Riverdale Rising Stars Stages A CHORUS LINE, Beginning Tonight

The talented teens of the award-winning Riverdale Rising Stars presents the high-kicking Broadway musical A CHORUS LINE for seven performances only, from tonight, December 6, 2014 to January 4, 2015.

Featuring a cast of 23 teenage performers from Riverdale, Yonkers, Upper Manhattan, and beyond, performances of A CHORUS LINE will be held at the Riverdale YM-YWHA, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue (just off of Riverdale Avenue and West 256th Street), in Riverdale, Bronx, NY.

In honor of the Riverdale Rising Stars Bar Mitzvah 13th anniversary year, all tickets online and at the door are $13. Tickets may be purchased in advance online at www.riverdaley.org/chorus, or at the door prior to showtime. Tickets may also be purchased by phone 24/7 by calling Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 and selecting option 1. For group sales, email mraider@riverdaley.org.

Due to mature themes and language, this show is rated PG-13, and may not be appropriate for viewing by young children.

In A CHORUS LINE, a group of dancers literally put their lives on the line as they audition for ensemble roles in a new Broadway musical. As the story unfolds, the backstory of each dancer is revealed. Some are funny, some ironic, some heartbreaking. No matter what their background, however, they all have one thing in common: a passion for dance. To the tune of such songs as "What I Did for Love," "At the Ballet," and, of course, the stow-stopping "One," A CHORUS LINE is truly one singular sensation of a musical!

A CHORUS LINE premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 1975, and quickly became a sell-out phenomenon. It transferred to Broadway where it won 9 Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and where it eventually ran for 6,137 performances.

At the time it closed in 1990, it was the longest-running musical in Broadway history up to that time, since surpassed by LES MISERABLES, Cats, and a trio of currently-running productions: the revival of Chicago (the original production of which lost the 1976 Best Musical Tony to A CHORUS LINE), The Lion King, and the current long-running champ,The Phantom of the Opera.

A CHORUS LINE was conceived by director-choreographer Michael Bennett, based on taped conversations he had with several groups of Broadway dancers about their lives. The show features music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante.

An Oscar-nominated film version was released in 1985, and the 2006-2008 Broadway production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

The Riverdale Rep production of A CHORUS LINE is directed by Riverdale YM-YWHA's Director of Performing Arts Laurie Walton with choreography by Emily Walton and music direction by Justin Fischer. The design team includes Tony Wan (Scenery) Penelope Margeotes (Costumes), David Pentz (Lighting), and Denise Eberly (Sound).