Interview: Nicole Helfer of A CHORUS LINE at San Francisco Playhouse Finally Gets Her Chance on Another Go at a Dream Role

Nicole Helfer is living proof that sometimes good things really do come to those who wait. She was set to play Cassie in A Chorus Line for the now-defunct Bay Area Musicals in the summer of 2020 before COVID cancelled the production and put her dream on hold. Now, three years later, at San Francisco Playhouse Helfer not only gets her chance to play Cassie, she’s also doing double duty as the show’s choreographer. Helfer has created the movement for her cast of 26(!) in this iconic musical about dancers competing in a high-stakes audition for a coveted spot in the chorus line of a Broadway show.

While Helfer has choreographed many shows for SF Playhouse in the past, this is the first time she’s taking a lead role onstage as well. Not that she’s a neophyte performer - far from it. On stages throughout the Bay Area, she has played a mind-bogglingly wide range of roles, everything from Fantine in Les Miserables to Rosie in Bye Bye Byrdie to Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. And of course that’s in addition to choreographing such classics as Follies, Cabaret and Grease.

I spoke with Helfer by phone last week just hours before she was about to have her first rehearsal with the orchestra. We talked about her long connection to the show, her approach to creating new choreography that still gives a nod to Michael Bennett, and took a deep dive into her interpretation of her big solo number, “The Music and the Mirror.” Helfer remains upbeat and passionate about her artform, while seeing its challenges through the clear-eyed view of a veteran. The following conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

I’ve been obsessed with A Chorus Line ever since seeing the original Broadway production back in the 70s. I know Cassie is a dream role for you, so what’s your own history with the show?

Well, I also am obsessed with the show since I was a little girl. I was a big musical theater nerd growing up. I did a lot of theater, and actually did the show when I was 16 and played Cassie at a youth theater program. I did the show again when I was 25 and played Val with Contra Costa Musical Theatre. I went to San Francisco State and then they asked me back a few years after I graduated to recreate the original choreography of the finale and play Cassie, so I played it again. And then I was about to play Cassie with Bay Area Musicals right as the pandemic hit. So now I get a second chance to play Cassie again with San Francisco Playhouse.

I love this show. It’s so important to me, and to most people in the theater, but Cassie is such a beast of a role, it’s kind of like the Olympics of musical theater. [laughs]

Yeah, I’ve heard Cassie described as one of the most demanding leading roles in all of musical theater because you’re onstage for like an hour and a half before you finally get your big, big solo.

Yeah, and it’s really crazy to have to dance really hard and then stand still. That’s the hardest part about the show.

So how do you plan to cope with that night after night?

Oh, gosh – hope and prayers?! [laughs] I’ve been training for this since January, and there’s a lot of stamina I’m still trying to build. And you know this isn’t my only job, either. If this was a Broadway company, I would only be doing this. But most of the people in the company have day jobs and then we’re coming in for these 8-hour rehearsals, so it’s a lot.

I highly encourage people to do a lot of self-care. Like I go to a chiropractor and we’re trying to do a little bit of cross-training and conditioning. We try to lift each other up and just be really smart about how much we’re running the show and how long we’re rehearsing, knowing that we’re gonna have to do this eight times a week.

So it’s a whole process. It’s really demanding and it’s really vulnerable to be onstage and dance in a leotard. That’s just a lot to ask unto itself.

Right – there’s no hiding.

You’re basically being naked onstage. And especially as Cassie I’m alone onstage [during her big number “The Music and the Mirror”]. Zach isn’t even there with me, so it’s just me. It takes a lot of self-reckoning and a lot of self-care in terms of positive thinking. Because it’s very easy to have a lot of judgment and be worried about what people are going to think of me and what I’m doing with the solo. I’m just being kind to myself. I’m trying to welcome rest and taking care of my body and my spirit – as well as like train and try to do a 7-minute dance solo without dying. [laughs]

Speaking of that solo, “The Music and the Mirror” is probably the most iconic dance solo in the entire history of musical theater, so no pressure there! What is that moment about for you as a performer? What are you trying to express in that solo?

I think there’s three aspects to the solo. There’s the relationship between Cassie and herself and the mirror and how she sees herself as a dancer and who she is and her feelings of self-worth. It’s also her relationship to Zach and their past, their romantic life and how he saw something magical in her and wanted to lift her up. And then I think it’s her relationship to the line and being a part of something that’s bigger than just her. So there’s three moments in the dance that I’m hoping to illuminate.

That also comes from discussions I’ve heard with Donna McKechnie talking about the dance – those three aspects of the individual self, her relationship to another and then her relationship to the greater whole. But it’s also about just that she has to dance. She’s a dancer, that’s who she is, that’s what she is. It’s kind like of a spiritual moment for her.

And we talk about this a lot in rehearsals - Is she actually dancing for Zach or is this in the fantasy? Because so much of the show is like what’s actually taking place in reality, but I don’t think the dance is taking place in reality. I think the dance is happening through the discussion [with Zach], and it’s almost like the memory of them practicing in the studio together and creating this choreography.

You know we talk sometimes about does Cassie know all the choreography already, is this something that her and Zach created? How come she just knows it when like she has the whole “Music and the Mirror” scene and then she’s supposed to go downstairs and learn the dance and comes back just knowing it, while everyone has been practicing it the whole time. [laughs] How does that makes sense? Maybe that’s because her and Zach actually created that choreography, which is why it’s even more upsetting that at the end she’s just gonna be in the chorus, when really it was created for her to be the star, you know?

I don’t think there’s another show in the canon other than West Side Story that is so identified with its original choreography. How are you approaching the daunting task of creating new movement for this production?

Well, we’re doing all the original Bennett choreography for the end – so all the “gold costume” choreography I’m not changing just because it’s so iconic and amazing and why reinvent the wheel? It’s also so intricate in terms of the way that they rehearse it in the scene before the finale, like when Zach and Cassie have that final fight, there’s all the choreography happening and it’s all connected to what the lyrics are, like “lift the hat.” I can’t change it because they’re literally saying what they’re doing.

So I’ve kept that intact, but in terms of the opening sequence and then the montage, I’ve tried to do a little nod towards the Bennett choreography and keep it in the same style, but do a little something different, kind of update it, make it fresh. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s in the same world.

That sounds similar to the approach Ann Reinking took in choreographing the revival of Chicago. Her movement looks totally Fosse, but it’s actually different choreography, other than “Hot Honey Rag” because as you said, when something’s that iconic, why reinvent the wheel?

Right. I mean, I would love to compare myself to Ann [laughs] – but I’m not a disciple of Michael Bennett. It’s such an iconic show that it’s almost like blasphemy to change the choreography. At first, I was like am I even allowed to do that? But I talked to so many people who have done the show professionally, and I worked with Natascia Diaz last summer, who was of course in that documentary Every Little Step [about the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line]. I was just like “Is this even appropriate?” And she was like “Nicole, if anyone can do it, you can do it.” That was such a nice thing for her to say, but that’s what art’s all about. You can do a cookie cutter version of the show, but isn’t it about having our own interpretation and breathing new life into something, while still honoring and holding some integrity to the original? Especially on the scale of San Francisco Playhouse and regional theater, that’s what our job is as artists.

Keith Pinto plays Zach and is also your associate choreographer. I thought it was really cool that for once we get a Zach who is an actual choreographer himself.

Yeah, it’s very meta. [laughs] Keith and I are great friends, and we collaborated especially on the opening choreography. Since Zach demonstrates that a lot, I want to make sure that he feels good in that choreography. And Keith has got such an amazing style, especially when it comes to like that 70s groovy, pre-hip hop sort of movement which is really his forte. It was really awesome to collaborate with him on that as well.

How do you see Cassie’s relationship with Zach? What do you think is really going on there?

Zach is an amalgamation of Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse, like the relationship between him and Cassie is more like the Gwen Verdon – Bob Fosse relationship, which is really interesting. A relationship between artists is always very complex and I think there’s something about loving something that’s not a person. When you’re in a relationship with someone and you love something else so much, there’s always gonna be some tension – and that’s what the show is about. Most artists give their whole self to what they do and it’s almost an obsession. That’s kind of what the argument at the end with Zach and Cassie is about, that Zach is obsessed with his work and he gives everything to it. He ended up emotionally not being there because he was so obsessed with theater that she just left, because he had already left her emotionally.

So I think there’s a reckoning between her and Zach, but I also think there’s something about Cassie being brave enough and humble enough to come back and want to be part of something that is that wonderful, magicalness of theater, regardless of their relationship. Because they both share that love, and that’s something they can connect with.

You’ve been in a zillion shows and have played such a wide variety of characters – including Fantine in Les Mis and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors - which are hardly big dance roles. So out of all the roles you’ve played to date other than this one, which is closest to your heart?

Oh, gosh, that’s a great question! I mean, I love Audrey in Little Shop. I’m a huge fan of comedy and I think there’s something so special about her. You know most of the characters I’ve played – even Fantine and Cassie - they all kind of want normal life, they want these really simple things that seem to be so hard for them to get. You know, like Audrey just wanting a 12-inch screen, bedtime at 9:15 and a toaster. There’s something I very much connect with wanting to have just simple love and home and family. That I think is really true for everybody. And the music of Little Shop is just so amazing. So that’s one of my favorite roles. I got to play it with Contra Costa Musical Theatre and it was an amazing cast with an amazing director, Jasen Jeffrey. That was a great experience, and it’s fun to be like a caricature that has a lot of heart, you know?

Right – there’s that duality to Audrey.

That’s the cool part about it cause you have to have comedic timing, but then you also have to bring your whole self, and then at the end of “Somewhere That’s Green” you’re like sobbing. [laughs]

My next question is really a two-parter since you’re both a performer and a choreographer. First, are there any particular roles you’re still itching to tackle as a performer?

Omigod, I would love to play Francesca in Bridges of Madison County. I’m a big fan of Kelli O’Hara, and that score - every time I hear it, I just melt inside. And I’d love to play Velma in Chicago. It’s hard to find a role that truly has a triple threat. Musically, I would love to play Carrie in Carousel, but I’m a little old now.

Are there any shows you’d especially love to have a go at choreographing?

Chicago! I want to do that show so bad. For some reason, the rights for Chicago are impossible to get on a professional regional level. I think San Francisco Playhouse has been applying every year for like ten years, but I would love to choreograph that show. I think that show is brilliant, especially because of what’s happening in the media and politics, and how much we’re obsessed with all the negative stuff. I think it’s such a great, dark commentary on people and what they’re obsessed with and what we’re excited by. It’s funny and weird and sexy, and I love that!

For now, though, you’ve got a whole summer of playing Cassie to look forward to. It must be wonderful to have such a long run so you can really get under the skin of the character.

Yeah – let’s just hope I survive! [laughs uproariously]

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A Chorus Line will perform June 22 – September 9, 2023 at San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post Street. For tickets and more information, visit sfplayhouse.org or call the box office at 415-677-9596.

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