At 6 p.m. on Friday, members of BU On Broadway met at the Fenway Activities Building for rehearsal of its spring production of ‘A Chorus Line.’
The focus of the night was “One,” the show’s final number. Unlike earlier scenes that focus on individual characters, this number is about moving as a single unit. Timing, spacing, and arm angles all have to match exactly. Rehearsal began with stretching and a short character check-in before shifting into learning and cleaning choreography.
This live blog follows the first hour and a half of rehearsal as it unfolds.
Cast arrives and starts to get settled — 6:02 p.m.
BU students start walking in ready to rehearse. The choreographer, Finn, reviews the plan for the night: stretch, review spacing, start learning more of “One,” and record it before we leave.
Stretching and warming up together — 6:11 p.m.
We spread out across the room and stretch our legs and arms before starting to dance. The choreographer reminds us that this number is physically repetitive, so we need to be warmed up.
Quick character work — 6:17 p.m.
Even though “One” is a dance number, we must still be in character as dancers in the show. We run through a few prompts about posture and intention. It’s brief, just enough to reset before dancing.
Marking the opening section — 6:26 p.m.
We stand in staggered lines and walk through the first section slowly on counts. It’s mostly marking and remembering what we learned last rehearsal, not full-out yet.
First full run of the section — 6:31 p.m.
We try it with music. Timing is off in a few spots, especially in the second row. The choreographer stops us halfway through to fix spacing. We reset and start again.
Cleaning details — 6:37 p.m.
We repeat eight counts several times to fix arm height and hand placement. The corrections are small but noticeable. The focus is making everything look identical.
Water break — 6:45 p.m.
Short break. People check the video from the last run on someone’s phone. We notice spots where the cast was uneven. Break lasts about three minutes.
Recording it — 6:49 p.m.
A phone is set up to record. We run the section full-out. Watching it back, spacing looks tighter but the timing in the turn still needs work. We adjust and try again.
Drilling the transition — 6:57 p.m.
We isolate one transition that keeps getting messy. We run it at least five times in a row. By the last attempt, it’s more consistent.
Full section run — 7:06 p.m.
We go from the top of what we’ve learned so far. Energy is higher this time because the cast feels more confident. The final pose lands cleaner than before. There’s a quick nod from the choreographer and director behind their table.
Spacing adjustments — 7:10 p.m.
We shift half-steps left and right to even out the lines. Tape on the floor helps and numbers that the choreographer laid out helped.
On counts without music — 7:15 p.m.
Music cuts and we run it on counts only. It exposes timing differences right away and helps us get the steps better. When the music comes back on, it feels more unified and we are able to perform better.
Quick notes — 7:20 p.m.
Choreographer gives some quick notes mainly about pointing our feet and staying in character. We reset for one more run before moving on.
Another recorded run — 7:24 p.m.
We film it again. Watching playback, the line of actors is finally together. We identify more spots for improvement.
Last run before moving on — 7:31 p.m.
One more full-out run. Everyone commits a little more. It’s not perfect, but it’s noticeably cleaner than at 6:30.
Short cool down — 7:45 p.m.
We stretch quickly before ending rehearsal.
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