The most exciting news came winging its way to us today via Whatsonstage that the director of American Horror Story is bringing a series to Netflix using one of Broadway’s greatest ever shows as inspiration – A Chorus Line.
The series will return to the heart of the show – original interviews with Broadway dancers which gave the writers the inspiration to take what is a brilliantly simple idea – a line up of professional performers lining up for the dance audition for a new Broadway show – and to turn it into a hit show in its own right.
A Chorus Line may seem like a tits-and-teeth spectacle (it requires a wide proscenium to enjoy a full staging meaning that only certain of London and Broadway’s stages have ever been able to stage a full production) but at its heart it offers an intimate, often deeply moving, insight into the world of the highs and lows and enormous sacrifices of a successful – and often brutally short-lived – career as a Broadway dancer.
In an interview with Deadline, Director Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) explains that the series will take this idea and spread it out over a number of episodes allowing a far deeper look into the story of each dancer.
A Chorus Line first opened in the 1970s but is as fresh and relevant today – perhaps even more so bearing in mind the struggle all performers have faced in 2020. We can’t wait for the Netflix release!