Chorus Line
The drama department at Eastbourne College completed the year with a production of the iconic Broadway musical A Chorus Line. It originally opened in New York in 1975 to enormous success and transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London the following year. A local resident kindly reviewed the production:
“It would seem to be not the most obvious choice for teenage pupils to be attempting, but those who think along these lines do so not knowing the directorial talents and imagination of the College’s Director of Drama Tim Marriott.
It is an unusual show that it requires no set as it takes place on a bare stage of a theatre. The plot, such as it is, takes the form a large number of hopefuls at a dance audition for a musical being put their paces, physically and emotionally, by a very demanding director. He has to reduce the number down to eight, and all the hopefuls need the work. Zach, the director, wishes to know what makes each dancer tick, and grills them about their background and why he should choose them.
Tim Marriott has directed many fine productions at the College; however here he has surpassed himself with a production of imagination and drive. The show was staged in the magnificent Birley Centre, whose open performing area lent itself perfectly to this musical.
Mr Marriott, the entire production team and cast, are to be congratulated on a superb production of this show which came across to me far more than the 1975 original professional production. There’s praise indeed!”
