Wednesday, August 12, 1998

By JOE ADCOCK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
THEATER CRITIC

A few winners, lots of losers: we all know the score there. And much of show business exists to help us forget the nasty facts of life regarding winner/loser ratios.

And then there's "A Chorus Line." When you think of it, the show is mostly about losers and losing. And yet "A Chorus Line" is the most popular Broadway musical ever. It ran for 15 years. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Best Musical Tony Award in 1976.

The current Repertory Actors Workshop revival of "A Chorus Line" multiplies the standard "Chorus Line" winners/losers paradox. ReAct, as it calls itself, is a spinoff of the Northwest Asian American Theatre. It was started by theater artists who just knew -- American racial realities being what they are -- that they were not likely to be hired for standard stage productions. So they employ themselves.

ReAct's "A Chorus Line" cast of nearly three dozen is as ethnically diverse as life itself.

The show is about an audition for a show. Many are called to try out. Few are chosen.

Part of the tryout competition entails flashy exhibitions of dancing. And, as part of his selection process, the director wants some self-disclosure from the potential cast members. That entails songs and monologues.

Though "A Chorus Line" is ex

THEATER REVIEW A Chorus Line. Devised by Michael Bennett, with book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. A Repertory Actors Workshop production at the Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway. Through Aug. 23. Tickets $12-$24, $1 off with canned food donation for Northwest Harvest food bank; 206-364-3283.

traordinary in its lack of special effects -- no falling chandelier, no flying helicopter, no roller skaters on Plexiglas ramps -- the show is among the most demanding in the musical theater repertory. The performers themselves have to be sensational.

ReAct director David Hsieh has recruited some good performers. A few can actually hold their own as dancers, singers and actors. Most cannot.

Things go pretty well when the whole ensemble is moving together. Choreography by Scot Anderson, Brian Joe, Mistelle Comeau and Audrey Fan emulates the original New York dancing. Less fortunate are scenes in which an OK dancer has to act, or an OK actor has to sing.

Crystal Dawn Munkers plays the central role, Cassie, a woman who wants to return to chorus dancing after some featured stage roles and a stint in Hollywood. Munkers comports herself honorably as a singer, as an actor and as a dancer. It looks as if she could handle more interesting choreography than the sashaying routine that has been given to her.

Choreographer Anderson plays the director, Zach. For some reason, Anderson gives sinister inflections to his voice. He sometimes sounds like a Nazi interrogator in a 1940s American propaganda movie. Zach is vaguely sinister because of the win/lose power he has over the auditioners. And most of his lines are disembodied, spoken through a microphone out of the darkness. No contrived diction at all is required to convey menace.

Jojo Abaoag as the endearing underdog, Paul; Christopher J. Anderson as the nearly burnt out Richie; and Audrey Fan as the outspoken Val are contributors of bright moments.

Music director Kevin Miller's 10-piece band struggles and sometimes prevails with Marvin Hamlisch's stylistically varied score. A take-charge lighting design by Dan Madura helps sort out moods and episodes: dark, bright; solo moment, group effort.

"A Chorus Line" is a hugely ambitious undertaking for David Hsieh and his little company. They never quite triumph. But they are never quite defeated, either.

Monday, July 27, 1998