THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
THE SCENE WAS 1974 in an apartment above an Italian restaurant on 55th Street in New York City.
Michael Bennett, the Broadway director whose ``Seesaw'' had just opened, was having a loud argument with Tommy Tune, one of his stars. He soon calmed down and I asked him what he planned to do next.
He went into detailed descriptions of two projects. One was a 1940s-style musical with a leading lady who would look something like Betty Grable. The other would be a musical about a bunch of chorus dancers who tell their own stories while auditioning for a job they need very badly. Several friends had recorded their stories for him, and he played some of the tapes. They were sad stories.
Bennett then asked me which of the two projects sounded most promising. I voted for the Betty Grable project. It had had verve and nostalgia; the other project sounded heavy and unfocused.
Thank goodness, he didn't listen.
Michael Bennett has since passed on, but ``A Chorus Line,'' that other project, has become the longest-running show in Broadway history, winning a Pulitzer Prize and nine Tonys.
Wanda Richert, starring in the revival playing at Chrysler Hall, laughed at that story. ``Well, I have to admit, the Betty Grable show does sound pretty good. It's a tragedy that Michael never did it, but `A Chorus Line' did turn out pretty well, didn't it?' ''
``A Chorus Line'' is an ensemble, but if there is a leading role, it would be Cassie, a veteran performer who is willing to give up lead roles to be in the chorus - just for a chance to keep dancing. Richert has the part.
A song-and-dance-girl from Chicago, Richert first played it at 19. ``I was one of Michael's chosen dancers and the youngest one ever to dance the role of Cassie.'' She first performed the role on Broadway in 1976, staying with it for 2 1/2 years before she made history in 1980 with one of the most dramatic opening nights in American theater.
The show was the tapping musical ``42nd Street.'' Famed director Gower Champion died opening night, a tragedy announced by producer David Merrick during the final curtain call.
Richert rose to stardom with the role of Peggy Sawyer, the smalltown girl who goes on for the ailing star. It was well known that she was Champion's love interest in real life.
``I first met him at rehearsals for `42nd Street,' '' Richert said, a trace of pain still in her voice. ``The role of Peggy Sawyer had already been cast, but he insisted on auditioning me for the part. When I didn't have any music with me, I sang `Happy Birthday' for him. The next day, he said I had the part.
``It was something like love at first sight for both of us. But Gower never would have let love get in the way of casting the show. He was a professional. If I couldn't have carried that part, I wouldn't have gotten it.
``I went to the hosptial to visit him that afternoon (he died) and I was told I couldn't see him because he was sedated,'' Richert recalled. ``Actually, he was already dead. I don't know if I could have gone on that night. It took me two years, really, to reasonably get over it, but, yes, I did go on again the next night. That was what Gower would have wanted.''
Now, 14 years later, she's returned to ``A Chorus Line,'' a show that has meaning to every performer and, in many ways, touches each member of the audience. Its lasting appeal is in the commitment of its characters, working-class dancers who sacrifice everything just to dance.
Richert, who joined the tour a week ago in Raleigh, says Cassie has special significance for her.
``I'm a little like that,'' she said. ``I've been living in Los Angeles for the past three years, hoping to break into television or film, but if you're a Broadway musical performer, they automatically don't think you can act.
``I auditioned, just like Cassie, for a chorus job in `Sunset Boulevard.' It would have been a nice, permanent, job in New York, but I was glad to get my old role back.''
Richert, who is going through a second divorce and has a 7-year-old daughter to support, is that rare performer in that she talks candidly about her life. She's been singing and dancing since 14. ``I never took acting classes, just dancing classes. `Chorus Line' was, really, my acting class. I learned to act through Cassie.''
Unlike a sustained role, which runs throughout the evening (such as Peggy in ``42nd Street''), ``A Chorus Line'' requires her to deliver one impressive, sockeroo, highlight - the big moment in the show, but still, an isolated one.
``It's the hardest show I've ever done,'' Richert said, ``and the hardest thing about it is the standing around. Each of us has to stand on stage for most of the show, until it's our turn to perform. The audience often doesn't notice that the rest of the cast is standing there. Their attention is riveted to the person at the center of things at any given moment. Standing still is much harder than dancing.''
After the run in Norfolk, Richert is off for Los Angeles in an effort to get her life back together for yet-another comeback - this time a personal one. One thing is sure, she'll still be dancing. MEMO: CHORUS LINE
What: ``A Chorus Line,'' the musical originally conceived,
choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett, music by Marvin Hamlisch
and lyrics by Edward Kleban
Where: Chrysler Hall in Norfolk
When: Tonight at 8, Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and
8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
How Much?: $31.50 to $39.50
More information: Call 622-0288 or 1-800-669-STAGE. To charge by
phone: 671-8100 by CNB