saw the play years ago. this did not change over to film well at all. for one thing they changed it too much. should have stayed on stage.

A classic disappointment. Director Richard Attenborough ('Gandhi'; 'Chaplin') apparently was unaware that making a movie out of Michael Bennet's landmark minimalist musical about the aspirations of veteran men and female chorus members of a Broadway troupe would take away the wonderful intimacy of the piece. Amazon.com tells us: "A Chorus Line is a perfect example of a show that doesn't translate well from one medium to another. Director Richard Attenborough gives it his best shot, cutting some of the production numbers and adding new ones while "opening up" the show to explore the off-stage lives of struggling performers as they prepare for another grueling audition...winnowing a large group of hopefuls down to eight lucky cast members for his next big show. There's a subplot about the director's former girlfriend, who returns for the big audition, and along the way the other hopefuls sing and dance while revealing their various hopes and fears. On screen, the musical works best when focused on its dramatic passages; otherwise it's impossible to escape the fact that this material is best suited to live performance." --Jeff Shannon It is baffling that anyone would consider bringing it to the screen, as repeated listening to the irresistible music and lyrics of the original Broadway recording will prove.