Show guide
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a landmark of American musical theatre, stripping away scenery and spectacle to focus entirely on the dancers auditioning for a spot in the chorus. It remains one of the most emotionally honest shows ever staged on Broadway.
- Broadway premiere
- 1975
- Music by
- Marvin Hamlisch
- Genre
- Drama
- Setting
- 1970s
A Chorus Line: quick answers
What is A Chorus Line about?
- A Chorus Line takes place at a single Broadway audition, where a demanding director asks a group of dancers competing for eight chorus spots to talk about their lives, and their stories reveal what it costs to dance in the chorus.
When did A Chorus Line open on Broadway?
- A Chorus Line opened on Broadway on July 25, 1975, at the Shubert Theatre, after premiering Off-Broadway at the Public Theater that April, and ran 6,137 performances until April 28, 1990. It was the longest-running production in Broadway history until Cats passed it in 1997.
What kind of musical is A Chorus Line?
- It is an original backstage musical drama with little conventional plot, developed from interviews with real Broadway dancers. Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban's songs alternate with spoken monologues, building to the full-company finale One.
Where and when is A Chorus Line set?
- A Chorus Line plays out on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during a single audition in 1975.
Has A Chorus Line played in London's West End?
- A Chorus Line opened in London in 1976 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and a West End revival played the London Palladium in 2013.
Is there a A Chorus Line movie?
- Richard Attenborough directed the 1985 film, with Michael Douglas as the director Zach and Alyson Reed as Cassie; it cut or replaced several stage songs and earned three Academy Award nominations.
The story of A Chorus Line
Set on a bare Broadway stage during a single audition in the 1970s, A Chorus Line follows a group of dancers competing for a handful of spots in a new musical. As the director pushes them to share personal stories, the show becomes less about who gets cast and more about the sacrifices, insecurities, and passions that drive people to pursue a life in dance.
The drama unfolds almost entirely through monologue and song, with each dancer revealing a piece of their history. It is a show about the anonymous performers behind the spotlight, giving voice to the chorus line dancers who rarely get to tell their own stories.
The music and the makers
The score was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, whose music moves fluidly between conversational character songs and soaring emotional numbers. The songs are woven directly into the dialogue, so the music feels less like interruption and more like a natural extension of each dancer's confession.
As an original work developed from real interviews with Broadway dancers, the show's musical style favors intimacy and specificity over spectacle, even though it ultimately builds to one of the most iconic full-company numbers in musical theatre history.
A Chorus Line on Broadway
A Chorus Line opened on Broadway in 1975 and became a cultural phenomenon, celebrated for its raw, documentary-style honesty about the lives of working performers. It was groundbreaking for treating chorus dancers, usually anonymous, as full characters worthy of a story.
Its influence on Broadway has been enormous, inspiring generations of concept musicals that prioritize character truth over traditional plot. Audiences continue to respond to its universal themes of ambition, rejection, and the drive to keep dancing no matter what.
A Chorus Line: frequently asked questions
When did A Chorus Line open on Broadway?
A Chorus Line opened on Broadway in 1975.
Who composed A Chorus Line?
Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music.
What is A Chorus Line about?
It follows a group of dancers auditioning for spots in a Broadway chorus, sharing their personal histories and struggles along the way.
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