As March signals the shift in the weather, it was a hot morning heading towards the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit, Makati, for the media event of Theatre Group Asia’s (TGA) first production for 2026, “A Chorus Line.”
The musical—conceived by director and choreographer Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and based on the book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante—has garnered nine Tony Awards out of its 12 nominations and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. And currently, “A Chorus Line” is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The musical is set in an audition. The dancers perform the opening number, and after the initial cut, only 17 dancers remain. The director, Frank, then tells them he only needs a strong eight-member dancing chorus: four women and four men. He calls them up one by one to share their stories as he wants to get to know them before making his final decision.
The lobby of the Samsung Performing Arts Theater was filled with dancers stretching and practicing their routines to help create the atmosphere and mood for the show. An extensive audition process was held to find the Filipino cast that went through Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and as far as the United States and the UK.
As the program starts, associate director of the show, Jamie Wilson, plays host and introduces Frank—played by Tony and Grammy award nominee Conrad Ricamora—who then begins a special preview that includes a parade of the seventeen cast members. They do parts of the show and perform four song numbers to a keyboard played by the show’s musical director, Farley Asuncion.
A timeless classic
On a personal level, I have loved this musical since I was a child. I used to sing and dance to the CD of the original Broadway cast recording and had to stop myself from singing along during the song numbers at the previews. The voices were strong, the harmonies were tight, and the emotions ran true. It was an exciting taste of what promises to be an electric show.
TGA’s production of “A Chorus Line” is choreographed and directed by Emmy Award winner Karla Puno Garcia. After the event, I was able to talk to Puno Garcia and ask her about her vision. As someone quite familiar with the material, I asked whether she would keep the original choreography, if she updated it, or if she created her own.
“I did a little bit of everything you just said,” she answers with a laugh. “I had a conversation with Baayork Lee, the original Connie [of the original cast in 1975], and I wanted to know what was important to uphold with the original choreography. So we talked about a few things; it’s really more about ideas.”
She adds, “In the opening, it’s about competition, and in the finale, it’s about being one and cohesive. So I wanted to uphold these ideas in the work and bring myself to it.”
“I am so sensitive about how music makes me feel,” she adds when I ask her about the number “The Music and The Mirror.” This is one of the show’s highlights, as it is a song performed by a character named Cassie—to be played by Lissa de Guzman, who has played Princess Jasmine on “Aladdin” on Broadway in the national tour and is the first Filipina to play Elphaba on the national Broadway tour of “Wicked”—a dancer who was moved from the ensemble to a feature role but has since been unable to find work. She wants to return to the chorus, even though Frank thinks she’s too good for it.
It’s a gorgeous song that escalates and has an exquisite dance break. “What I love about the choreography is the idea that it is in her head,” Puno Garcia continues. She talks about Michael Bennet’s original choreography and the idea that the dance break is an imagined performance—married with how de Guzman moves and how she herself hears and feels about the music.
Puno Garcia goes on to add that: “When I take on any project, I don’t want to deny my own instincts, so I follow them. I am very proud of the fusion that I have created with the material. I don’t think you can do any timeless piece of art without honoring the original way it was built. So that’s where I began, and then I built something on top of it with what I know.”
Very close to home
De Guzman, who only sang “The Music and The Mirror” at the media event, is a triple threat—a seasoned singer, dancer, and actress—who infuses the song with so much longing. I asked her if she had any connection to the musical prior to getting cast. “I got to work with Donna McKechnie,” she answers. McKechnie was the original Cassie on Broadway in 1975 and won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.
She continues saying, “That was really special—I did “Wicked” with her; she was one of our Madame Morribles—and then growing up I listened to the music, and I know the show.”
“Honestly, the role of Cassie is very real for me,” she shares. “I started off in the ensemble. I was a swing. I was in the ensemble. I was an understudy. I did all of that. Like Cassie, she got plucked from the ensemble and then went off to stardom, and she’s now returning to the line. I went off to do principal [roles] on Broadway, and I am now, truly now, returning to the line. Returning to dance. It is very real for me. It’s very close to home.”
A love letter to the chorus
For many of the performers, during the Q&A session, they reveal that they relate to the characters and the dramatic situation of the musical. Many of them cite specific performers—from the original Broadway cast, to the Broadway revival, and even the West End productions. Not only is the material something all theater performers can connect with, but the cast seems so aware of the show, all the way down to its history.
When asked about the challenges of directing 17 actors, Puno Garcia responds, laughing, “In theory, it does sound very difficult, right? But this is our life. It is so natural and organic the way that this material resonates. And at the end of the day, you let the text speak for itself. You let the right people speak it, and it kinda stages itself. You just let it breathe.”
“What I want to honor is the show as a love letter to the ensemble,” she adds. “That’s what the show is about.”
Wilson then asked everyone to describe the show in three or less words. Each cast member gave their own take, but it was swing member Franco Ramos who said, “universal,” which made the most impact.
Because this isn’t just a show about theater performers. The audition in itself is a dramatic situation. The show is about everybody who has ever had to apply for anything they really wanted—something that they were truly passionate about.
