The Original Creative Team
Back row, left to right: Edward Kleban and Marvin Hamlisch, Front row, l to r: James Kirkwood, Michael Bennett, and Nicholas Dante
Photo: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/9c177330-f8a7-0130-6731-58d385a7bbd0
Michael Bennett (Conception, Direction, Co-Choreography)
Michael Bennett (April 8, 1943-July 2, 1987) is considered to be the “creator” of A Chorus Line. He won seven Tony Awards, including two for A Chorus Line, for which he also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Before working on the creative team, Bennett was a Broadway dancer, which helped him create the connection to dancers he needed to want to make A Chorus Line. His work on the musical Seesaw, which earned him a Tony Award for best choreography and nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, solidified his growing reputation in the business and connected with many of the people who he would go to to work with on A Chorus Line. His other Broadway credits include Follies, Company, and Dreamgirls, productions for which he did a combination of directing and choreographing.
James Kirkwood (Book)
James Kirkwood (August 22, 1924-April 21, 1989) was the co-book writer of A Chorus Line, brought on between the show's first and second workshops. Kirkwood was born into the entertainment industry, both of his parents having been silent film stars, and he made his Broadway debut as a performer before switching to writing. Kirkwood won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work on the musical. He is also known for his novels P.S. Your Cat is Dead!, which was adapted into a play, and American Grotesque about a conspiracy around the assassination of President Kennedy.
Nicholas Dante (Book)
Nicholas Dante (November 22, 1941-May 21, 1991) co-wrote the book for A Chorus Line and inspired the character of Paul. Much of what is known about him comes from what he told about himself in the original taping session that inspired the musical, his contribution remaining largely intact in the form of Paul’s monologue. Dante went on to play Paul in a touring company of the show ten years after the musical opened. He won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Chorus Line and later wrote the book for Jolson Tonight, which toured the U.S. in the 1980s.
Marvin Hamlisch (Music)
Marvin Hamlisch (June 2, 1944-August 6, 2012) wrote the music for A Chorus Line, earning a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, making him the second person ever to have a “PEGOT” (Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) after Richard Rodgers, and one of twelve people to have an “EGOT.” He is well-known for composing movie scores and pop music, having written for over forty movies, including The Way We Were and The Sting, for which he won his Oscars, and earning Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Instrumental Performance, as well as for his work on The Way We Were. His other theater credits include the dance arrangements for Seesaw and the music of They’re Playing Our Song.
Edward Kleban (Lyrics)
Edward Kleban (April 30, 1939-December 28, 1987) wrote the lyrics to A Chorus Line, for which he won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A Chorus Line was his only successful show during his lifetime, but after his death, two of his semi-autobiographical shows that had failed to be produced during his lifetime were combined into A Class Act, for which he is credited with writing the music and lyrics, and posthumously earned his second Tony nomination.
The Taping Session/The Dancers
A Chorus Line was born during what is now called “the Taping Session” on late on a Saturday night in January 1974. At the meeting were veteran Broadway dancers, many of whom knew Bennett, or at least Tony Stevens and Michon Peacock, who brought the idea of the meeting to Bennett. Of these dancers, eight (Renee Baughman, Kelly Bishop, Wayne Cilento, Patricia Garland, Priscilla Lopez, Donna McKechnie, Thommie Walsh, and Sammy Williams) went on to be in the original cast of A Chorus Line. Also present was Nicholas Dante, whose story became Paul’s monologue. Bennett had everyone go around in a circle and tell stories from their lives, of their childhood, first dance classes, and first jobs. Many of the stories told that night served as the basis for the characters in the musical with some people, such as Priscilla Lopez, playing the character based on their own story (though her character's name, Diana Morales, is a nod to Dante's former name, Conrado Morales.) Once the show began workshop sessions at The Public, the dancers sold their life stories to Bennett for $1 each (a subsequent contract was later created to give them a percentage of the royalties the show made, but many do not believe they were fairly compensated given the show’s success).