Chorus Line

BEVERLY — “God, I’m a dancer,’’ an aging but still vital hoofer named Cassie blurts out in the North Shore Music Theatre production of “A Chorus Line,’’ just before she launches into “The Music and the Mirror,’’ her big number. “A dancer dances.’’ It is partly a plea, partly a defiant boast, and partly a recognition of the simple, inescapable truth for Cassie (Rebecca Riker) and the other dancers who are pulling out all the stops in a pressure-cooker audition for a coveted spot in the chorus line of a new Broadway show.

BEVERLY — “God, I’m a dancer,’’ an aging but still vital hoofer named Cassie blurts out in the North Shore Music Theatre production of “A Chorus Line,’’ just before she launches into “The Music and the Mirror,’’ her big number. “A dancer dances.’’ It is partly a plea, partly a defiant boast, and partly a recognition of the simple, inescapable truth for Cassie (Rebecca Riker) and the other dancers who are pulling out all the stops in a pressure-cooker audition for a coveted spot in the chorus line of a new Broadway show.

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. "The Producers" has one absolutely brilliant production number in it, and it's the one you already know. But even if you can recite the 1968 movie script from memory, saw Nathan Lane on Broadway, or caught the earlier tour of the musical here, that one number -- "Springtime for Hitler," with its dancing pretzels and beer steins, warbling Hitler youth, and goose-stepping chorus line -- is still so fall-off-your-seat funny that it almost makes the whole night worthwhile.

Professional stage actors are a far more compelling subject of study than typical movie actors. Everything about them is turned up a level - their hunger for a part, their self-confidence, self-doubt, their lust for approval. In despair, they bleed charisma. Even in repose, they're projecting to the back of the house. That intensity is the star of "Every Little Step," Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern's engrossing backstage documentary - OK, pre-backstage. Their project is built on a clever conceit.

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" may not seem like a terribly dramatic piece, but the New England String Ensemble knows better. The group last performed Mozart's greatest hit in its inaugural concert, 13 years and two music directors ago, and that rendition was interrupted by a power outage that plunged the stage into darkness. On Sunday afternoon, the ensemble's new director, Federico Cortese, decided to test fate (and Jordan Hall's circuit breakers) by programming the piece again.

WATERTOWN - "Gutenberg! The Musical" is just about as goofy as it gets. Well, with a title like that, it had better be. "Gutenberg! The Musical" does, of course, know that it's goofy. The show, which creators Scott Brown and Anthony King say began as a joke, is now a full-fledged, two-hour, choreographed joke: a perfectly silly, often amusing musical about a perfectly terrible, so-crazy-it's-funny musical about the inventor of the printing press. So it's not just the German setting that occasionally calls to mind "The Producers" and its deliberately...

Professional stage actors are a far more compelling subject of study than typical movie actors. Everything about them is turned up a level - their hunger for a part, their self-confidence, self-doubt, their lust for approval. In despair, they bleed charisma. Even in repose, they're projecting to the back of the house. That intensity is the star of "Every Little Step," Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern's engrossing backstage documentary - OK, pre-backstage. Their project is built on a clever conceit.

NEW YORK - Tharon Musser, a Tony-winning lighting designer of more than 100 Broadway shows, including such legendary musicals as "A Chorus Line," "Dreamgirls," "Mame," and "42nd Street," has died after a long illness. She was 84. Lighting designer Ken Billington, who was once her apprentice, said Ms. Musser died Sunday at her home in Newtown, Conn. Ms. Musser's Broadway career began in 1956 with the original production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night. " Ms. Musser was nominated for 10 Tonys for lighting design, winning...

The threat of Hurricane Irene didn't stop the cast and crew of the musical "Chicago" from celebrating a Broadway milestone. At a small backstage party at intermission during Friday evening's performance, the show marked its 6,137th performance — tying "A Chorus Line" for the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history. The next performance of the John Jander and Fred Ebb musical will give it sole possession of the fourth-place spot. Because of Irene, that performance has been pushed back to Monday night.

NEW YORK — Theoni V. Aldredge, an award-winning costume designer who created memorable outfits for more than 300 stage and film projects, including “Gypsy,’’ “A Chorus Line,’’ “Dreamgirls,’’ and “42nd Street,’’ has died. She was 78. Her husband, actor Tom Aldredge, said she died yesterday at a hospice in Connecticut. She won Tonys for “Annie,’’ “Barnum,’’ and “La Cage aux Folles’’ and an Oscar for designing costumes for “The Great Gatsby,’’ starring Robert Redford.

WATERTOWN - "Gutenberg! The Musical" is just about as goofy as it gets. Well, with a title like that, it had better be. "Gutenberg! The Musical" does, of course, know that it's goofy. The show, which creators Scott Brown and Anthony King say began as a joke, is now a full-fledged, two-hour, choreographed joke: a perfectly silly, often amusing musical about a perfectly terrible, so-crazy-it's-funny musical about the inventor of the printing press. So it's not just the German setting that occasionally calls to mind "The Producers" and its deliberately dreadful show within a show, "Springtime...

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" may not seem like a terribly dramatic piece, but the New England String Ensemble knows better. The group last performed Mozart's greatest hit in its inaugural concert, 13 years and two music directors ago, and that rendition was interrupted by a power outage that plunged the stage into darkness. On Sunday afternoon, the ensemble's new director, Federico Cortese, decided to test fate (and Jordan Hall's circuit breakers) by programming the piece again.

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. "The Producers" has one absolutely brilliant production number in it, and it's the one you already know. But even if you can recite the 1968 movie script from memory, saw Nathan Lane on Broadway, or caught the earlier tour of the musical here, that one number -- "Springtime for Hitler," with its dancing pretzels and beer steins, warbling Hitler youth, and goose-stepping chorus line -- is still so fall-off-your-seat funny that it almost makes the whole night worthwhile.

NEW YORK -- Thommie Walsh, a Tony-winning choreographer who was in the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line," has died after a long battle with lymphoma. He was 57. Mr. Walsh died Saturday at his mother's home in Auburn, N.Y., his manager, Robert Duva, said yesterday. Mr. Walsh was best known for creating the role of Bobby in "A Chorus Line," Michael Bennett's backstage look at dancers' auditions for a big Broadway musical. The show based on dancers' real-life stories opened at the Public Theater off-Broadway in April 1975 before moving to Broadway's Shubert Theatre for 6,137...