Original character puts it on the 'Line'
Choreographer helps revive classic Broadway 'Chorus'
For Baayork Lee, being in the original 1975 cast of "A Chorus Line" was a life-changing experience, which is why, in 2009, she's still talking about it.
Paul Kolnik
Touring members of "A Chorus Line" rehearse their dancing; the show stops at the Orpheum beginning Tuesday.
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Thanks to her passion for the show, she's also one of the reasons it was revived on Broadway in 2006. "For the past 15 years, I had been calling them for a revival," she said. "I'd ask, 'Don't you think it's time?' and they'd say, 'No, it's not time yet.'"
But the time finally did arrive when director Bob Avian was ready for a remount on the 31st anniversary. He and Lee collaborated with the show's creator, Michael Bennett, who died in 1987.
Lee, the show's original dance captain, has kept the choreography alive for three decades in "Chorus Line" revivals around the world. She considers herself "the keeper of the keys" and has trained a host of others who choreograph for professional and community theater productions.
At one time, "A Chorus Line" was the longest-running Broadway show in history, and perhaps the most iconic. Its creation owes much to the original cast members.
In the early '70s, Bennett was "the fair-haired boy of Broadway," said Lee. "He was a dancer, he was up and coming. We all trusted Michael."
They trusted him with their life stories. He interviewed them on tape, one after another, and they talked about art, life and the struggles of working in the theater. One of the performers talked about his homosexuality. Another about her plastic surgery.
Lee had her own set of problems. She was 5-foot-4, of Chinese and Indian descent. She had studied classical ballet, but her opportunities, especially in major roles, were limited.
"Back then Asians and African-Americans were sort of clumped into the same pool," she said.
The biggest challenge of "A Chorus Line" was the casting. The script called for performers who could not only sing Marvin Hamlisch's songs, they also had to dance Bennett's highly stylized jazz and disco-influenced choreography. To make matters worse, acting chops were essential. It wasn't as common then that people were experts in all three.
" 'Chorus Line' coined the term of the 'triple threat show,'" Lee said. "In the '70s and '80s there were no schools for such a thing. Singers sang and dancers danced. Even though the show is about dancers trying to get a chorus part in a musical, it has a heavy book. Maggie (a lead character) has to sing a note and hold it forever. Maybe (the actress) is not a great dancer. We have to work on that. Sometimes we get great dancers at an audition, but they've never spoken a word of dialog. I think because of 'Chorus Line,' arts schools started turning out more well-rounded performers."
Among the young crop of triple threats is Liza Domingo, who now plays Connie -- the role based on Lee's story -- in the tour.
A Filipina from Irvine, Calif., and also a self-described "short, Asian dancer," Domingo grew up in a musical family, singing at church and beginning her dance studies at age 3. She majored in business management in college, but kept her dance minor.
"I wouldn't say the acting part is as hard," Domingo said. "I'm playing myself. A friend asked me 'did you write that because it's exactly you?' But it's the hardest show I've ever done. We're off-stage twice during the whole show."
Lee says that turning over the character of Connie to other actresses was difficult in the beginning, when Michael Bennett sent her off to be his choreographic emissary.
"I had to separate myself from it about 20 years ago," Lee said. "It was eating me up. During the first production I choreographed in Australia, I spent more time with Connie than any other character. I've finally learned to see her as somebody else. Back then I was unemployed, looking for a job, struggling.
"Here I am, 34 years later. I'm not the same person."
Broadway tour of 'A Chorus Line'
Opens Tuesday at the Orpheum theater, 203 S. Main. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Sept. 25, 2 and 8 p.m. Sept. 26 and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sept. 28. Tickets are $15-$75. Call 525-7800.
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