Understudies! Casting The Sequel To 'A Chorus Line'

by Daisy Klaber

When my best friend and I were nine, and the rest of the neighborhood was playing house, we were perched on PVC-inspired bar stools in the basement, rubbing our temples and sighing to one another about how hard it was to find good talent.

I mean, casting a show is a nightmare in any case, but the stakes were extra high here, what with Michael Douglas breathing down our necks [Lucky Lights® exhale]. It’s hard enough to find an individual who shines, but to pair up two singer/dancers who both embodied the spirit of the sequel to A Chorus Line that we were workshopping, and who were also kindred spirits with each other? God. Wish me luck; the same to you.

Scribbling copious, exasperated notes about our imaginary gypsies (‘Sloppy!’ ‘Doesn’t WANT it enough!’ ‘Everybody thinks this comes naturally. Honey, it doesn’t. Learn the combo’), we were critical and demanding. But judgey as we were, up there at the hi-top table with our clipboards, we didn’t actually see ourselves as judges. Well, not of a contest anyway. To us, there was no Best, but only those who were Right For The Part and those who Were Not.

It was all about the art, you see, not about being a star. We were telling a story, making musicals happen. For our project, we were looking for real players-people who’d work to get into a character and a company and a show, not stand out as a performer. Of course we watched the hell out of “Star Search” backstage, but what self-respecting industry professional didn’t? We found ourselves complaining constantly, though, to any baby brothers who would listen, about the egos, and the misdirected effort, and the transparent self-interest. How could we possibly lose ourselves in your number if you were just gonna caress the mic with that insipid affectation and belt out Whitney Houston hits as if you’d really ever tried to resist being last on his list?

Musical theater is a cooperative experience! Writers and directors and producers and actors and musicians and technical experts and audience members&mdashwe; were all in this together, people. There’s no “I” in “dream.” Exhausting ourselves, we went through pairing after pairing, discussing failure after failure, wondering if we’d ever get it right. Partners do way more than dance. They have to be able to rely on each other to remember and follow the routine, but they also have to be able to riff off of each other when things don’t go as planned. They have to look good and sound good together, sure, but it’s more than that. A real duo brings out beauty and grace in each other, and also sympathetic movement in everyone around them. They help each other feel the height and depth of every moment, and they know when to push and when to catch.

It’s hard enough to find an individual who shines, but find a pair who are also kindred spirits with each other? Almost impossible. We learned that as nine-year-olds, but it’s a lesson that holds true throughout. That’s why I’m so glad that my best friend found her perfect partner. They danced together on Broadway a few years ago, and they vowed earlier this month to dance together for life.

Daisy Klaber would like to apologize to Jackie for sometimes making her be Olivia Newton-John’s “sister.”