Even longtime theatergoers could learn a few fun tidbits from the new play “According to the Chorus.” That, for example, when members of a Broadway ensemble are in costume, they are not supposed to eat, smoke or hold a dog. Or that they often drive the dressers who help them in and out of said costumes bonkers — and vice versa.
Spry and zippy — to a fault, as it skims rather than digs — Arlene Hutton’s backstage story, presented by New Light Theater Project (“I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo and Juliet,” “Imagining Madoff”), has found an appropriate home in the smallest venue at 59E59 Theaters. The show takes place in a Broadway quick-change room, a hive of activity in cramped quarters, and the audience is sitting inches away, adding to the sense of immersion in a tight-knit community.
A former dresser herself, Hutton (“Last Train to Nibroc”) zeros in on the worker bees who keep shows going. And the unnamed musical in the play has been going for years when we catch up with it, in 1984. Based on the stage outfits we see, it looks like an old-fashioned tuner, à la “42nd Street” or “Dames at Sea.” It also sounds like quite a workout, which partly explains why during breaks the chorus tends to avoid climbing the several flights of stairs to the dressing rooms and instead head to the basement to hang out with the dressers.
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The latter are led by the crusty veterans Audrey (Karen Ziemba) and Brenda (Judith Hiller). They often treat the cast members with gruff impatience, and you get the feeling the pair have heard and seen it all. Audrey has been at her gig so long, she knows the answer to every backstage variation on the light bulb joke.
One fast-paced scene after another reveals confidences and arguments, hopes and fears, and of course the eternal quandaries: How much should you tip your dresser? Is it a good idea to go on tour if you’re in a Broadway show? What’s best, zippers or Velcro?
We watch this busy little microcosm through the eyes of newcomer KJ (Dana Brooke), who used to be a dresser at the more leisurely City Opera and leads a parallel life as an aspiring playwright. Good-natured and eager to please, KJ used to be in a relationship with a featured dancer, Peter (Brandon Jones), who eventually came out as gay.
This gives KJ a personal connection to the AIDS epidemic as it ravages the ranks of the company and the staff. “I’ve been through six dance partners since we opened,” the saucy Linda (Joy Donze) says. “No, seven.”
And of course, there are the usual theater worries: rumors that the show could close, the ever-present threat of an injury that can endanger a performer’s livelihood.
The show, efficiently directed by Chris Goutman, tracks the women — the men are peripheral here — over the course of several months. Or at least it attempts to, because “According to the Chorus” ends up stretching itself too thin. With a cast of 12, Hutton does not have the time to flesh out her many characters, leaving us with tantalizing glimpses of lives half-told, personalities half-sketched. These women are finally spending some time in the spotlight, and it’s still not enough.
According to the Chorus
Through April 15 at 59E59 Theaters, Manhattan; 59e59.org. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
