A Chorus Line (film)

A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach (Michael Douglas). After the initial eliminations, sixteen hopefuls remain. Arriving late is former lead dancer Cassie (Alyson Reed) who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach but left him to take a job in Hollywood. Now she has not worked in over a year, and is desperate enough for work to even just be part of the chorus line. Zach informs them that he is looking for eight dancers consisting of four men and four women. He starts by having them go down the line to introduce themselves. When Cassie asks to speak with Zach alone, his secretary (Sharon Brown) escorts her out. She is stopped by Zach's choreographer, Larry (Terrence Mann), who convinces her to stay. Mike (Charles McGowan) explains that his mom used to take him along to his sister's dance lessons and eventually, he started taking the class himself. Next is Bobby (Matt West) who tells Zach about his obsession with interior design and his time in private school. Sheila (Vicki Frederick), Bebe (Michelle Johnston), and Maggie (Pam Klinger) recount their experiences with abusive fathers and their love for ballet. Next, Kristine (Nicole Fosse) and her husband Al (Tony Fields) tell Zach that Kristine cannot sing but is a wonderful dancer. Mark (Michael Blevins) tells the group about a gonorrhea scare that occurred when he was younger. Greg (Justin Ross) tells Zach when he found out he was homosexual. Richie (Gregg Burge) remembers his first sexual interaction in a graveyard. Meanwhile, Cassie has been sitting backstage waiting for a chance to speak with Zach and reminiscing over her days on Broadway.

Back on stage, Connie (Jan Gan Boyd) complains about how, her whole life, she remained 4'10". Diana (Yamil Borges) realizes that they went to the same high school and had the same drama teacher, Mr. Karp. Dianna tells Zach that, no matter what she did, Karp never saw her as a serious actress. Don (Blane Savage) tells everyone that he has a wife and two kids to support and that his day job is serving tables. Val (Audrey Landers) tells the group about her breast augmentation, in order to get work. Paul (Cameron English), begins to tell his story but stops when he remembers the death of his younger sister. Judy (Janet Jones) tells the group about how she shaved her bratty sister's head. Cassie enters the stage and Zach tells Larry to take all the dancers to a rehearsal room. Cassie pleads for a job but Zach tells her that she cannot fit into a line because of her previous experience as a star. In a second flashback, Zach sees a younger Cassie doing what she does best, dancing. Fed up with her presence, he sends her downstairs to learn the routine with everyone else. Paul re-enters the stage and asks Zach is he is disqualified from the audition. Paul tells him about how he grew up watching musicals on 42nd Street. He tells Zach that, during the shows, he would be molested by older men and that when he got to high school, everyone called him gay for allowing it. Paul came to the realization that he was gay and tells Zach about his first job at a drag cabaret. He admits that he lied to his parents to hide the fact that he was gay. But once, his parents arrived early to the show and saw him through the stage door wearing a dress. He tells Zach that his parents, then, disowned him for lying. Zach runs onstage and embraces Paul, showing compassion for the first time in the audition.

Larry brings the dancers back onstage to perform the newly-learned routine for Zach. However, as they repeat the combination, their inner thoughts are heard. Zach begins to shout at Cassie from the house, seeing that she cannot blend in. They argue about their past relationship while Larry leads the group in a tap combination. All of a sudden, Paul messes up in the routine and injures his knee. He is rushed to the hospital and Zach asks the dancers what they will do once they can no longer perform. Diana is the only one that can truly answer the question. She tells him that she wants to be remembered, even if it is just for dancing in a chorus. All the hopefuls seem to agree with this and Zach puts them in line one last time to decide who will be cast. Zach chooses Val, Cassie, Bebe, Diana, Mike, Mark, Richie, and Bobby to be in his line. Months later, the eight performers are seen performing "One" in front of an audience. As the song progresses, the cut dancers also appear onstage and it becomes harder to identify each dancer. The dancer's reflections from the mirror joins them and soon the stage is filled with hundreds of dancers. As the credits roll, the song's tag vamps as the dancers continue dancing in a giant Kickline.

• Michael Douglas as Zach, choreographer
• Alyson Reed as Cassie
• Terrence Mann as Larry, assistant choreographer
• Sharon Brown as Kim, Zach's secretary

Dancers

1. "I Hope I Get It" – Entire cast—Contains new sections of music not in the original stage version
2. "Who Am I Anyway?" – Paul—his solo, originally part of "I Hope I Get It"
3. "I Can Do That" – Mike
4. "At the Ballet" – Sheila, Bebe and Maggie—the soundtrack contains an extended version not heard in the film
5. "Surprise, Surprise" – Richie and dancers—replaces "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" and "Gimme the Ball", although one verse of the song is heard in the film. The monologues of Mark, Connie, Judy, and Greg which are part of this number are performed in other parts of the film without music.
6. "Nothing" – Diana
7. "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" – Val
8. "Let Me Dance for You" – Cassie—replaces her song "The Music and the Mirror", although part of the instrumental section remains the same
9. "One" (rehearsal) – entire cast
10. "What I Did for Love" – Cassie—sung counterpoint to the Tap Combination. In the stage version, the company performs the number, with Diana leading.
11. "One" (Finale) – entire cast (8 kicklines of 17 dancers each)

The songs "And..." and "The Tap Combination" from the stage version are eliminated in the film, as well as most of "The Montage" ("Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love").

Even before the show had premiered on Broadway, Hollywood producers had expressed interest in a motion picture version of the musical.[4] Universal Pictures acquired the rights for $5.5 million, in addition to agreeing to pay royalties of 20% of the distributor's gross rentals above $30 million,[5][4] with the stage musical's director Michael Bennett hired as producer and director. Bennett declined to participate when his proposal to present the film as an audition to cast the movie version of the stage play, instead of a literal translation of the play (cf. the 1971 film adaptation of The Boy Friend) was rejected. Many directors turned down the project, insisting that not only was A Chorus Line too beloved, but it would not translate well to the screen. In addition, the requirement to start paying royalties after the gross reached $30 million -- by which time the film might not yet have broken even -- made the film a difficult financial prospect.[4] When Attenborough accepted the project in 1984,[6] there was some apprehension as to the treatment the British director would give the musical's quintessentially American story.

Universal sold the rights to PolyGram for $7.8 million in 1982 and in 1983 Embassy Pictures joined as co-producers,[6] investing 20% in Embassy Film Associates, which financed the picture.[7]

In February 1984, according to Attenborough, the singer Madonna auditioned at the Royale Theatre on Broadway for a dance role in the movie using her birth name of Ciccone. He rejected her.[8]

The dance numbers were choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday.

Matt West, Vicki Frederick, Pam Klinger, Justin Ross, and Alyson Reed had all appeared in A Chorus Line on Broadway or in other major productions of the stage show prior to appearing in the film version. Gregg Burge, Charles McGowan, and Blane Savage joined stage productions of A Chorus Line after filming the movie.

Audrey Landers could move well but was not a trained dancer as was the rest of the cast. Attenborough cast her in the film despite her lack of formal dance training. She is absent from some of the more difficult choreographed dance numbers.

The decision to tamper with the score disappointed fans of the show. "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love," "Sing!," and "The Music and the Mirror" were deleted (the first was touched on briefly) and new songs "Surprise, Surprise" and "Let Me Dance For You" were added. The show's breakout tune, "What I Did for Love," was originally performed by Diana as a paean to dancers and their dedication to their craft, but in the film it becomes a wistful love song by Cassie about Zach as she leaves the stage. Another change from the stage show to the movie sees the character of Bebe being selected as one of the final eight dancers, rather than Judy.

The stage musical was one of the first productions to address the subject of gay actors within the theatre. However, the film version opted instead to make a more "family friendly" film by dealing less with the experiences of gay actors.

Six months prior to release, Embassy Pictures was sold to The Coca-Cola Company, who also owned Columbia Pictures. Five months later, Dino DeLaurentiis acquired Embassy but he did not acquire the 20% interest in Embassy Film Associates, which created some confusion over who would handle the film, which was already scheduled to be distributed by Columbia.[7]

A Chorus Line was released to DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on April 15, 2003 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD, with a re-release in new packaging on January 14, 2014 and a Blu-ray release on the same date.

In season 6, episode 10 of the American medical drama House, Dr. Gregory House buys a A Chorus Line poster, while Dr. James Wilson hums the final score of the movie and musical in the episode finale.

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