Unseen Labor and Backstage Choreographies: A Materialist Production History of A Chorus Line

Abstract

This essay documents the experiences of union stagehands in New York who worked on Broadway productions of A Chorus Line (1975, 2006), positioning their backstage labor as a choreographic mirror to the onstage labor of performers. Through a historiographic reconstruction of stagehands’ live production labor, particularly that of electricians, the essay argues for a reconsideration of the iconic musical’s materialist critique, including its scrutiny of the commercial theatre industry’s impersonal supply-and-demand hiring practices and the loss of individual identity that accompanies the practice of professional skills in unison. Through a combination of oral histories, archival research, and secondary sources, the reconstruction focuses on the intricate, rehearsed movements of followspot operators illuminating and isolating dancers as they reveal their interior lives. It then juxtaposes the spot ops’ physically demanding labor with the more visually engaged, technologically advanced skills of the head electrician, who operated Tharon Musser’s innovative, Tony Award–winning lighting design from Broadway’s first computer-controlled light board. As a materialist production history, the essay aligns A Chorus Line ’s stagehands with the musical’s fictional (and actual) dancers, using the production’s materialist critique as an impetus to recuperate the regularly unseen and often undervalued labor of individuals whose physical, mental, and intuitive skills fuel the Broadway machine.

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“…Further, it is a job skill and condition of employment most could argue is a painful experience -that type of constant instability. Essin (2015) emphasizes this singular aspect about professional performers -they are in essence, skilled laborers. This includes performers and production staff -creative and cast members alike.…”

“…This includes performers and production staff -creative and cast members alike. Yet, as Essin (2015) reveals, there is a loneliness or isolation to the performer that is unlike most professions built on collaborations. Indeed, when director Michael Bennett organized the set for "A Chorus Line" the first thing he did was make the audience feel like the actor.…”

“…Indeed, when director Michael Bennett organized the set for "A Chorus Line" the first thing he did was make the audience feel like the actor. Upon entering the theater, the audience sees only an empty stage (Essin, 2015). This was done deliberately.…”