‘A Chorus Line’ is a short run of magic at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville

One of the funnest things about a night of theater is the anticipation from the crowd. Everyone is dressed up in their fun weekend clothes and ready to kick back with friends or a date. We're ready to be swept away in someone else's story, and "A Chorus Line" gives the audience 17 stories to be swept away in.

Dan Sher, who was technical producer for "A Chorus Line," said that when the technical team does their job right no one notices. He says that each movement of the lights, the sound, the set changes is as carefully choreographed and rehearsed as often as the movement of each dancer in the musical. Even with last minute changes in casting, every element of the room kept right on time with the actors like every moment was meant to go together.

"That's the magic of theater, I would like to think," he said in a previous interview with What's Up!

Friday night's audience was ready for that magic. There were cheers before the main chorus sang, "I think I got it." I even heard one of the volunteer ushers chuckling. The actors worked seamlessly together as the mirror spun around to frame a story or to enhance each dance scene. The entire cast sang out strong and beautifully, except of course Kristine, who was so hilarious that I think I would be alarmed if the actor didn't speak like that in real life. She was so funny.

This was my first time seeing this musical, and there were so many performances happening, so it's hard to lay a finger on which story was best. Each conveyed a real connection to their roles, and all were very natural with one another. Standouts in last night's show were the actors playing Val, Shelia, Zack and Paul, but really every one brought something special to the role.

After this weekend the show packs up and heads to Japan for a 24-date run. Tokyo audiences are in for a treat.

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