July 25, 2025

A Chorus Line

9 minutes

It's 50 years since theatre history was made - the premiere of A Chorus Line. It was seen as a seminal moment, turning the spotlight on the people who make the show for the first time.

Baayork Lee tells Josephine McDermott how she played Connie Wong in the original production. Like many of the first cast, her true life experiences made it into the show which was developed in workshops by director and choreographer Michael Bennett.

Baayork Lee describes “the buzz” the musical generated soon after opening in a small venue off Broadway on 21 May, 1975, with everyone from singer Diana Ross and former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis to comedian Groucho Marx vying for seats. Two months later on 27 July the show transferred to Broadway. It won nine Tony Awards and became one of the longest-running shows on Broadway.

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(Photo: A Chorus Line at the Shubert Theatre. Credit: Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

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By BBC World Service

4.5

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