A CHORUS LINE AND THE MUSICALS OF MICHAEL BENNETT

by Ken Mandelbaum ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 24, 1989

The career of the late genius director-choreographer Michael Bennett, focusing on the birth and growth of his masterpiece A Chorus Line, the longest-running, highest-grossing Broadway musical in history--and for Bennett a monument still towering over Times Square. Mandelbaum (a journalist specializing in musical theater) details other Bennett shows (Company, Follies, Dreamgirls) that outstrip Chorus Line for innovation or heart-stopping thrills. Chorus Line, in fact, has less dancing and more book to it than most Bennett musicals. Pieces of it have been ripped off to excellent effect (notably Bob Fosse's knockout All That Jazz), but it has a unique device--audience participation in the climax--that unfailingly chokes the wind, mists the eyes, and ensures continuing, fabulous word-of-mouth advertising. Chorus Line is but the flower of Mandelbaum's fuller subject, however, and its gradual integration into book, music, and lyrics--with Bennett as the polar genius of modern choreography. Although Bennett's death from AIDS-related cancer in his mid-40s lights him with an extra glow of interest, Mandelbaum has little to say about the private life, except to note that terrific success made Bennett less accessible, more unrelenting. Born in Buffalo, Bennett was something of a child prodigy of dance, early chosing to be a choreographer rather than a dancer. After dancing in merely three Broadway shows, he broke through into full-time choreography. However, his years as a dancer grounded him emotionally for his tribute a decade later to the dance folk known as Broadway gypsies who travel from show to show and are the beleaguered subjects of Chums Line. Must-read history of musical theater.

Pub Date: July 24, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION