Review: Cast elevates 'A Chorus Line' in Bradenton

Manatee Players musicals in Stone Hall, the larger theater at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, have often been extravaganzas, full of flashy design, lighting, costumes and effects. They're usually wonderful theater experiences.

"A Chorus Line" opened in Stone Hall Thursday, and it's anything but extravagant. The sets are simple and few, costumes are basic. No helicopters land on stage, no cats rise into heaven and no actors fly through the air.

It's still a wonderful theater experience.

In fact, "A Chorus Line" is perhaps even more impressive than such high-tech shows as "Miss Saigon," "Cats" and "Peter Pan" -- all of which Manatee Players has staged expertly -- because its success depends almost entirely on its humanity: its large, young and multi-talented cast. They have to command the evening with their singing, acting, dancing, personalities with little assistance from designers.

The "Chorus Line" cast is large -- 26 people, including director/choreographer Thomas Dewayne Barrett, who also plays Zach in the show -- and there are no weak links.

Barrett, who says he has performed in "A Chorus Line" about 1,700 times all around the country, has patterned this production's dances closely on those created by Broadway legend Michael Bennett for the original production from the mid-1970s. The local cast carries off the Broadway moves stunningly. (There are times when some cast members have to intentionally dance not-so-well, which can't be easy to do with conviction, and they do that effectively too.)

The whole cast's acting is just as impressive. Great performances come from Barrett, Cheyenne Fauvel and Zach Sutton, but every single performance is strong, and all of the actors are dynamic presences on stage.

The singing is a bit less consistent, but the best vocal performances -- from Sarah Cassidy as Maggie, Kathryn Parks as Cassie, Leah Woodsum as Connie, and several others -- are thrilling.

There's not much of a story to "A Chorus Line." It's a series of vignettes that could almost be considered a musical revue. But the vignettes are poignant, even though some of them feel a bit dated after 40 years, and the characters are compelling, so the show feels substantial. And of course, most of the songs -- "One," "What I Did for Love," "I Can Do That" -- have great melodies by Marvin Hamlisch and clever lyrics by Edward Kleban.

You could wish for a better-looking set, even when the set is so basic, for flashier costumes in the show's finale, and for a fuller-sounding orchestra. (The individual performances from the musicians are fine, but the five-piece orchestra still somehow sounds tinny.) But you can't mind any of that much. Barrett has put together an amazing cast and has drawn fantastic performances out of them, and those people and those performances are what you'll remember.

Details: Through Jan. 24, Stone Hall at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $27-$37. Information: 941-748-5875, manateeperformingartscenter.com.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Review: Cast elevates 'A Chorus Line' in Bradenton ."