Flew up to San Francisco this weekend and took in the new Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, which was doing its pre-Broadway run at the Curran Theatre in downtown San Francisco. It's as good a production as we're likely to see in 2006 of this show from the 1970s. As one who grew up loving theatre post-Chorus Line, I kept hearing about it over and over, so I was wanting to see it very much. And I figured, what better than this production heading to Broadway.
I had a lot of fun at the show. Certainly the stories of the dancers lives and of their struggles still rings true today (Chorus Line takes place at a dance audition for a Broadway show, where each chorus member is interviewed on stage about their lives and experiences - musical tableaus take place in between). It's not a show that's entirely stuck in the 70s, even if the music is definitely 70s and the costumes are 70s. I was very glad I saw this production, and I get why it made such an impact back in the day.
But I know there will be plenty to pick over about with the critics: Charlotte d'Amboise, as the star dancer Cassie, hardly exudes star charisma. And some of the ensemble garbles their words so you don't entirely get what's going on.
These were small qualms for me, though. All that dancing was just fantastic, and the singing wonderful as well. And there's one monologue, by the character Paul about 3/4 through the show that is all only spoken word - no singing, no dancing. And its the most powerful moment in the show; a real testament to the power of a well told story in theatre.
Also saw San Francisco Ballet perform at Stern Grove this weekend. It's a free performance given every summer in a gorgeous San Francisco park. There's a great stage, and the audience huddles around on the meadow and up on the hillside to watch the show. The place was PACKED, and there was some inconvenience with people walking around and blocking your view (especially in the beginning).
San Franicsco Ballet's Vanessa Zahorian and Gonzalo Garcia, bowing with the company for Allegro Brillante. Note the full orchestra they trotted out for this outdoor concert! If only more companies splurged on outdoor festival performances like this.
Nevertheless, it was a thrill to see SF Ballet in such great form, and for free! There was this wonderful energy on stage that seemed to come from performing for an audience that loved them, and in an outdoor summer setting. Vanessa Zahorian was all authoritative and fleetingly musical in Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, and Yuan Yuan Tan exquisitely lyrical in the White Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake that followed. A romping, fun and energetic reading of Agnes de Mille's Rodeo showed the company at its charismatic best, while three contemporary excerpts in the middle portion showed off the company's athletic and modern side.
San Franicisco Ballet is truly a wonderful company, and if it can perform so well under the less than ideal outdoor stage environments, imagine what they can do on a proper ballet stage!
Stern Grove and the festival stage, with dancers warming up.
A closing shot from the trip:
San Francisco was just lovely: the people, the city, the pervading sense of arts and culture, being able to walk around everywhere... Upon returning to Los Angeles, we came to the baggage claim and were greeted by a lone sock - just sitting there. Who knows what gives the sock the traction to sit up there on the metal claim, and who knows how it fell off someone's bag - but after the wonderful weekend in San Franciso, this seemed to epitomize our return to Los Angeles.
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