
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990                   TAG: 9004270231
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

`A CHORUS LINE' CLOSING ITS FINAL BROADWAY CURTAIN

This time, it really is the end of the line. "A Chorus Line," Broadway's longest running show, plays its 6,137th - and final - performance Saturday night.

The evening, a benefit for the New York Shakespeare Festival, has a top ticket price of $500, and the 1,483-seat Shubert Theater has been sold out for weeks.

The last performance promises to be an event and a celebration and remembrance of Michael Bennett, the man behind the musical, who died of AIDS in 1987 at age 44.

"A Chorus Line" tells the stories of 17 dancers who compete for eight roles in a big Broadway musical. It was Bennett's baby.

The show, which arrived at the Shubert on July 25, 1975, after performances at the Shakespeare Festival off-Broadway, was an immediate hit. More than 6.5 million people have paid $150 million to see the musical on Broadway. The show, which also has been performed in more than 20 countries, has made $38 million in net profit for the festival.

But grosses have been dwindling, and the show incurred heavy losses last January. Joseph Papp, head of the Shakespeare Festival, announced Feb. 21 that the show would end its 15-year run the following month. It set off a box-office stampede, with grosses doubling to nearly $400,000 a week. The original closing date, March 31, was extended by four weeks.

by CNB