A Chorus Line
Brief Synopsis
A director forces dancers to reveal their inner torments during an audition.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Richard Attenborough
Director
Michael Douglas
Terrence Mann
Alyson Reed
Craig Innes
Jeffery Cornell
Film Details
Also Known As
Chorus Line, A
MPAA Rating
Genre
Musical
Adaptation
Drama
Music
Release Date
1985
Distribution Company
Sony Pictures Releasing
Location
New York City, New York, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 53m
Synopsis
A Broadway show director puts his singers and dancers through a gruelling audition process.
Director
Richard Attenborough
Director
Cast
Michael Douglas
Terrence Mann
Alyson Reed
Craig Innes
Jeffery Cornell
Scott Wise
Vicki Regan
Marsha Watkins
Alan Onickel
Scott Taylor
Cheryl Burr
Anne Connors
Cameron English
Niki Harris
Pat Mcnamara
John Deluca
D Michael Heath
Celia Marta
Andrew Kraus
Michael Blevins
Frank Mastrocola
Gregory Mitchell
Amy Danis
Charles Mcgowan
Bryant Baldwin
Daryl Richardson
Sonya Hensley
Blane Savage
Richard Defabees
Barbara Yeager
Jan Gan
Carol Baxter
Liz Mclennan
Tina Bellis
Melissa Randel
Mary Ellen Stuart
Debi A. Monahan
Lily Lee Wong
Laura Hartman
Gary Michael Davies
Janet Jones
Leslie Woodies
Dawn Herbert
Richard Pierlon
Melanie Winter
Khandi Alexander
Sharon Brown
David Askler
Joe Anthony Cavise
Frank Cruz
Faruma Williams
Christine Colby
Reed Jones
William Gabriner
Bambi Jordan
Alan Maguire
Scott Plank
Kim Darwin
Roxann Cabalero
Eric Aaron
Arleen Ng
Rhett Pyle
Kimry Smith
Justin Ross
Bob Kellet
Bubba Dean Rambo
Gloria Lynch
David Vernon
Evelyn Tosi
Brian Bullard
Christopher Todd
Ida Broughton
William Sutton
Timothy Scott
David Gibson
Cindy Lauren Jackson
Lynne Savage
Leora Ron
Tony Fields
Anna Bruno
Denise Faye
Brad Miskell
Sandra Gray
James Walski
Charles Murray
Reggie O'gwyn
Nicole Fosse
Pam Klinger
John Hammil
Elissa Rosati
Penny Fekany
Michelle Johnston
Monique Mannen
Angel Ferreira
Ty Stephens
Peggy Parten
Linda Von Germer
Cheryl Clark
Sergio Cal
Debbie Roche
Gregg Huffman
Ron Navarre
Bobby Walker
Helene Phillips
Lorena Palacios
Barbara Lavorato
Gwendolyn Miller
Jeanna Schweppe
Michael Scott Gregory
Edd Morgan
Audrey Landers
Michele Assaf
Yamil Borges
Robin Brown
Ann Louise Schaut
Kirby Tepper
Edmond Alan Forsyth
Leslie Cook
Robert Warners
Gregg Hannum
Darrell Greene
Mia Malm
Gregg Burge
Sammy Smith
Bob Morrisy
Mansoor Najeeullah
Nancy Melius
Jan Gan Boyd
Scott Fless
Leslie Stevens
George Russell
Keri Lee Pearsall
Vicki Frederick
Jodi Sperduto
Linda Cholodenko
Brett Larson
Lacy Phillips
Alexander Cole
Michael Rivera
Adrian Rosario
Jennifer Kent
Mark Ruhala
Michael Lafferty
Tia Riebling
Matt West
Linda Hess
Bill Bushnell
Patricia Ruck
Rickie Farrell
Michelle Rudy
Barbara Kovac
Anita Ehrler
Buddy Balou
Regina Hood
Wayde Laboissoniere
Karen Pruncziik
Peter Fitzgerald
Jack Lehnert
Alice Cox
Crew
Stuart Allen
Other
Toyce Anderson
Costume Consultant
Jonathan Bates
Sound Editor
Michael Bennett
Source Material
Arthur Bloom
Sound
John Bloom
Editor
Ralph Burns
Music Arranger
Joseph M Caracciolo
Associate Producer
Joseph M Caracciolo
Unit Production Manager
Al Cerullo
Helicopter Pilot
Bill Christians
Wardrobe Supervisor
Louis D'esposito
Assistant Director
Nicholas Dante
Source Material
John Dapper
Art Director
George Detitta Jr.
Set Decorator
Michael Discosimo
Other
Neil Fallon
Video Playback
Michael Farrow
Sound
Cy Feuer
Producer
Jed Feuer
Production Assistant
Robert Girolami
Assistant Director
Michael S Glick
Production Supervisor
Marvin Hamlisch
Song
Jeffrey Hornaday
Choreographer
Julie Hughes
Casting
Joseph Joubert
Music
James Kirkwood
Source Material
Edward Kleban
Theme Lyrics
Richard Kratina
Photography
Ernest Martin
Producer
Donald O Mitchell
Sound
Richard Morrison
Titles
Barry Moss
Casting
Chris Newman
Sound
Rick Nicholas
Audio
Jennifer Nichols
Wardrobe Supervisor
Peter Norman
Photography
Jane Paul
Production Assistant
Faye Poliakin
Costumes
Tom Priestley
Camera Operator
Jane Raab
Production Coordinator
Russ Regan
Music
Martin Rosenberg
On-Set Dresser
John Saffir
Production Assistant
Amy Sayres
Assistant Director
Arnold Schulman
Screenplay
James Skotchdopole
Assistant Director
Karen Sloe
Production Assistant
Gordon Stulberg
Executive Producer
Don Sweeney
Photography
Ron Taylor
Director Of Photography
Clayton Townsend
Location Manager
Michael Tronick
Music Editor
Patrizia Von Brandenstein
Production Designer
Allen Weisinger
Makeup
Robert E Wooten
Music
Film Details
Also Known As
Chorus Line, A
MPAA Rating
Genre
Musical
Adaptation
Drama
Music
Release Date
1985
Distribution Company
Sony Pictures Releasing
Location
New York City, New York, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 53m
Award Nominations
Best Editing
1985
John Bloom
Best Song
1985
Best Sound
1985
Articles
A Chorus Line -
Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures bought the rights for a film adaptation (at a cost of $5.5 million), and agreed to wait to make the film until five years after the Broadway production had completed its run. In preparation, Embassy teamed up with Columbia and brought on producer Cy Feuer, a Broadway director-turned-producer, responsible for Cabaret (1972). Getting a director was difficult. Several turned down the project and Feuer decided that he wanted an unknown, which made financing problematic. When Attenborough agreed to make the film, Hollywood wondered if a British director could understand an American play.
Attenborough's film had a screenplay by Arnold Schulman, based on Michael Bennett's original show concept and the book of the musical by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Schulman made one significant change from the play, in which the choreographer is never seen, only heard. For some, this represented a God figure. Schulman allowed the audience to actually see him, which author Marc Eliot believed "destroyed the show's mystical and metaphorical reach, where all its power lay; these kids were auditioning not just for the show of their lives but to show off their lives."
Michael Douglas called Zach "closer to a prick than what I usually play," but admitted he took the role "for the joy of it." Filming began in January 1985 at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City (with additional location work at the Helen Hayes Theater). Douglas was a hot property at the time he shot A Chorus Line , having just come off of a box office smash with Romancing the Stone (1984) and was doing double duty on this film while in preproduction for the sequel, Jewel of the Nile (1985). Rather than go home at night, Douglas preferred to remain in his office at the Hellinger where he could work on the Jewel shooting schedule.
Joining Douglas in A Chorus Line were Alyson Reed, Michael Blevins, Yamil Borges, Jan Gan Boyd, and Audrey Landers, best known for her role on Dallas . It was a film was plagued with problems, mostly Attenborough's inability to fully understand the dancer's characters. According to Eliot, Attenborough tried to flatter Douglas into helping him, but Douglas saw this as only an acting job; he had no intention of being an unofficial producer or co-director. He had his hands full.
Jewel of the Nile and A Chorus Line opened within days of each other in December 1985. Jewel did respectable box office, bringing in more than $95 million but A Chorus Line barely made $14 million. Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that it was "a fizzless adaptation by Richard Attenborough that misses the whole point of the Broadway show -- i.e. the dancing and the dancers. Instead, the dancers become a limp Greek chorus for the dead love affair between a choreographer, Zach (a pre-Gordon Gekko Michael Douglas) and his old flame, Cassie (Alyson Reed) the star dancer." Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times disagreed. He understood that Attenborough's film "may not please purists who want a film record of what they saw on stage, but this is one of the most intelligent and compelling movie musicals in a long time - and the most grown up, since it isn't limited, as so many contemporary musicals are, to the celebration of the survival qualities of geriatric actresses."
Actress Kelly Bishop, best known for her work on The Gilmore Girls won a Tony Award for her role of Shelia in the original Broadway production. She was one of those purists who were not pleased by the film. She complained of Attenborough's talk show jaunt, in which he called the film "a story about kids trying to break into show business." Bishop nearly tossed her television out the window in anger because in her opinion, Attenborough completely missed the point of the show. "It's about veteran dancers looking for one last job before it's too late for them to dance anymore, No wonder the film sucked."
By Lorraine LoBianco
SOURCES:
Ebert, Roger A Chorus Line Retrieved from www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-chorus-line-1985
Eliot, Marc Michael Douglas: A Biography
The Internet Movie Database
Life imitates art as cast members for A Chorus Line are chosen from open auditions Retrieved from https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1109/Life-imitates-art-as-cast-members-for-A-Chorus-Line-are-chosen-from-open-auditions.aspx
A Chorus Line -
When Richard Attenborough directed A Chorus Line (1985), starring Michael Douglas, he was taking on a legendary property. The story of dancers desperate to win spots in a chorus line began as a Broadway show that opened at the Shubert Theater on July 25, 1975. Directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, the play featured music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. It was a smash hit with audiences and critics, earning twelve Tony Award nominations and nine wins. The play ran for 6,137 performances, making it the longest-running Broadway show until Cats. It also won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures bought the rights for a film adaptation (at a cost of $5.5 million), and agreed to wait to make the film until five years after the Broadway production had completed its run. In preparation, Embassy teamed up with Columbia and brought on producer Cy Feuer, a Broadway director-turned-producer, responsible for Cabaret (1972). Getting a director was difficult. Several turned down the project and Feuer decided that he wanted an unknown, which made financing problematic. When Attenborough agreed to make the film, Hollywood wondered if a British director could understand an American play.
Attenborough's film had a screenplay by Arnold Schulman, based on Michael Bennett's original show concept and the book of the musical by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Schulman made one significant change from the play, in which the choreographer is never seen, only heard. For some, this represented a God figure. Schulman allowed the audience to actually see him, which author Marc Eliot believed "destroyed the show's mystical and metaphorical reach, where all its power lay; these kids were auditioning not just for the show of their lives but to show off their lives."
Michael Douglas called Zach "closer to a prick than what I usually play," but admitted he took the role "for the joy of it." Filming began in January 1985 at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City (with additional location work at the Helen Hayes Theater). Douglas was a hot property at the time he shot A Chorus Line , having just come off of a box office smash with Romancing the Stone (1984) and was doing double duty on this film while in preproduction for the sequel, Jewel of the Nile (1985). Rather than go home at night, Douglas preferred to remain in his office at the Hellinger where he could work on the Jewel shooting schedule.
Joining Douglas in A Chorus Line were Alyson Reed, Michael Blevins, Yamil Borges, Jan Gan Boyd, and Audrey Landers, best known for her role on Dallas . It was a film was plagued with problems, mostly Attenborough's inability to fully understand the dancer's characters. According to Eliot, Attenborough tried to flatter Douglas into helping him, but Douglas saw this as only an acting job; he had no intention of being an unofficial producer or co-director. He had his hands full.
Jewel of the Nile and A Chorus Line opened within days of each other in December 1985. Jewel did respectable box office, bringing in more than $95 million but A Chorus Line barely made $14 million. Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that it was "a fizzless adaptation by Richard Attenborough that misses the whole point of the Broadway show -- i.e. the dancing and the dancers. Instead, the dancers become a limp Greek chorus for the dead love affair between a choreographer, Zach (a pre-Gordon Gekko Michael Douglas) and his old flame, Cassie (Alyson Reed) the star dancer." Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times disagreed. He understood that Attenborough's film "may not please purists who want a film record of what they saw on stage, but this is one of the most intelligent and compelling movie musicals in a long time - and the most grown up, since it isn't limited, as so many contemporary musicals are, to the celebration of the survival qualities of geriatric actresses."
Actress Kelly Bishop, best known for her work on The Gilmore Girls won a Tony Award for her role of Shelia in the original Broadway production. She was one of those purists who were not pleased by the film. She complained of Attenborough's talk show jaunt, in which he called the film "a story about kids trying to break into show business." Bishop nearly tossed her television out the window in anger because in her opinion, Attenborough completely missed the point of the show. "It's about veteran dancers looking for one last job before it's too late for them to dance anymore, No wonder the film sucked."
By Lorraine LoBianco
SOURCES:
Ebert, Roger A Chorus Line Retrieved from www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-chorus-line-1985
Eliot, Marc Michael Douglas: A Biography
The Internet Movie Database
Life imitates art as cast members for A Chorus Line are chosen from open auditions Retrieved from https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1109/Life-imitates-art-as-cast-members-for-A-Chorus-Line-are-chosen-from-open-auditions.aspx
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter December 10, 1985
Released in USA on video.
Released in United States Winter December 10, 1985