BWW Reviews: 5th Avenue's A CHORUS LINE Is Almost a Triple Threat

There's something to be said for seeing a company of incredible dancers performing the classic "A Chorus Line" especially when they're doing much of the original Michael Bennett choreography as is currently being presented at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Even better when you've got an entire company of incredible singers as well. You've almost got the triple threat that the show needs to be great. Unfortunately it's that third element, the acting, where the 5th Avenue's production falls a little short and so the story of these Broadway gypsies suffers a bit.

On the surface the story is simple, 17 Broadway performers (Katrina Asmar, Scott Brateng, Gabriel Corey, Taryn Darr, Sarah Rose Davis, Stephen Diaz, Eric Esteb, Paul Flanagan, Charlie Johnson, Mallory King, McKayla Marso, Trina Mills, Taylor Niemeyer, Richard Peacock, Connor Russell, Momoko Sugai and Chryssie Whitehead) are all auditioning to be in the chorus of the next big Broadway show from director Zach (Andrew Palermo). But in addition to Zach and his choreographer Larry (Greg McCormick Allen) putting the group through their singing and dancing paces, he also has the line delve deep into their own stories to find out who these anonymous faces on the line really are and that's where the complexity and heart of the show comes from ... or should.

It seems that director David Bennett has directed the actors to give the broadest and most overstated renditions of the original icons as possible. And while that works for some, for others it saps any kind of feeling from their performances and just looks like a bunch of mugging on stage. It results in a lot of surface acting or shmatcing, as I call it. And it's that shmatcing that kept taking me out of the performance and reminding me I was watching a show. The entire point of the show is to show the human beings behind the smiling faces of a chorus line and there was a lack of honesty and realism to make them human.

Now it's not the entire company that suffers from this. There are some truly fine performances and moments up there. Corey's rendition of "I Can Do That" is absolutely adorable. Davis completely nails that final note as Maggie in "At The Ballet" (a moment that's a sticking point for me with this show. Hit that note or don't attempt it). Darr is vibrant and delightful as Val as she espouses the virtues of her body parts. Diaz has some very touching moments as the conflicted Paul. Peacock practically brought the house down with his "Gimme the ball". And Whitehead kind of blew everyone else away showing off her incredible triple threatedness as the older, former star looking for a comeback, Cassie.

Everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) in the show is an incredible singer and dancer and if the show were a revue then that would be enough. But with the amount of emotion this show can elicit, you really need those triple threats in order to bring the show home. And yes, there were some Triples there but not all so as a whole the show was more of a 2 ½ threat. And while that 2 ½ threat is enough to garner a YAY from my three letter rating system, it didn't quite blow me away.

"A Chorus Line" performs at the 5th Avenue Theatre through September 28th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue box office at 206-625-1900 or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org.

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