The A Chorus Line original 1975 cast perform "I Hope I Get It" at the opening of the 1976 Tony Awards, broadcast live from the Shubert Theatre Sunday, April 18, 1976.
Like I said...NO ONE can TOUCH Kelly Bishop as Sheila or Donna McKecknie. There was just something VERY special about that original cast that will never be matched although I KNOW the revival will be great.
No matter how many times I've seen this show, no matter how many times I've done it... every time the lights come up on the line with the dancers holding their resumes in front of their faces... agh, chills. Without Bebe, who knows how long ago I'd have given up!
AH, Kelly Bishop you are amazing. Sheila is the best character. "Sheila, do you know the combination?" "I knew it when I was in the front." LOVE HER. I also love "Headband, head up!"
God, I hope you got it. I'm a snob when it comes to this show. I've seen it at least 20 times on B'way (b'tween 76-83 at the Shubert) It was the days of Diane Fratantoni and Rene Clemente(RIP, pal) The show was absolute magic and directed...or misdirected my life. May it live forever !! (WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, BUDDY BALOU ????)
I loved this show when I saw it back in the 70's! Never forgot it and still sing the songs around here every once in a while. Definitely one of the best! Thanks!
my mom went and saw this when it was in it's glory on her senior trip to New York back in the 70's and I grew up watching the movie and listening to the original broadway soundtrack. I will forever love this show!!!!
This is awsum!!! Brilliant! And when you think of it. Listen to how the audience responded back then. And this was just the biginning. They didn't knew it was going to be a legendary show!
everytime i watch this it makes me feel warm inside, its amazing! if i can dance like that! dancing has changed so much since then and it should go back to that!
Its been a year since I did this musical ; albeit only as a minor support cast but boy, what an experience! Made me fall in love with Broadway and dancing. You're right; my feet hurt like mad and I pulled a hamstring once during a rehearsal.
I briefly knew Tommy Walsh, one of the original cast. He was a lifelong friend of a dear friend of mine, she passed away about a year ago, Tommy passed soon after. He had a fantastic career, as a performer and choreographer on Broadway, and an extremely nice person. I'm glad I got to know him a little. Beautiful man, RIP Tommy.
You can feel the tension and desperation in this piece. I think a lot of us Americans feel the exact same way right now. Unemployment is creeping slowly up to ten percent. I can truly relate to this, and have said it myself "please, God, I need this job." Thank you so much for putting this up, it really was one of the greatest Broadway shows of all time.
Thank goodness they finally got around to televising the Tonys. We have so little on film or video to show us the glory of the originals of so many musicals.
this is probably the most amazing opening of a musical i have ever encountered. it never fails to thrill me. michael bennett was a genuine genius. what a thrill.
the current company does a wonderful job. the best ensemble I have ever seen doi the show ( a credit to Bayork Lee and to Michael Gorman). I have seen the show all over the world and I was in the show. I was too young to have seen the original cast, but, as I say, The current cast is fantastic and well worth seeing, you do no have to back in time.
I was lucky enough to see it with the original cast not once but TWICE! The second time was the last night they performed on Broadway before taking it on the road. What a memorable evening!
This show shaped my life as a dancer... I saw it when I was young... and took many lessons at Phil Blacks to be just this! How sad the revival I saw last year of this show never even came close to the original!
What a wonderfull find...By the way the character Zack who is featured in this clip is Robert Lupune, who is Patti Lupone's brother. Soap Opera fans may remember him as Zack Grayson on All My Children in the early 80's.
Thanks for posting this! This was such an exciting event to watch on TV out here in San Francisco! A commercial during the Tony's stated that tickets for A Chorus Line were going on sale the next day downtown at the Curran Theatre. I went down at 0630 to get in line! The line was already around two corners! I believe it sold out the entire six weeks that day! The original cast came!!!!! They were fantastic!!!!! Later companies lacked the spark of this company. Again, thanks for posting!
Amazing clip, thanks so much for posting it. You can feel the thrill when Zach first yells the "Ah-5-6-7-8!" and the audience starts clapping. This show must have must have been such a favorite that year because not only is it so good, but it's about Broadway--it's a show about that community.
boy you had to be in good shape to do that shit... wonderful saw it S.f. during the golden years of broadway in the 70's Grease was playing next door, Liza Minelli was on tour with "shine it on" which was later changed to "The Act" and the wiz was out as well, hearing those gospel backup singers from the show just was such a magical experience.
The original was totally of its time and place, people telling their stories was so new then - In just a few years all the Phil Donahue and Oprah shows came on the scene, and it became commonplace for people to bare their stories in public. I wish there was some way to see a clearer version of this video, maybe at the TV museum..It's great that the dancers were caught in action - I wonder what else is still surviving from the show..
yes, it's all the original bennet choreography. The instruction is all part of the show, the instructor's one of the characters within the musical. This is the original cast doing the opening number on the tony awards.
Antod11, u are so right! But that's nowadays's Broadway. My friend didn't make it to Wicked last audition for cuz his nose. They said that it wasn't A Chorus Line audition, where there are every types of people..
i love this song so much the first time i found this musical was wen i was auddtioning for GUYS AND DOLLS in my high scool and i love musicals so i went to the libary looking for musical soundtracks and i found this one and this first song i was like OMG THIS IS LIKE HOW I ALWAYS FEEL AND I BET EVERYONE ELSE DOES TO IN THE AUDDTION PROCESS WAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO PUT IT MUSIC lol im always like in 2:46 thinking im horriable lol (ps i did get sarah brown in G.A.D it was a great experince
If only the show, which I saw at the Shubert twice, with the original cast, was filmed, "as is". Do not EVER see the movie. Btw, The dancer who says, at 4:07, "I knew it when I was in the FRONT!" is Kelly Bishop, then known as Carole Bishop, who later played Jennifer Grey's mother in "Dirty Dancing". The onstage "director" is Robert LuPone, brother of Broadway legend Patti "Evita" LuPone.
Notice that the tempo was much faster back in the day, also. I have to wonder how the AIDS plague -- which was just about to hit when this was made -- affected the next generations of dance/choreography/etc. Devastating in so many ways.
A familiar attitude. Love. Where is Michael Ian Lerner? Or Ian Michael Lerner. Or...Ian Michaels. (I did work with Harvey Evans, Gretchen Wyler, Sam Stoneburger and Sheila Smith).
I agree with the person who commented on how similar this is to the revival. Everything except for the facial hair seems to be the same. :-) This is great.
Like I said...NO ONE can TOUCH Kelly Bishop as Sheila or Donna McKecknie. There was just something VERY special about that original cast that will never be matched although I KNOW the revival will be great.
Almost 50 yrs ago i saw this original cast on Broadway at the Shubert...no company after them ever came close...thats just the way it was.
No matter how many times I've seen this show, no matter how many times I've done it... every time the lights come up on the line with the dancers holding their resumes in front of their faces... agh, chills. Without Bebe, who knows how long ago I'd have given up!
AH, Kelly Bishop you are amazing. Sheila is the best character. "Sheila, do you know the combination?" "I knew it when I was in the front." LOVE HER. I also love "Headband, head up!"
i just watched Every Little Step this morning and remembered again how much I loved this musical, every single story, every single song.
God, I hope you got it.
I'm a snob when it comes to this show. I've seen it at least 20 times on B'way (b'tween 76-83 at the Shubert)
It was the days of Diane Fratantoni and Rene Clemente(RIP, pal) The show was absolute magic and directed...or misdirected my life.
May it live forever !!
(WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, BUDDY BALOU ????)
I wish I could have seen this show!❤❤❤❤❤❤ I still know all the music by heart! I wrote a paper about this show for high school theater class.Oh man😚
I loved this show when I saw it back in the 70's! Never forgot it and still sing the songs around here every once in a while. Definitely one of the best! Thanks!
my mom went and saw this when it was in it's glory on her senior trip to New York back in the 70's and I grew up watching the movie and listening to the original broadway soundtrack. I will forever love this show!!!!
I love Kelly Bishop "I knew it when I was in the front"
This is awsum!!! Brilliant! And when you think of it. Listen to how the audience responded back then. And this was just the biginning. They didn't knew it was going to be a legendary show!
This performance goes a long way in explaining why "A Chorus Line" was on Broadway so long. Thanks for posting for our enjoyment.
everytime i watch this it makes me feel warm inside, its amazing! if i can dance like that! dancing has changed so much since then and it should go back to that!
Every single time I hear those trumpets blaring it gives me chills. Every. Single. Time.
Its been a year since I did this musical ; albeit only as a minor support cast but boy, what an experience! Made me fall in love with Broadway and dancing. You're right; my feet hurt like mad and I pulled a hamstring once during a rehearsal.
and to play that ever evening WOW! respect for those people
I briefly knew Tommy Walsh, one of the original cast. He was a lifelong friend of a dear friend of mine, she passed away about a year ago, Tommy passed soon after. He had a fantastic career, as a performer and choreographer on Broadway, and an extremely nice person. I'm glad I got to know him a little. Beautiful man, RIP Tommy.
You can feel the tension and desperation in this piece. I think a lot of us Americans feel the exact same way right now. Unemployment is creeping slowly up to ten percent. I can truly relate to this, and have said it myself "please, God, I need this job." Thank you so much for putting this up, it really was one of the greatest Broadway shows of all time.
i got goosebumps. amazing.
Thank goodness they finally got around to televising the Tonys. We have so little on film or video to show us the glory of the originals of so many musicals.
the beginning group dance is the single hardest piece of choreography i have ever learned. more power to the dancers!
I saw the 2006-7 Revival and it was great! I even have the CD. I plan on buying the 80s version!
I love this video.
i saw this show in april 08, and i really will never forget it, absolutely amazing!
this is probably the most amazing opening of a musical i have ever encountered. it never fails to thrill me. michael bennett was a genuine genius. what a thrill.
"I knew it when I was in the front." Sheila's one of the best characters.
the current company does a wonderful job. the best ensemble I have ever seen doi the show ( a credit to Bayork Lee and to Michael Gorman). I have seen the show all over the world and I was in the show. I was too young to have seen the original cast, but, as I say, The current cast is fantastic and well worth seeing, you do no have to back in time.
the dancing in this show in my not exactly expert opinion is unmatched!
i listened to this song on my CL album, over and over and over and over lol
I learned this dance in a master class of mine. Good stufff
i grew up with this cast recording, and while i saw the show on Bway, i never saw the original cast........i can't THANK YOU enough for posting this !
I was lucky enough to see it with the original cast not once but TWICE! The second time was the last night they performed on Broadway before taking it on the road. What a memorable evening!
Hands down the best Broadway show of the 20th Century because it is about...
Showbiz!
It still gives me goosebumps, even after all these years.
IMO the best musical ever.
This show shaped my life as a dancer... I saw it when I was young... and took many lessons at Phil Blacks to be just this! How sad the revival I saw last year of this show never even came close to the original!
The end just gave me chills! Anyone who's ever been to a high-stakes audition probably identifies with this number. Love it!
I LOVE it this fast... back step pivot step walk walk walk. CHILLS!
Dude. We're learning this in dance, and its TOTALLY nuts. Thanks for posting it so I can get an idea of what it looked like originally.
wow! this is amazing! i saw the revival a months back. this show is great!
What a wonderfull find...By the way the character Zack who is featured in this clip is Robert Lupune, who is Patti Lupone's brother. Soap Opera fans may remember him as Zack Grayson on All My Children in the early 80's.
Thanks for posting this! This was such an exciting event to watch on TV out here in San Francisco! A commercial during the Tony's stated that tickets for A Chorus Line were going on sale the next day downtown at the Curran Theatre. I went down at 0630 to get in line! The line was already around two corners! I believe it sold out the entire six weeks that day! The original cast came!!!!! They were fantastic!!!!! Later companies lacked the spark of this company. Again, thanks for posting!
I love the ending transition. Always gives me chilling sensations
that was so incredible
i have tears in my eyes!
"I knew it when I was in front" - love Sheila!
Amazing clip, thanks so much for posting it. You can feel the thrill when Zach first yells the "Ah-5-6-7-8!" and the audience starts clapping. This show must have must have been such a favorite that year because not only is it so good, but it's about Broadway--it's a show about that community.
Eletrifying, no matter how many times I see it. Lightning in a bottle.
simply amazing
learned it now doin it in dance class.. people askin how you know how to do it...thumbs up if u know the dance.
I saw this for the first time on the trial run of the revival in SF. I like it almost as much as Wicked.
O_O
Oh snap.
marvelous, thanks, very
much!!!
Performing in this at my camp! So hard!
Man, do i love this play!! I've got an autographed poster in my room!
its so cool! They dance with the quiet piano, and 5 6 7 8 BAM
i conducted a chorus line for a highschool production... the most fun thing ever to conduct.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS! A Chorus Line for me is what broadway is about .... amazing!
that's the only reason I looked this up! I love it when Chaka randomly starts singing it! ROFL
tht is sooo freakin amazing!!!!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This is spine tingling to watch this!
Thanks so much for posting this!!
Sheila knew the combination when she was in front. LOL.
AMAZING.
That was amazing, I can't wait until the revival comes to Chicago next year.
that was incredible!!! Thank you for posting.
Whoa, that was awesome! I love Prisicilia Lopez.
I'd love to see the finale.
Thank you SO much for this!
i just saw this show's remake last night, it was the most amazing broadway show i've ever seen!!
I sincerely doubt it...but what a hysterically funny observation...you rock!
HELLOOOOO
i got chills
boy you had to be in good shape to do that shit...
wonderful saw it S.f. during the golden years of broadway in the 70's Grease was playing next door, Liza Minelli was on tour with "shine it on" which was later changed to "The Act" and the wiz was out as well, hearing those gospel backup singers from the show just was such a magical experience.
Land of lost !! J'aime cette musique
OMG, this is so amazing!
Me encanta!!!!
that's soo cool. cause it was such a long time ago .. :D
The original was totally of its time and place, people telling their stories was so new then -
In just a few years all the Phil Donahue and Oprah shows came on the scene, and it became commonplace for people to bare their stories in public.
I wish there was some way to see a clearer version of this video, maybe at the TV museum..It's great that the dancers were caught in action - I wonder what else is still surviving from the show..
yes, it's all the original bennet choreography. The instruction is all part of the show, the instructor's one of the characters within the musical. This is the original cast doing the opening number on the tony awards.
Fresco e interesante... Motiva a la acción!!!
Ever since I saw that movie.... I've had this song stuck in my head. Lol.
Are you serious? Critical flop of a movie. Disgraceful what they did to original play.
simply historic
Wow. I am surprised at how much the current revival is like the original, right down to all the costumes.
Antod11, u are so right!
But that's nowadays's Broadway. My friend didn't make it to Wicked last audition for cuz his nose. They said that it wasn't A Chorus Line audition, where there are every types of people..
this play is da rock
THIS IS SO FIERCE!!
i love this song so much the first time i found this musical was wen i was auddtioning for GUYS AND DOLLS in my high scool and i love musicals so i went to the libary looking for musical soundtracks and i found this one and this first song i was like OMG THIS IS LIKE HOW I ALWAYS FEEL AND I BET EVERYONE ELSE DOES TO IN THE AUDDTION PROCESS WAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO PUT IT MUSIC lol im always like in 2:46 thinking im horriable lol (ps i did get sarah brown in G.A.D it was a great experince
Wow! I just did this routine for a jazz test :P
If only the show, which I saw at the Shubert twice, with the original cast, was filmed, "as is". Do not EVER see the movie. Btw, The dancer who says, at 4:07, "I knew it when I was in the FRONT!" is Kelly Bishop, then known as Carole Bishop, who later played Jennifer Grey's mother in "Dirty Dancing". The onstage "director" is Robert LuPone, brother of Broadway legend Patti "Evita" LuPone.
totally me!!!!! im terrified for auditions!!!
Hehe, I never heard of this before I saw it in that movie.
I am so grateful that you posted this :)
The guy who keeps looking down looks like The Todd from Scrubs. Haha.
And for fans of "The Sopranos," Robert LuPone (Zach) played Dr. Bruce Cusamano, Tony's neighbor and family physician on the show.
ME TOO!!
Notice that the tempo was much faster back in the day, also. I have to wonder how the AIDS plague -- which was just about to hit when this was made -- affected the next generations of dance/choreography/etc. Devastating in so many ways.
And Emily Gilmore (the grandmother) in Gilmore Girls! Love Kelly Bishop!
Cool! So that was the original cast...
I know exactly what you mean. Everyone has the same singing voice too! It's that "Disney Voice".
@dgallegos4201 it's powering through a 12"...one of the few funny lines in the movie, and pretty much the only reason why I'm watching this clip now!
A familiar attitude. Love. Where is Michael Ian Lerner? Or Ian Michael Lerner. Or...Ian Michaels. (I did work with Harvey Evans, Gretchen Wyler, Sam Stoneburger and Sheila Smith).
I agree with the person who commented on how similar this is to the revival. Everything except for the facial hair seems to be the same. :-) This is great.
impressive