Theater
Theater
The theater program at La Salle has been in existence since 1969 and now as we move forward into our sixth decade, we take great pride in how the program has evolved, bringing the finest in contemporary and classic musicals to our stage by integrating the talents of well over 125 students each year including female performers from our sister schools, Gwynedd Mercy Academy and Mount Saint Joseph's Academy, as well as a variety of other surrounding schools, both public and private.
Overview
The overall goal of the program is to produce the highest quality shows while allowing everyone who expresses an interest to find their niche in the school's performing arts program. To accomplish this we produce two shows per year, starting with a comedy or drama in the fall and a full scale musical in the spring. The theater program also provides an opportunity for students to develop and express theirs talents not only as on stage performers, but also as musicians, technical support, and in administrative capacities.
Spring Musical
La Salle College High School to Perform A Chorus Line
La Salle College High School will be performing the multi-Tony Award Winning musical, A Chorus Line, from March 25 – March 29, 2020. 
A Chorus Line is a stunning concept musical that captures the spirit and tension of a Broadway chorus audition, and at the same time is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers– those valiant, over dedicated, underpaid, highly trained performers who back up the star or stars and often make them look even more talented than they are. It is also a celebration of the American Musical itself.
A Chorus Line is also about competition, and competition might easily be the common denominator that grabs the audience and holds it by the collective heartstring until the final, ultimate choices are made. For everyone, at one time or another, puts his life on the line. We all compete, no matter what business we’re in, for promotion, for attention, for approval and for love. Through dialogue and song, the show explores the inner lives and poignant ambitions of professional Broadway “gypsies,” featuring one powerhouse song after another, including “I Can Do That,” “Nothing,” “I Hope I Get It,” “At the Ballet,” “What I Did for Love,” and “One.”
Opening on Broadway in 1975, A Chorus Line is a brilliantly complex fusion of song, dance, and authentic compelling drama, and was instantly recognized as a classic. The show ran for 6,137 performances, received 9 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and for several decades reigned as the longest running musical in the history of Broadway.
Auditions for girls will be held Tuesday, December 10 beginning at 3:30PM, and for boys on Wednesday, December 11 beginning at 3:00PM.
For more information about A Chorus Line, or La Salle’s Theater Program, please visit www.lschs.org/theater.
Audition Information
Production Team
La Salle College High School
Presents
A Chorus Line
Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by
Michael Bennett
Book by: James Kirkwood & Nichoals Dante
Music by; Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by: Edward Kleban
Producer: Mr. Joseph F. Ciccimaro ‘57
Director: Mr. Micky Dominick
Assistant Director & Vocal Director: Mr. Mark Norman
Music Director: Mr. Joseph Vettori
Choreographer: Mr. Louis Palena
Costume Design: Mrs. Robin Kelley
Set Design & Stage Crew: Mr. Michael Hearn
Assistant Director: Mr. Matthew Dominick '07
Sound Design: Mr. Greg Snyder
Lighting Design: Mr. Jordan Petrellis ‘14
“A Chorus Line"
is presented by arrangement with,
Tams-Witmark
www.tamswitmark.com
Show Synopsis
A CHORUS LINE is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers– those valiant, over dedicated, underpaid, highly trained performers who back up the star or stars and often make them look even more talented than they are. It is also a celebration of the American Musical itself. A CHORUS LINE is also about competition, and competition might easily be the common denominator that grabs the audience and holds it by the collective heartstring until the final, ultimate choices are made. For everyone, at one time or another, puts his life on the line. We all compete, no matter what business we’re in, for promotion, for attention, for approval and for love. Specifically, A CHORUS LINE takes the audience through the final grueling audition run by the director, Zach, for a new Broadway musical.
At the beginning of the show, Zach, a driven, compulsive worker, has assembled thirty semi-finalists and is putting them through a vigorous series of dance combinations, including ballet and jazz. Soon he thinks this group down to the final sixteen, eight boys and eight girls. They and the audience know that eventually this number will be cut in half and Zach will choose only four boys and four girls to be in his new musical. Instead of having them read a short audition scene, Zach wants to elicit a personal history from each one: how they got into show business, why they became dancers, what their hopes, fantasies and aspirations are. As he calls upon them individually, they react in every possible way, from bravado to reticence. From childhood on, their memories emerge, blending into a seamless series of musical numbers and monologues, some humorous (“Dance: Ten; Looks: Three”), some poignant (“At the Ballet”), some group reminiscences when they all share their adolescent experiences (“Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love”) and some intimate, as when he calls upon Cassie, his former lover who has returned from California to ask for a chorus job after having been a featured performer (“The Music and the Mirror”).
As their individual stories pour out in song (“Nothing”) and in spoken words (Paul’s monologue), interspersed by learning dance routines that reveal their ability to perform as a faceless drill team (“One”), the audience, as well as Zach, gets to know each one of these ambitious entertainers individually, so that by the show’s end, they can identify and root for their favorites as well as empathize with all of them because they all need the job– they all want to work at their craft.
A CHORUS LINE departs from the usual glossy backstage musical by presenting a true picture of what it’s like to be in the theatre: glamorous, yes, at times, but also tough, heartbreaking and sometimes even tragic After these brave dancers explain why they go through a life filled with rejection and injury (“What I Did for Love”), Zach makes his selection, eliminating the last group who reluctantly leave the stage. The lights soon fade on the remaining eight ecstatic dancers as they are told to prepare for rehearsals of their new Broadway show. They fade only to come up as each performer, now dressed in full, shimmering finale costume, reappears to receive an individual bow before joining together to perform the brilliant dance finale (“One”) and showing exactly the talent it takes to make it into A Chorus Line.
-James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante
Cast Listing and Biographies
Past Shows
2019 Chicago
2018 The Drowsy Chaperone
2017 The Producers
2016 Crazy for You
2015 Monty Python’s Spamalot
2014 42nd Street
2013 Swing!
2012 City of Angels
2011 The Drowsy Chaperone
2010 Smokey Joe's Café
2009 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
2008 Singing in the Rain
2007 Babes in Arms
2006 Godspell
2005 Bye Bye Birdie
2004 Grease
2003 Footloose
2002 George M!
2001 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
2000 Guys & Dolls
1999 Damn Yankees
1998 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
1997 Two Gentlemen of Verona
1996 Godspell
1995 Little Shop of Horrors
1994 Leader of the Pack
1993 Pal Joey
1992 Fame
1991 West Side Story
1990 George M!
1989 The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1988 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1987 Grease
1986 Two Gentlemen of Verona
1985 Guys & Dolls
1984 Lil' Abner
1983 Fiorello!
1980 Pippen
1979 Godspell
1978 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1977 Mack and Mabel
1976 110 in the Shade
1975 Carousel
1974 Guys and Dolls
1973 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
1972 Anything Goes / Company (Alumni Production)
1971 Hello Dolly!
1970 South Pacific
1969 Damn Yankees
1968 Bye Bye Birdie
Fall Drama/Comedy
The Fall One Acts Festival
This fall La Salle will once again turn the director’s chair over to the students through a series of student directed one act productions. Productions may be legitimate one act plays; student written works; an episode of a TV show; or any other production that would fit the definition of a “one act” play. Students will work in a supervised environment where guidance, coaching, and critiques of the work throughout the process will be provided, but ultimately all production responsibilities from casting to costuming, and set through lighting design will reside with the students. This is a very exciting undertaking and one in which we invite the girls from outside La Salle to participate – provided that members of the production team and cast are La Salle College High School students. Performances be held on Friday October 20 and Saturday October 21 at 7:30PM.
La Salle College High School Auditorium
Free Admission
Broadway Wishes Tickets
Each year students from La Salle College High School, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Gwynedd Mercy Academy and other surrounding public schools, come together to perform numbers from various musicals where all proceeds go to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation.
For more information, visit www.broadwaywishes.com.