BWW Interviews: The Gospel According to A CHORUS LINE

Every time he takes on a show, director Edward Carignan insists on putting his own spin on the choreography.

The lone exception, he says, is A CHORUS LINE, which he will be directed for the Short North Stage this month. The story of 22 work-starved dancers trying to make the cut for a musical opens 8 p.m. April 9 and runs through April 26 at the Garden Theater (1187 North High Street in downtown Columbus).

"With A CHORUS LINE, the choreography is so intricate to the plot and the story telling," says Carignan, who is directing the show for the fifth time. "It's the only show in history where the dances have been created to a drum beat and the score has been written the choreography versus the other way around.

"You take a show like WEST SIDE STORY. Bernstein wrote the score and then Jerome Robbins choreographed it. Even though that choreography is iconic, it was written afterward."

This year A CHORUS LINE celebrates its 40th anniversary of its Broadway debut. The show, which was directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, won nine Tony awards and had the sixth longest run on Broadway.

According to Carignan, the bible of its staging has been down from director to director over the past 40 years.

"The challenge's finding a way to make material like this new and come to life with a new cast every time you do it," he says. "You have to keep it from becoming stale for the people who have seen it a million times before.

"I always encourage my actors to bring themselves to these shows. What they have to bring themselves to these really interesting roles."

A CHORUS LINE opens with intimidating director Zach (Nick Lingnofski) and his assistant choreographer Larry (Cornelius Hubbard) weeding down the hopefuls for a cast of four males and four females. After the first round of cuts, 17 dancers remain.

Dionysia Williams (Cassie), Brooke Walters (Maggie), Ayana Freeman (Connie), Samantha Gershman (Diana), Kaitlin Descutner (Sheila), Lauren Schorr (Judy), Maggie Taylor (Kristine), Christine Stridsberg (Bebe), Lauren Monteleone (Val), Jeff Fouch (Mike), Willie Garner (Richie), Noah Rogers (Don), Luka Ashley Carter (Paul), Josh Del Brandt (Mark), Connor Cook (Greg), Luke Stewart (Bobby) and James Sergeant (Al) are all competing for eight slots. Andy Simmons (Frank), Patrick Carmichael (Butch), Andrew Trimmer (Roy), Grace Johnson (Vicki), Sally Squires (Lois) and Kaelin Curran (Tricia) take on the roles of the dancers cut in the first round.

Williams says most of the cast has been through experiences like the ones in the play.

"It's so true to life," Williams says. "We've all been through these moments of being in the audition room, wanting to please the director and feeling like we messed up and we're not going to get it.

"This audition is proving to be extra interesting because (Lingnofski's character) is diving into our personal lives. Sometimes you go into an audition and the director asks you some things that are completely off the wall and you go, 'Wait ... what?'"

In the show, few people know Cassie better than Zach, who dated her three years ago before the pair mutually split. Cassie is back in New York after failing to make it as an actress in California.

"People, Zach in particular, really thought she was a great star," Williams says. "She has to suck up her pride, not only to audition for this ex-boyfriend but also to come back to New York, realizing she didn't make it in California."

Carignan says A CHORUS LINE is not just for actors and dancers. It's a show that nearly everyone can relate to.

Just about anyone can identify with wanting to get a job. They can relate to that need to succeed and do well in a tense, audition- like atmosphere," he says. "While it may not involve doing double pirouettes on a mark, but everyone has gone through something like this whether it's going into a job interview or applying for schools and colleges. "That's essentially what this show is about: the need to work and do well at the work you're doing."

A CHORUS LINE will be performed 8 p.m. April 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25 and 3 p.m. April 12, April 19, and April 26 at the Short North Theatre's Garden Theatre (1187 North High Street in downtown Columbus). For more information, call 614.725.4042

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