Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?- Page 2
Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
#25Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 1:22pm
Carlos: What you see as "by the numbers" dancing, for many of us looks like DYNAMICS, the kind of impactive phrasing and neat finishes that was once a coveted quality of theatrical (Fosse/Bennett) dancing.
Ah, dynamics. Isn't that what's missing from a lot of choreography today?
Nick2--I would add Jerome Robbins and Michael Kidd and Gower Champion to that list.
To some degree. what made the contributions of those choreographer/directors during the musical's Golden Age so great was their innate senses of dynamics--highs/lows, darks/lights, fast/slow and how a number builds--and how to use those dynamics to tell the story. Because that's what they were, even more than they were choreographers: They were great storytellers.
What excites me in Cheryl's gestures and dancing--which besty finds wooden and Carlos finds mechanical--is that they are Bennett-approved moves and gestures, less like bad steps and awkward "hand choreography" and more like the musical-theater equivalent of Bertolt Brecht's theory of Gestus: revealing a character's psychological truth through "concrete physical behavior" and "selective realism."
What you see as "wooden," I picture Michael seeing in a rehearsal studio or a runthrough and saying excitedly, "That's it! That's it!" Perhaps Cheryl locked it into a dancer's physical memory a touch too slavishly, but that's what dancers do.
So the "impactive phrasing" that Nick2 mentions--I see that as the kind of specificity and emotional truth that was missing from the dancing in the current West Side and the recent Chorus Line revivals--and missing from much of the work of many of the choreographers currently working on Broadway.
Perhaps Cheryl's performance is an example of a performing style that has become dated and "old hat." Perhaps I am old hat. But I saw that clip and thought, "Wow. She's good--she's good the way I remember people being good."
#26Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 3:09pm
Cheryl's rendition is excellent. It's certainly unique to her and a very big departure from Donna's. The dancing is superb. Her first kick is breathtaking. I know I wasn't actually there in the heyday of Broadway choreography, but I've seen plenty thanks to the wonder that is film preservation. What I miss most from that time period is the organicness, the tecnicality, the preciseness. Things we just don't see anymore. Sure, there are some exceptional dancers and choreographers out there today. But no one is breaking ground anymore.
Cheryl's dancing doesn't feel as organic as it should. The whole dance sequence should feel like a private moment with Cassie. I don't quite get that feeling from her. But the desperation and the need to be given a chance comes through loud and clear. Her every move screams it. That's what I find so great about it: her expressiveness. Another thing missing today.
Thank you for this, PalJoey. And thanks for the input from everyone who was there way back when, haha. Seeing these videos is one thing, but it really makes all the difference hearing input from someone who was there.
#27Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 3:11pm
I love Cheryl. Got to see her in the 1997 national tour, only she played one of the cut dancers at the beginning. I would have loved to have seen her as Cassie.
To be honest, I've never even considered anyone as a possible second best Cassie to Donna's. To me, there's Donna, then there's everybody else, hehe.
But looking at that clip of Cheryl in action again after about a year, I must say she comes closest to Donna in the way her body flows with the music. It has been said that nobody could replicate Donna's arms during that number, but Cheryl is an exception.
I agree her acting seems a tiny bit wooden but I really like the dramatic pauses--something many a Cassie nowadays throw out the window and rush, either because the directors tell them to or whatever.
I last saw the show last month when the national tour played its final Equity engagement here at L.A.'s Pantages Theatre. The Cassie--Rebecca Riker--gave one of the most outstanding performances I've seen in years. Did anyone catch her in the tour? I thought she was phenomenal and reminded me why that number thrilled me so much back when I saw the show for the first time.
As for Reinking, I read the red skirt bothered her and she asked Bennett if she could take it off before "The Music and the Mirror" and it was actually off for a few performances but then they made her wear it because that look had already become iconic and the number felt "off" without it, hehe.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#28Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 4:05pm
Just to clarify a couple of things ... I completely agree with Bennett's remarkable ability to story-tell as a choreographer. An excellent way to put it, PJ. But whether or not these movements were "Bennett-approved" means little to me if the dancer "telling the story" is merely reading the lines without missing a word or phrase, as instructed. Many people can recite Shakespeare word-for-word as written by the master, but that alone doesn't make it effective. Cheryl falls short for me, perhaps because she's not (at least in this clip) much of an actress. That comes through in her dancing as well.
There are two key moments in the dancing of "Music and the Mirror" that are vital to the "story" that have to be well-acted in order to take it to a transcendent level of brilliance (where the dancer and the choreography merge together and become "art"). And I'm not talking about how high a dancer kicks or how breathtaking her extension is. That's technical talk.
Cassie turns upstage and faces the mirror after pleading with Zach for a job, and bursts forward with those first exciting dance steps. But the first seriously "acted" moment of the dance is when she suddenly turns away from Zach, from all of us, the lights come down, the mirrors turn inward, and it is a very private moment, as ColorTheHours put it. This is where Cassie is discovering her deep passion. To be frank, it's almost a masturbatory moment of self-satisfaction and fulfillment. It's a moment of someone discovering who she is sexually and that inner heat and human desire that drives her from the core. It's not just a well-executed backbend in a red light.
Then, in the second critical "acting" moment, she turns back around toward Zach, toward the audience and the world at large, and shares this private passion with all of us, just as the tempo begins to pick up. This is a moment that separates a really good dancer from a star. Cassie shows us that she has "it." That indefinable spark of heat that takes her to a higher level, and the ability to communicate it freely without inhibition to the world, through her dance. She glides and practically flies around the stage in effortless fluid movements, covering a lot of ground while she spins and leaps. I have rarely seen anyone apart from Donna capture this moment, because most of them can't transcend the "Bennett-approved" choreography and take it to the higher level. It's just a series of impressive steps, one after the other. But Cassie doesn't "fly."
So when I see Music and the Mirror performed by anyone, I look for those two key acting moments in the story. I don't care how high she kicks or how far back she can bend. Or if she "nailed" the choreography. If she can do it, yes, it's impressive. But that alone doesn't transcend.
I need to see the inner spark of her self-discovery in a private moment facing the mirror, and I need to see Cassie turn and share this personal "heat" with the world ... and fly.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Updated On: 7/18/10 at 04:05 PM
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#29Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 6:39pm
^ Beautifully put. I can't say I got exactly that the first two times I saw the show but reading your interpretation, I found myself agreeing as it is spot on with what I've felt emotionally.
I forgot the exact title of the book but I read that the erotic mirror portion is about narcissism, which is basically what you said. Also, the number was specifically and intentionally choreographed with a very random air about it because it's supposed to be Cassie making it all up on the spot. It's meant to be unsophisticated but passionate. So you're right in not being overly critical of every little move since it was never meant to be perfect to begin with.
I think Donna and Cheryl's are great because in addition to showing great technique they also project a vulnerability in the way the music and their passion takes over their bodies and there are moments they even seem to be "gliding" as if being swept away by it all. Most every other Cassie I've seen is completely disconnected from the music and they seem to be in their own little world, concentrating too much resulting in a very fragmented and choppy performance.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#30Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/18/10 at 7:27pm
I think that just getting through the number is what consumes many dancers, My Oh My. And I can totally understand that. Playing Cassie seems comparable to climbing Mount Everest or swimming the English Channel, for some.
That's probably why many of us "theatre folk" are fascinated with Music and the Mirror, and also unfortunately why it degenerates into an athletic event, judged primarily on its technical aspects and "horse race hurdles" over everything else.
But Michael Bennett was a storyteller. And the story should always come first, before the terrific back bend, the extension, and the high kick.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Updated On: 7/18/10 at 07:27 PM
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perpetualanticipatio
Chorus Member Joined: 12/28/05
#31Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:55amIf you read the comments on Youtube, Cheryl herself has remarked about the video and what she learned from seeing it. Cheryl was the actress who played Cassie for the most number of performances and was Donna's favorite in the role. I saw her many times at the Shubert and she was incandescent -- her desperation informed her acting choices. What may come across as strident on the video was her Cassie's desperation. In the theater, it was chilling. Cheryl was kind enough to give me a video taken prior to this one, filmed at the Shubert in the winter of 1980 with Kathrynann Wright and the late Deborah Henry and Rene Clemente. A fabulous cast.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#32Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 12:00pm
"Cheryl was the actress who played Cassie for the most number of performances"
More than Laurie Gamache?
Twitter @NamoInExile
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perpetualanticipatio
Chorus Member Joined: 12/28/05
#33Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 12:42pmFrom 1977 in Australia until the early eighties on tour and Broadway, and then a return to Broadway in the later eighties. Gamache played from May 87 - April 90.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#34Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 12:47pm
Gamache has played the role several times since the Broadway production closed, though. I saw her in 1997.
Updated On: 7/19/10 at 12:47 PM
#35Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 2:04pm
Please understand that my comments are based on this clip and this clip alone, since PJ posted it as his second-best Cassie (with a question mark to open it up for discussion).
I never saw Cheryl live. Well, that's not exactly true. I was introduced to her once in an elevator by a mutual friend who shared her agent. She was awfully nice and was playing Cassie on Broadway at the time.
But I never saw her in the role. I never saw her five months later or two years later, etc. I definitely understand performers can have an off night or can grow and change, over time.
I have only weighed in on this thread which used that clip as its source. I'm sure other people look at the clip differently, but certainly if they saw her live, they would have a much different experience altogether. But since this clip was offered as "evidence" of her impact in the role, I commented on it.
That's it. Nothing more.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#36Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 2:20pm
Anita Morris as Cassie? I was just reading an excerpt from The longest line: Broadway's most singular sensation, A chorus line and Cheryl Clark mentions that Anita Morris was one of the other 5 auditioning to the the first replacement for Cassie. Interesting read.
I hope this link works
#37Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 3:35pm
best12bars: Does it hurt your calves to backpedal so fast! :O
#38Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 3:54pm
Here's a video (interview, no dancing, though) from the recent Dancers Over 40 symposium on Michael Bennett's work. It's on YouTube.
In this one part of the discussion, Carolyn Kirsch reminisces about working with Michael and following Donna. She is just lovely!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB8Z0eprCKU
#39Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 7:18pm
LOL---Nick, I'm hardly backpedalling. You apparently are the one who can't grasp the idea that most of us here (and in the world) "get" that the little tiny YouTube videos aren't the equivalent of real life.
I didn't even respond to your misguided snarky comment about grasping this the first time, because it wasn't worth the effort.
And I'm not saying that my opinion isn't valid. It's 100 percent valid, based on this clip, and this clip alone. It is not negated because you saw her live, and I didn't. Those are two entirely different opinions, based on two entirely different experiences. They are not comparable. But one doesn't trump the other. I agree that "memory lies" (as ghostlight2 so wisely put it) in some cases, when film/video does not and cannot. Something for you to ponder, as well.
I'm sure many of you hail Donna McKechnie's brilliant dancing as Cassie without having seen her live. You also go crazy over "the best Effie ever," Jennifer Holliday, based on the CD or the Tony Awards clip. Most of you posting here were in diapers when she sang that on stage.
So if it's okay to proclaim Holliday, McKechnie, Merman, Streisand, and Martin, the "best" ever at something when you never saw them live, why wouldn't it be okay to say "meh" based on a clip where the performer in question is far from perfect (my opinion only).
No backpedalling here at all (even with your "clown nose"). If I wanted to clear up what my comments were about, I also want to clear up that I stand firm by everything I said.
But it's only an opinion, based on a video clip I saw only a few days ago. Just as yours is, based on the distant memory of a live performance you saw more than 25 years ago. No more, but no less.
:0)
(clown face)
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Updated On: 7/19/10 at 07:18 PM
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#40Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 7:20pmPJ, by the way, I watched that entire symposium from start to finish a few weeks ago, and it was mesmerizing and unforgettable. Thank you for sharing it with us.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#41Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 10:57pmPLUS he rode in an elevator with her once so shut your trap.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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#42Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:30pm
Did I ever post about the time I stood at a urinal next to Bob Fosse?
That man could hold a cigarette between his lips while he took an incredibly long pee and never drop an ash.
And he was inhaling!
That's not talent. That's genius.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#43Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:39pmKnowing me, I wouldn't have been looking at the cigarette.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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#44Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 5:07am
Ghostlight 2, I do agree that Jessica Lee Goldyn was a bit too young, but boy can she dance! She is easily one of the best female dancers on Broadway today!And I think she is a better "Cassie" than "Val", to be honest.
My Oh MY, Rebecca Riker was gorgeous, and I got to see her twice, and although I don't think she was the strongest dancer I've seen as "Cassie" she was so connected to what she did, so devoted, that it was thrilling to see her "Music and....."
Popular...You're gonna be Popuular....;)
#45Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 7:39am
Jessica Lee Goldyn's dance (per the clip) is breathtaking. I can't comment on her acting or her singing (she sings only for a short phrase and sounds good here), but for my money, she's the "second best" Cassie in the dance section, even though she's too young. She fully grasps those two "acting" moments in the dance that I described earlier and completely "flies" when she gets to the last part. In the slow, steamy part, she seems to be inventing her steps on the spot. They are growing out of her emotion as she faces the mirror. It's a completely acted "scene," beyond what I have seen anyone but Donna do.
I have only two minor gripes with her dance: she smiles too much (a big gapey "aren't I cute?" smile) when she's dancing the last part. She should tone that down. And I wish she had cut her hair! I'm not fond of a "lion maned" Cassie. It's too distracting, and she does those head rolls so beautifully (second only to Donna) that I wish she'd had short hair.
I liked her own comment below the clip where she says she'd love to try the role again in ten years when she's the right age for it. I would love to see her do that!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObIVed6yeU
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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#46Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:56amJessica Lee Goldyn was "on the money". Her dance "flowed"...I literally got goosebumps watching that clip...so exciting. I just wish I had experienced it live. I never knew she went on as "Cassie". When I saw the show she was "Val" and she was wonderful in that part as well.
#47Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 11:08am
I never say this about a video I see on youtube. But, regarding Jessica Lee Goldyn's dance:
WOW.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#48Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 11:37am
"that's all fine and well, but what really does your opinion matter if you just weren't there?! Remember, there are some of us here who express opinions based on actual experiences working with or watching these performers live and not from video at all!"
You want to know what's funny about this, besides the fact that you think someone's opinion is worthless if they weren't physically present? I was physically present for each and every one of Ms Goldyn's performances and was beyond unimpressed. She's and excellent dancer, no question. She really has a lovely voice. She might be a good actor someday, but right now, who she portrays on the stage is Jess Goldyn. I never once saw Cassie in her performance.
"I have only two minor gripes with her dance: she smiles too much (a big gapey "aren't I cute?" smile) when she's dancing the last part. She should tone that down. And I wish she had cut her hair! I'm not fond of a "lion maned" Cassie. It's too distracting, and she does those head rolls so beautifully (second only to Donna) that I wish she'd had short hair."
The whole number with her screams to me "Hey, look at me, ma, look what I can do!". I also really didn't like that she packed the audience with her students and others who constantly yelped, whooped and cheered (as evidenced in Best 12's clip) whenever she did anything. She did the same thing when the Lincoln Center archives were taped. The moment she steps off the line as Val in that recording, a section of the audience goes crazy. Her lines were punctuated by howls and "yeahs!". It threw the whole show off and was disruptive and disrespectful. An actor should be in the service of the character and the show.
Not the other way around.
Updated On: 7/20/10 at 11:37 AM
#49Cheryl Clark: Chorus Line's (2nd) Greatest Cassie?
Posted: 7/20/10 at 11:51am
I think that video is from the final performance, in which there is always an unusual amount of audience vocals- I wouldn't blame that specifically on an actress 'filling the house' with her friends.
To that end - I agree that there is a certain look at me quality to what she's doing that may not be completely appropriate for the role, but there is no question that technically she nails it - and I agree with Best12 - in a way thats probably second exciting only to the clips of McKechnie.
I'd love to see what she'd do with the role - as she says, in ten years when she's a little more experienced.
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