A CHORUS LINE
Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban
Book by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante
Directed by Victoria Bussert
November 13-16 and 20-22, 7:30 pm
November 16, 22 and 23, 2:00 pm
John Patrick Theatre
David Pepin serves as Music Theatre Music Director in BW's Conservatory of Music beginning with the fall semester. Pepin currently plays or conducts on such Tony Award-winning smash hits as KINKY BOOTS and WICKED.
"David brings a wealth of top-level Broadway Music Direction and keyboard experience to the BW campus," said Victoria Bussert, Director of BW’s Music Theatre Department. "He has collaborated with some of the most respected music theatre creative teams in the entertainment industry today; we are thrilled that he is bringing his considerable talents to benefit our student musicians."
Pepin also served as Music Director and helped to develop BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL, nurturing the show through a national tour and all the way to a Tony-nominated Broadway run. Other recent Broadway credits include THE BOOK OF MORMON, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, SHREK: THE MUSICAL and RENT. Pepin also has collaborated on the national tours of WICKED, ALL SHOOK UP and RENT. He assumes the rank of Associate Professor of Music.
“The breadth of David’s Broadway experience is not only an asset to the artistic development of our students, but builds on the strong ties BW has developed with Broadway," said Susan Van Vorst, Director of BW’s Conservatory of Music. “This appointment is simply the latest evidence that the Conservatory is committed to an unparalleled standard of career preparation for our students."
BW Prepares to Stage A CHORUS LINE with an Added Kick from a Tony Winner
Baldwin Wallace University’s acclaimed Music Theatre program, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance, will present the iconic musical, A CHORUS LINE, November 13-23.
The production is directed by celebrated BW music theatre director, Victoria Bussert, with choreography by the award-winning head of BW’s dance program, Gregory Daniels, and music direction by BW’s new music theatre music director (direct from Broadway), David Pepin. On top of that talented creative team, a Tony-winner was brought in to kick up the performance preparation a notch higher.
One of the most critically and commercially successful musicals of all time, A CHORUS LINE originally ran on Broadway from 1975 to 1990 for more than 6,000 performances, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nine Tony Awards. Donna McKechnie, who claimed one of those nine Tonys for her leading performance as Cassie, came to the BW campus to share some of the magic of the original production with the student cast.
“I had the privilege of directing Donna when she played Mama Rose in a 2001 production of GYPSY at Great Lakes Theater,” explains Bussert, who regularly recruits Broadway heavyweights to work with students at BW. “I asked if she would come in to coach the CHORUS LINE cast and share her knowledge and experience with the students. She immediately agreed.”
McKechnie came in for a weekend and worked with the two students who are double cast as Cassie on the number, “The Music and the Mirror,”-- the song that secured her Tony back in 1976. She also coached the full cast rehearsing some group numbers. Students described the experience as “amazing,” “humbling and life altering,” and “like a dream!”
Daniels, who performed A CHORUS LINE on the European tour in 1997 and is setting Michael Bennet’s original choreography, was equally excited to work with McKechnie. “I felt like she was coaching me on parts of the show.” Daniels said. “It was a dream come true for me to gain knowledge from her that I can impart to a new generation.”
BW’s A CHORUS LINE runs from November 13-23 in the John Patrick Theater at Kleist Center for Art and Drama, 95 E. Bagley Road, in Berea.
Tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for senior citizens, and $10 for students. For tickets, call the box office at 440-826-2240 Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m., or visitwww.bw.edu/tickets.