Press Releases

May 14, 2002
The Southampton Players Get a Kick Out of "A Chorus Line"

Training Began In January With New York City Veterans

Contact:
Darren Johnson (PR@southampton.liu.edu)
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

In their most ambitious and fun-filled project yet, popular East End troupe The Southampton Players will present the legendary Broadway musical "A Chorus Line" next month at Southampton College.

Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Sundays June 7-9, 14-16 and 21-23 in the Avram Theater. Reservations are recommended, as The Southampton Players have packed the house in recent summers with their well received, well reviewed musicals. Tickets are $15/$10 students and seniors. Call 631-287-8480.

A musical about aspiring actors trying out for Broadway, "A Chorus Line" breaks away from the rigid story line of traditional musicals, instead weaving together the stories of the ensemble "gypsies" into a seamless whole. The Pulitzer-winning everyman tale had one of Broadway's longest and most triumphant runs, with 6137 performances through 1990.

Now The Southampton Players are bringing this milestone musical back to the stage - and they're determined. Since January, The Players have been working with former "Chorus Line" cast members in Manhattan, learning how to hit the right notes in memorable songs like "One" and "Dance Ten, Looks Three" while learning the complicated dance steps that, purposely, aren't always perfect. The Players' June production will stick to Michael Bennett's original choreography to the letter.

" 'A Chorus Line' is the brass ring you always hope you could reach for as a troupe, and, after receiving positive evaluations by former stars in the show, we realized we could do it," said Players Director Michael Disher. "Then, once you start rehearsing for a show like this, you're hit with an unquenchable fire to do the play justice.

"The kids in our troupe are too young to remember the musical," Disher added, "so it's time to bring this amazing work back to the stage. It's the most challenging thing that we've ever attempted, but it's equally rewarding."

The Players have been working directly with stage veterans Lois Englund, who played Val during the Broadway run, Mark Martino, who has toured with the play nationally, and Stephen Nachamie, who has been dancing with the show on a national tour for the past 12 years.

Disher had actually directed Nachamie as a boy at the Gateway Theater. Past Players' favorites also are returning to participate in this production, including Abby Flynn as Val, Ericka Winne as Maggie, Bryna Alderman as Cassie and Ray Hamlin as Zach. "Once the buzz got around that we were doing 'A Chorus Line' everybody wanted in," Disher said. "The play's a real magnet and, like its characters who bond through their trials and tryouts, our production has also been a gathering of several generations of cast members who quickly have become inseparable."

The 30 actors in the show have also bonded because "A Chorus Line" is a story without a star. "The show doesn't allow for a star turn," Disher said. "The only star of the show is the show itself."

In recent years, the Southampton Players have become one of Long Island's most celebrated and popular troupes, regularly selling out shows and staging a wide range of fare, from locally-written comedies to elaborate, full-scale musicals.