More than One! Thrilling Combination of Dance, Song and Heartache in ‘A Chorus Line’ at Welk

A Chorus Line won Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score in 1976, and those watching the Welk Resort Theatre’s reprisal (through March 22) may call it the best commercial for becoming a dancer or actor, or absolutely not.

The cast of A Chorus Line at Welk Resort Theatre. Courtesy Image

We follow 17 hopeful men and women through a strange and stressful audition for a Broadway production. The opening number “I Hope I Get It” is exhilarating and celebrates the tenacity of performers. We hear a rehearsal piano, dancers surge forward, and tensions grow. The dancers try to be brave but are desperate and have doubts. “I need this job…How many people does he need?”

The director Zach, played with realistic presence by Jeffrey Ricca, wants a strong chorus of “four boys and four girls.” So the weeding process begins; we are left in tears as the dancers hold their 8×10 headshots in front of them.

The audition structure becomes excruciating when Zach insists on hearing their personal life stories. It’s unsettling to hear about childhood abuse and painful struggles with families, aging, and acceptance. Anthony Michael Vacio delivers a heart-wrenching soliloquy as Paul, a gay man who finds acceptance as a drag queen.

A Chorus Line was gleaned from taped workshop sessions with dancers in the 70s and explores the lives of performers–their joys and sacrifices. It made important cultural leaps that are still relevant. Set on a bare stage with mirrors, the show explores key events and decisions that grow dancers. They find beauty in ballet. They accept their sexuality and limitations.

The irony is how the director pushes them to reveal personal stories, yet insists they dance as a unit and stifle their sparkling personalities.

Still, we meet Diana, a Latina who felt nothing in high school drama class, and bravo to Lauren Louis in the role, leading a montage of memories with full voice, in spite of a malfunctioning microphone.

Mikayla Agrella as Cassie has more energy than the sun and reminds everyone to go out there and reinvent yourself.

Their stories are depressing with flashes of levity.

As the sexpot Sheila, Natalie Nucci, a Welk favorite, struts like a diva and threatens to smoke on stage.

As Mark, Drew Bradford never breaks character, even recalling his wet dream, confession, and drinking too much water.

Holly Echsner, as Val, has jaws dropping when singing about plastic surgery. In her song best known as “Tits and Ass,” she explains how talent doesn’t count for everything…”

Cody Walker as Al and Danielle Airey as Kristine pose with the Cast of A Chorus Line at Welk Resort Theatre.  Courtesy image

Danielle Airey, as ditzy Kristine, makes  singing tone deaf a comic art form, with help from a smooth-voiced Cody Walker as her adoring husband, Al.

Director/choreographer Hector Guerrero preserves the angst and passion of working dancers and actors. His cast is diverse and enthralling, and the dancing is eye-popping, from the opening–step kick kick leap kick touch—to the feel-good finale with the full cast of 19 in sparkling costumes. The production has Broadway energy and would be more successful with a live orchestra and interactive rehearsal piano, rather than a recording.

Kris Eitland

Kris Eitland covers dance and theater for Sandiegostory.com and freelances for other publications, including the Union Tribune and Dance Teacher Magazine. She grew up performing many dance styles and continued intensive modern dance and choreography at the Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, and San Diego State Univ. She also holds a journalism degree from SDSU. Her career includes stints in commercial and public radio news production.

Eitland has won numerous Excellence in Journalism awards for criticism and reporting from the San Diego Press Club. She has served on the Press Club board since 2011 and is a past president. She is a co-founder of Sandiegostory.com. She has a passion for the arts, throwing parties with dancing and singing, and cruising the Pacific in her family’s vintage trawler. She trains dogs, skis, and loves seasonal trips to her home state of Minnesota.