a starry-eyed kid that hasn't been in NYC long
Always brings groans from everyone in the room

32:38
A Chorus Line won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1976
Only six musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize in drama
One per decade from the 1930s to the 1990s

33:08
Alyson Reed (Cassie) is the drama teacher in the 'High School Musical' movies

34:35
Charles McGowan also appeared in the 1982 film 'Grease 2'
He had two close-up's in the 'Let's Bowl' dance sequence
And a singing line in 'Reproduction'

36:50
Unneeded Flashback Sequence
With HIDEOUS hair extensions


Both Matt West (Bobby) and Alyson Reed (Cassie) had worked together before
They were members of 'The Kids of the Kingdom' at Disneyland
Matt later choreographed the Broadway production of 'Beauty & the Beast'
Which coincidentally starred Terrence Mann (Larry)

43:30
The stage production was a smash hit
Universal Pictures held an option on the film rights for five years
But put the project in turn-around
They failed to come up with a workable idea to adapt it to film

45:00
Michael Bennet (the original creator, choreographer, director)
Wanted the show to run and run and never close
Before his death, he planned to stage it at 890
There it was to run and run for ever

49:50
Terrence Mann (Larry) later married dancer Charlotte d'Amboise
Charlotte played Cassie in the 2006 Broadway revival of 'A Chorus Line'

50:20
8 shows a week
6 evening shows - Tuesday through Sunday
2 matinees – Wednesday & Sunday
So the best night to party with
Which is why most charity events in NYC are on Monday night
All the performers and stars are free that night

52:53
A Chorus Line was one of the first shows to openly discuss homosexuality

53:30
But in 1985, this brief reference was as much time the film gave the subject

54:10
President Bill Clinton, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton went to the Broadway show
That same night lighting board broke down
The crew patched it with paper clips, scotch tape and chewing gum

54:40
In an early draft of the show there was a number called 'Confidence'
Sung by Connie (Asian girl) and Richie (Black guy)
It focused on the rivalry between the two ethnicities
The song was taken out as it was considered to be too 'musical comedy'

55:50
The show ran for years on Broadway
Any time that the crew thought the actors on stage were getting sloppy, They would spray Michael Bennet's cologne backstage
They would also stick a baseball cap on the stage manager
Like the one Michael wore
As soon as the cast smelt the cologne and possibly glimpse the cap
They assumed Michael was there watching,
The show immediately became ten times as good as it had been a minute before

59:20
Empty Broadway theaters do not have cluttered prop rooms
Once a show is over, everything is cleaned out to make room for the next show

59:50
Another useless flashback
Another shot of the horrid hair extensions

1:02:40
This song is a true story
It is based on the experience of Priscilla Lopez, the original 'Morales'

1:06:50
Audrey Landers (Val) can sing and act, but can't dance
During auditions, it was obvious she would be perfect for Val
But even she acknowledged her lack of formal dance training
They worked around the problem by only filming Landers dancing close up
She is not in 'I Hope I Get It' or parts of 'Surprise, Surprise' and 'One'

1:08:27
Obviously NOT Audrey..

1:08:45
Here comes your song Nikita, pay attention

1:09:46
This song 'Dance 10, Looks 3' was originally called 'Tits and Ass'
But the audience saw the name in their programs and there was no surprise
The night they changed the title, the number received extended applause
The logic was that if it were a surprise during the show, it would get a better audience reaction.

1:12:00
During one performance on Broadway, Zach called to Paul off script
'I would like you to turn to the left and lead the line off stage immediately.'
'Do not ask me any questions.'
'Just follow Paul and walk immediately out of the stage door.'
The cast did as he said and hung around in the alley behind the theatre There had been a bomb threat and the entire theater had to be cleared
It was half an hour before the show could continue

1:45:00
Paul's bag is still in the middle of the stage.
Diana ran it out to him in the taxi.
Watch.. Diana even looks at it.. LOL
What do you think she was thinking.. LOL

1:48:00
Originally in the Broadway play, Cassie didn't get the job.
After a few performances they changed it.
Since then always got a standing ovation.

1:50:00
Originally, the Finale was going to be danced in red costumes.
Theoni Aldredge told Michael Bennet that red 'would be a big fiasco'.

1:52:50
Look closely.
Watch the lower right hand corner of the screen.
While doing high-kicks one dancer falls and then gets up again.

1:53:25
OK. Look. Second row, third from the right.

1:53:30
BOOM!!! OUCH!!! Poor thing.