A CHORUS LINE turns 50!

By Kip Driver July 24, 2025

Huntsville Community Chorus production of A Chorus Line with Kip Driver as Al (1986)

The year is 2025, and it is the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award winning Broadway Musical, “A Chorus Line!” And in just a few days, Sunday July 27, a 50^th Anniversary Concert of “A Chorus Line” will play one night only, a sold-out performance at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, where this show debuted and ran for 15 years. AND this iconic evening will be led by original cast members Kelly Bishop (Sheila), Wayne Cilento (Mike), Baayork Lee (Connie), Priscilla Lopez (Diana) and Donna McKechnie (Cassie).

Baayork Lee, who will be directing this 50^th Anniversary Event, says this will not be a concert version of “A Chorus Line” but instead a celebration of the impact this show has had and continues to have on the entertainment industry. There will be a unique insider’s look into the show from these five original cast members as well as numerous contributions from all the triple threats between then and now who have been part of the “A Chorus Line” family in the past 50 years. There will be special performances by Annette Bening, Charlotte d’Amboise, Ariana DeBose, Robyn Hurder, Lauren Graham, Bebe Neuwirth, Jennifer Simard, Jessica Vosk and many others.

I’m particularly excited for two of my friends who will also be giving special performances at this event: Michelle Aravena & James T. Lane, who were both in the 2006 Broadway Revival of “A Chorus Line.”

Michelle and I toured together with “Les Misérables” and she’s currently on Broadway in “Cabaret.” James and I toured together with “Cinderella” and he’s currently on Broadway in “Chicago.” Nothing makes me happier than seeing my friends (for over twenty years) still killing it up there in their Broadway shows!

“A Chorus Line” will always hold a very special place in my heart. It is one of the first shows that sparked my love of musical theatre and inspired me to want to be up there acting, singing and dancing for a living. I never wanted to be a star. I didn’t want anyone’s handouts; I just wanted to be a working actor. And that is EXACTLY what this show is about.

Before I saw the stage version, I first saw the “A Chorus Line” (ACL) movie in 1985 at the Cobb Cinema 8 at 8920 Memorial Parkway, SW, which is now a Goodwill Store & Donation Center. This movie literally changed my life!! And I’m VERY aware that this movie was not well received by the critics and even more so, not by the “ACL” purists & superfans who lost their minds at some of the major changes from the Broadway stage version: They really tampered with the Tony Award Winning Score. Many of the songs were cut completely or switched out with other songs, like Cassie’s big song/dance, “Music and the Mirror” is replaced by “Let Me Dance for You;” It is not the original iconic choreography of Michael Bennett; The movie puts the focus more on the romance between Zach and Cassie, instead of “What I Did For Love” being about these chorus dancers/workhorses (many of which don’t want to have to consider a backup plan if they can never dance again)!

Kelly Bishop, the original Sheila in the Broadway company and she also won a Tony Award for this performance, is not a fan of the 1985 "ACL" film: “It was appalling when director Richard Attenborough went on a talk show and said, ‘this is a story about kids trying to break into show business.’ I almost tossed my TV out the window; I mean what an idiot! It’s about veteran dancers looking for one last job before it’s too late for them to dance anymore. No wonder the film sucked!”

Now I certainly understand Ms. Bishop’s strong feelings about the changes made to “A Chorus Line” for the movie version, because "ACL" is loosely based on her own life and about several other lifelong Broadway chorus dancers’ lives too. So, it’s very personal! BUT for some people, like this 16-year-old theatre kid from Alabama, this 1985 movie, “A Chorus Line,” opened my mind to the possibilities of living a life in the arts in NYC, and that was a game-changer for me. I memorized every word to every song from that movie. Then I went on to memorize every word from the cut songs that are in the stage version. I would dance around my house belting out:

“God, I hope I get it! I hope I get it. I’ve come this far, but even so it could be yes, it could be no, how many people does he…? I REALLY NEED THIS JOB!”

And I DID get the job! A few months later I was cast as Al Deluca in Huntsville Community Chorus’ production of “A Chorus Line” and I couldn’t have been happier about it. The next year (1987) was my first time visiting NYC, where “A Chorus Line” was one of my first Broadway shows to ever see. Then a year later (1988) I played Mark in another production of "ACL" in Seattle, WA (which I sadly can’t find any pictures of that one). And honestly, I owe it to the 1985 movie, "ACL," because that’s the moment I started to develop those big ‘ol dreams that would eventually take me to Seattle, Los Angeles, New York City, & all over the world, doing what I loved the most: THEATRE, in all its many forms!

I will most definitely be raising a glass to cheers “A Chorus Line” on Sunday, July 27, at 6:30pm (CDT)! I wish I could be there in person to witness this legendary celebration of the past 50 years of "ACL." But don’t worry, I have it on good authority that it will eventually air on PBS. It will be worth the wait…