A Chorus Line

I found a great find at Spin Street while I was there paying a small fortune for The Red Shoes and was able to pick up A Chorus Line for $4.99. I love bargain prices on DVDs, so I bought it to make 2 films to watch for the Invitation to the Dance movie blogathon.

I had never seen this film before, but I had seen the stage production and knew the story and the music. I hadn't remembered the line about the film The Red Shoes but thought it was a fun coincidence considering The Red Shoes was the last movie I saw and that was just last night. Actually, there was a lot of the movie I didn't remember from the theater production I saw, but I saw it on stage a long time ago.

The New York Times didn't like it. Roger Ebert says,

The result 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.

The closing scene:


TheatreMemphis did A Chorus Line in 1999, but I didn't see it there. You can't link to individual pages at their site (what a pain), but if you click on "Photos" at the top, then click on "1990" on the left, then click through to the 5th picture there's one shot of "A Chorus Line". I told you it was a pain.