A Chorus Line

I interviewed Marvin Hamlisch (um, mumbledy mumble years ago) and I asked him about "What I Did for Love" because, to me, it just seems out of place and has a horrible bit of dialog to lead into it. He said that Bennet wanted to cut the song. Hamlisch insisted on it staying because, according to him, he needed to have "one hit song" from the show. And, yet, Priscilla Lopez - who gets two solos - did not win the Tony.
And, most here probably know that Paul's monologue was pretty much, word for word, Nicholas Dante's story from one of the late night recorded sessions. Dante is credited as one of the book authors, as well. It still is one of the most emotional moments I've ever seen on stage - and I haven't seen it since, well, 1977 - but I can hear "take care of my son" in my mind, and I start to tear up. I've rarely heard an audience so quiet (aside from the tears and sobs)

Agreed. Remember I was at the front in Birmingham. His vocal was outstanding and the orchestra was fantastic.

I always like those two lines or so from Paul at the end of the opening number (God I Hope I Get It) where he sings Who Am I Anyway?

Exposes his vulnerabilities straight up front.

It's interesting that A Chorus Line went to Drury Lane when it open originally in London, I wonder if it would have run a bit longer had they opted for say the Adelphi.

Yes, because the whole point of the show is NOT 'what they do for love' but what they do to get in a show!  The sentiment comes out of nowhere and is throughly gratuitous.  It would have been no less relevant had they sung, say, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Chrisdtmas."

I watched Every Little Step as well last night - not for the first time, but for the first time in a few years.

The sequence showing a succession of auditionees for the role of Maggie murdering the big climactic note in At The Ballet made me really, REALLY appreciate Kay Cole's glorious performance on the original cast recording.

It's absolutely wrong when Cassie sings it, and that's one of the worst choices in a very, very bad film. When Cassie sings it - partly because Ed Kleban was pressured into writing a somewhat generic lyric so that the show would have an extractable hit song - it becomes about the relationship as much as the career, and that's not what the show is about.

Richard Attenborough didn't understand the material at all. In a film full of very bad choices, reassigning that song was one of the worst. The moment is not - or should not be - about a romantic relationship. It's about dedication to a craft.

They made some terrible choices for the film version.

They cut all of Michael Bennett's iconic choreography in the opening 'I Hope I Get It' and replaced it with some bad MTV video routine.

And Cassie's wig in the flashback scenes is a crime all of its own.

Though i do admit to really liking the new song 'Surprise'

Attenborough that it was just a standard backstage musical - he said it was about a group of "kids" trying to get their first break.  Um, no.
And he brought back the original discarded idea of Cassie showing up to confront Zach and not to be part of the audition. In the film, Cassie gets her own entrance in a cab - as I recall. Bennett knew that was wrong and that idea was discarded early in the creation of A Chorus Line.
And, I know, if you hire Michael Douglas, you have to show his face, but Zach being almost exclusively on the GodMike in the stage show is a whole different story than one where Zach is a "person". That's why you don't cast Michael Douglas.

The Chorus Line film is my guilty pleasure.

They made some mistakes but ALSO made some great additions.

Some wonderful performances too.

Oh do enjoy, TallPaul.

It’s a wonderful remastering, and the bonus tracks are sublime. In fact, I listen to “It’s All In Here” more often than the rest of the actual score. I wish more of it had made it in. It’s beautiful and melancholic as performed by Kleban and Hamlisch, too.