By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 3 August (matinee) runs through 25 August 2024 and then tours

It’s the part of Cassie – the leading actress seeking a part in the titular chorus line from director Zach who she has previously been in a relationship – that we think is pivotal to this show’s success.

• Read on for reasons including where to see this production as it tours the country after this London run

It’s here played by Carly Mercedes Dyer (pictured above) who we last saw knock it out of the park in a supporting role in Anything Goes at the Barbican but we didn’t feel she was quite so convincing here.

Dyer sings and acts brilliantly but we didn’t feel quite so enchanted by her dancing and it’s the ability to successfully audition individually for a role which requires the recipient to work as a team with those in the chorus line to provide support to a show’s stars which is the point of this work.

You join us in a Broadway theatre in New York in 1975 and the emphasis is very much on a realistic production in a rehearsal room where we can see a prominent water cooler and waste paper basket.

We’ve seen this show twice previously in the last decade for faithful productions in 2013 at the Palladium in London’s West End starring John Partridge, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Leigh Zimmerman and a 2022 Barcelona production directed by Antonio Banderas.

What is different here in this classic with music by Marvin Hamlisch is that the part of Zach, played by an understated Adam Cooper in this production, is more on stage rather than barking into a microphone unseen at the back of the auditorium than is usual.

A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the motivations of those auditioning as they describe their decisions to become dancers and we particularly enjoyed the withering humour of the ageing Sheila, given real spark by Amy Thornton, and the irrepressible enthusiasm of Mike played by Redmand Rance.

Jocasta Almgill (Rent, Hope Mill Theatre) leads the cast brilliantly for the 11pm number What I Did For Love but it is the showstopper One as the troupe don their performance outfits for the musical’s most memorable number that still dominates.

The wide stage of this historic venue makes for a memorable host for that literal showstopping number but this wasn’t quite the definitive production of this classic musical that we were hoping for.

We also weren’t quite so keen on the use of handheld camera here to give different views of the dancers as they tell their stories which is a trick that has become so overused in current theatre that its deployment needs to now be restricted to when it really only serves the plot.

This enjoyable if flawed production runs here through 25 August 2024 before travelling to Norwich, Canterbury, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and High Wycombe.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Marc Brenner via Sadler’s Wells Theatre Tickets
• Have you seen A Chorus Line before and what did you think of this show? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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