Kiss the Show Goodby . . . and Point Them to Tomorrow

Whenever an ensemble of players so connects with audiences the way “A Chorus Line’s” performers did in 1975, there is a bond created that never seems to loosen.

They came onto the scene unexpectedly, a group of unknown Broadway gypsies whose on-stage characters seemed to represent the aspirations and cynicism of the era. To the big-chill generation that grew up with the Mouseketeers on TV in the ‘50s, the members of the chorus line became the group with whom they indentified as young adults in the ‘70s. But these new Mouseketeers bared their souls in a way the “Mickey Mouse Club” members could never dream of doing.

Now, 15 years later, at a median age of 40, many of the original members have found successful show business careers, some have sought quieter spaces and some are chasing new pursuits altogether. None of the original 19 members--interviewed for this article--was launched into “stardom.” But none of that matters to any of them.

“That was never the intent. We were not in the show to become stars,” says Donna McKechnie, who won a Tony Award for her performance as the veteran dancer Cassie. She said the show “was designed (by director Michael Bennett) to be bigger than any one cast member. . . . Think of how (we) lived before we got a chance in ‘Chorus Line.’ The show has given me everything.”

Whatever they’re doing, they’re all still alive and, they say, mostly happy.

“Alive” was mentioned frequently, because three of the show’s five creators have died: director-choreographer Bennett who died of complications from AIDS; lyricist Edward Kleban, and librettist James Kirkwood, whose deaths were listed as cancer related. And “happy” because they’ve moved on with their lives, after spending an average of two years each with the show. Cast member Michel Stuart, who played Greg, has become a recognized Broadway producer. His recollection is that “A Chorus Line” was “one wonderful moment in my career, but it’s not my life.”

Likewise, Tony Award-winning choreographer Thommie Walsh, who played Bobby, says he’s “very satisfied” with the way things have gone. “Too much is made that none of the cast ever became stars. . . . I’d say we’re all pretty happy.”

Walsh knows, because he and Baayork Lee, who played Connie, have kept in touch with the cast to organize “On the Line,” a book of the cast members’ memoirs. Written by Robert Viagas, it’s due from William Morrow in early April.

Calendar contacted the cast (pictured in the show’s logo, above) and two more who are not pictured, to find out how they’re doing these days. From left to right:

Ron Kuhlman: In the musical, Kuhlman, as Don, tells the director Zach that ultimately he, too, wants to be a director so he can support a wife and two kids. Fifteen years later, Kuhlman has a wife and one daughter, and he’s “making a living” as an actor. Kuhlman has recently done roles on the “Brady Bunch”-revisited programs, film work and has been widely seen in Los Angeles theater, most recently in “Heathen Valley” at the Gem Theatre. If he had his choice about spending his time, he’d rather be mountain climbing or sailing.

Kay Cole: Last year she completed a 15-month run in the Los Angeles company of “Les Miserables.” Cole, who played Maggie (“At the Ballet”), has choreographed shows in London, returned to the United States six years ago, and worked in film and TV in Los Angeles ever since. She’s involved with a new singing group called “Pure Broadway,” sort of a “ ‘90s-style Manhattan Transfer,” she says.

Wayne Cilento: He lives 35 miles north of Manhattan in Mamaroneck, N.Y., but is in the city all the time, still proving, as his character Mike sang: “I Can Do That.” “You gotta do everything,” he says. He’s still active in theater and directing and choreographing.

Baayork Lee: A choreographer and director, Lee is currently choreographing “Porgy and Bess” for the Charleston (S.C.) Symphony, is the resident choreographer for Washington Opera and has staged “A Chorus Line” in 29 different productions around the world. She played Connie in the original and still says she “will never stop doing the show because it’s such an integral part of my life.” She recently formed her own production company to produce shows in the Far East and Europe.

Michel Stuart: Stuart, who played Greg, the character who knew he was gay at 14, recently moved to Los Angeles. He has successfully produced such shows as “Nine” and “The Tap Dance Kid” on Broadway and “Cloud Nine” Off Broadway. He now says he’s shifting his theater focus here.

Donna McKechnie: The Tony Award winner for her performance as Cassie (“The Music and the Mirror”), she has appeared and starred in musicals, such as “Can Can” in London, a touring company of “Sweet Charity” and “Annie Get Your Gun,” which she will do again this summer at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. McKechnie, who was married for a time to Bennett, makes her home in the L.A. area and New York.

Carole (Kelly) Bishop: She won the Tony for best supporting actress in a musical as the “older,” sarcastic Sheila, who sang “At the Ballet.” In the show she was asked what she wanted to be when she grows old. Her answer, “Young,” brought down the house. Still as dry -humored as Sheila, Bishop’s perspective is that “It was naive to believe everyone (from the original cast) was going to become a movie star.” She is continually employed as a New York-based actress, doing “everything” from soaps, to stage to film.

Thomas (Thommie) Walsh: He still lives in New York, remains in the theater, having co-directed and choreographed “My One and Only,” (for which he shared a Tony with partner Tommy Tune), as well as co-choreographing “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine” and creative work on the musical “Nine.” Recently he’s been busy with the book “On the Line” and is currently “trying to get something--a musical--produced.”

Nancy Lane: “Everyone is beautiful at the ballet,” sang Lane as Bebe in the show. The perfect image came true for her--now married and a mother of a 2-year-old son. She continues to act in sitcoms and episodic TV and is active with her husband in a private business in Long Beach.

Patricia (Trish) Garland: “We don’t feel like losers, we’ve gone on with our lives,” is how Garland, who, coincidentally, played Judy in the show, assesses the last 15 years. Before “A Chorus Line,” she danced with the San Francisco Ballet and then moved to New York and became a gypsy. Post “Chorus Line,” she lives in Los Angeles and works in feature films and episodic TV and has choreographed musicals, including eight productions of you-know-what.

Ronald Dennis: “I’m surviving--and well, mind you,” responded an upbeat Dennis, who lives in Los Angeles and does volunteer work for the AIDS support group, Northern Light Alternatives. He remains “soooo enthusiastic,” just as his character Richie sang in “Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love.” About performing: “I’m being pickier now. I don’t have the need to keep working.”

Don Percassi: As the character Al, Percassi sang that his wife “really couldn’t sing” and was generally an optimist. Even after his most recent experience in a part in the flop musical “Annie 2,” Percassi said he’s staying in the business in New York. “I’m still dancing . . . that’s all I’ve ever done since I was 8 years old.” He has been continously working in a succession of shows, like “42nd Street,” since he left “A Chorus Line.”

Renee Baughman: The “ding-a-ling” who “really couldn’t sing” is now a marketing manager for Clinique International in New York. After finishing as Kristine in “A Chorus Line,” Baughman worked as an assistant choreographer on Broadway, danced with Peter Allen and the Rockettes in 1982 and 1983, and entered the fashion world as an assistant stager of shows for major designers.

Pamela Blair: The singer of “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three”--that ode to plastic surgery and self-affirmation--remains as feisty as ever, still living in New York, but in Los Angeles at the moment for pilot season. “It took years until people again thought of me as a dramatic actress. They kept thinking of me as the ‘T&A;’ girl.” After “Chorus Line” she found parts in “King of Hearts,” “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “The Nerd” on Broadway.

Cameron (Rick) Mason: “I’m doing my thing . . . trying to be happy,” said Mason, on the phone from tiny Yarnell, Ariz., north of Phoenix. Mason, who gave up performing 10 years ago, played Mark (the kid who admitted having wet dreams during “Hello Twelve, Hell Thirteen, Hello Love”) in the show. Now he’s working in a metaphysical bookstore and finds it “soothing.”

Sammy Williams: “Who am I anyway? Am I my resume?” sang Sammy (now Sam) Williams as Paul at the opening of “A Chorus Line.” He’s found himself now, working for himself “and loving it.” He runs a private consulting floral design studio in Los Angeles that he began three years ago. “I’m still winning awards,” he says. He won the Tony for his role as Paul, and in his new career he took home the Mayor’s Trophy for floral design at this year’s Rose Parade.

Priscilla Lopez: The actress who sang the line, “I felt nothing” in the show, will definately feel something when the show closes. “A little piece of me will die,” said Lopez who continues to act. She won a Tony for best featured actress in a musical, “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine,” has starred in L.A. productions of “Irma La Douce” and “Vanities,” and is currently in the long-running Off Broadway hit, “Other People’s Money.” “I’m here, well, and living in New York, with two children and the same husband,” she added.

Not in the picture are cast members Robert LuPone and Clive (Clerk) Wilson, who played the roles of Zach the director and Larry the assistant, respectively.

Lupone is the executive director of the Manhattan Class Co., a theater company on 42nd Street that develops new shows. In conversation, he remains as focused and direct as he was when playing the intimidating director Zach, who was rarely on stage in “A Chorus Line.” Lupone said he is still acting (in fact, he has returned to “A Chorus Line” as Zach) and had played a role in the former daytime soap “Guiding Light.”

Wilson, left show business after finishing up “A Chorus Line” on the road. “I’ll have some fun,” was his thought as he first began with the show. He believed it would be “only a small Off-Broadway show.” A couple of years later, when left the cast, he took a break to think. Eventually he returned to his “first love,” interior design, and established a Los Angeles-based business. Looking back, he said “ ‘A Chorus Line’ was a great gift . . . something wonderful that happened to my life. And I am to this day grateful.”