Tony Award-winning director, actress, choreographer and author Baayork Lee brings Michael Bennett’s original production of “A Chorus Line” back to life with a 33-city national tour stopping at Popejoy Hall for three nights, beginning Thursday, according to broadwayworld.com.
Lee portrayed Connie Wong in the original 1975 Broadway play, and now she is taking the musical across the Pacific to Tokyo, Japan after the national tour.
Since her outbreak performance on “A Chorus Line,” Lee has gone on to direct and choreograph 35 international productions of the musical, according to broadwayworld.com.
Lauren Garriott, “A Chorus Line” stage actress, said it’s an unbelievable occurrence to be able to work with Lee.
Garriott described Lee as “beyond words” and “incredible.”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with someone like her…She’s a legend in the Broadway and theater community…She has a passion for the project,” Garriott said.
She said Lee is able to tell stories others could not and has a strong understanding of the characters, because she knew and worked with the original cast.
Over 100 individuals competed for a role in “A Chorus Line,” and Garriott was the lucky dancer/singer chosen to play Judy, she said.
“I think me and Judy have a lot in common,” Garriott said. “We’re both very bubbly. She just has this energy about her...I think I have that same energy about me.”
The production is based on the 1975 Broadway musical, in which a group of dancers tell their stories, their sacrifices and what it takes to “make it” on a Broadway stage, Garriott said.
The performances that will hit the Popejoy Hall stage are true to the original script, even as the new cast puts their own personalities into the characters, she said.
“It’s a brand new cast…but everybody puts their own spin on it. People are playing these characters in ways that I’ve never seen them played…putting their own experience into the stories. I think (the audience is) going to be excited how each of us interpret the characters,” Garriott said.
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Anyone interested in learning more about “A Chorus Line” can visit poejoyhallpresents.com.
Sherri Barth is a volunteer sports and culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @SherriJBarth23.
