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‘A Chorus Line’ is a story of passion and inspiration, says the current ‘Cassie’
“A Chorus Line,” book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 26-June 7, Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut, Cincinnati. $20-$56. 1-800-982-2787 or on-line at www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Cincinnati.
Although it’s a musical about Broadway musicals, and specifically the performers who aren’t in the spotlight, “A Chorus Line” has still been able to resonate with non-showbiz folk since 1975.
“The show is a timeless classic and the whole point of the story is what you can when you can’t dance anymore,” said Robyn Hurder, who plays Cassie on the national tour that will open at the Aronoff Center next week. “But it’s much deeper than that. It’s about passion and inspiration and about what you do when you can’t do the thing you live for anymore.
“Throughout the show, there are all kinds of stories,” she said. “Every person in the audice will find someone or something to relate to. These are real people and we’ve shown what our lives are about, and when they spread out across the stage for the grand finale, they’re not just ‘A Chorus Line,’ but individuals.”
Cassie’s story is that of a former star who is seeking to return to the chorus line because it’s become too hard for her to find work at the star level, but she’s OK with it because the line feels like home to her. It’s better to dance in the chorus than to not dance at all. And even though Hurder is just beginning her career, that’s a sentiment she can relate to.
Hurder grew up in Maine and was passionate about dancing before she knew anything about it. Her mother started her in dance lessons at age 6 because the girl never passed on an opportunity to dance in restaurants or any public place where there was music. And then, when she was 8, they took her to a touring production of “Cats.”
“From then on, I knew what I wanted to do,” she said. “I was obsessed with Broadway and stuck to it.”
She went to college for a year and a half at the University of New Hampshire, but saw that as only a stepping stone.
“I was ready to skedaddle out of Maine and go to New York City,” she said. “You don’t need a degree to sing, act and dance, and you don’t have your health and body forever but you can always go back to school.”
So she decided to take a sabbattical, go to New York for one week and audition as much as she could, and see what happened.
“I just needed to do it for myself,” she said. “I was so shocked to start getting phone calls later that week.”
Out of seven auditions, she was offered four jobs, including one for a European tour of “A Chorus Line” and a national tour of “Grease,” but opted to take a job on a European cruise ship instead because it offered her a chance to work under the direction of the guy who originated the role of Mike in the first production of “A Chorus Line.” It also gave the 19-year-old dancer a chance to see 36 cities in Europe and enough money to move to New York so she could get her next job in the national tour of “Starlight Express.”
But in order to land the role of Cassie in this production, she first had to endure a two-week “Cassie Camp” as part of the audition process, during which she learned the entire 12-minute sequence, one-on-one with an instsructor.
“It was the most intense thing I ever did in my life,” she said. “They finally brought me up on stage at the Broadhurst with all of the creative team and I had to do the entire 12 minutes.
“Within an hour, I got a call from my agent telling me I had the job. That was the best feeling ever.
“Anyone who has a strong attachment to dance can relate to the role,” she said. “It takes a lot to do that every night, and every night I leave the stage wondering if I can possibly do it again tomorrow, but every morning I wake up ready to do it again and I am so grateful for it.
“There’s only a handful of us that can do this professionally, and now I’m part of that club.”
PHOTO: Robyn Hurder (Cassie) is elated to be “on the line” with her husband Clyde. Broadway: Grease (Marty), Chicago (Mona, Roxie u/s), Wedding Singer (Donatella, Holly u/s), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Violet). Nat’l Tours: Spamalot (Lady Of The Lake u/s), Starlight Express (Pearl).
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