There's still time to catch Nikolai Foster's poignant and often dazzling revival of A Chorus Line at Sadler's Wells before the tour moves on.
Appropriately for a theatre dedicated to dance, the show spotlights the desperation, dreams, sacrifices, and sheer talent of those who push their bodies to extremes - while striving not to stand out from the ensemble.
In 1975, director Michael Bennett interviewed real life Broadway hoofers and put their personal testimonies front and centre of a game-changing anti-musical that won a clutch of Tonys, a Pulitzer, and ran for 15 years.
Bennett previously worked on Sondheim's Follies and this too burrows behind the showbiz to reveal the emotional and physical toll of a precarious job.
In narrowing them down to eight, Adam Cooper's demanding, workaholic director Zach wants not just their sweat, but for them to bare their lives, as each steps forward from the line to reluctantly reveal the difficult upbringings, body and identity issues that have brought them to this bare rehearsal stage.
Slowly they reveal how dance helped them escape unhappy families or were a haven from homophobia.
A strong cast excels with Redmand Rance showcasing impressive dance skills in I Can Do That, Amy Thornton wistfully articulating the escapist fantasy in At The Ballet and Manuel Pacific movingly battling Paul's shame and defiance as he struggles with his sexuality and masculinity in a climactic speech that is both of its time and yet devastatingly current.
On the downside there's rather half-hearted use of the now ubiquitous hand held camera, and the plot-less nature demands strong acting performances with Cooper - while a brilliant dancer - not always nailing the nuance of workaholic Zach's emotional journey and yearning for ex Cassie.
But Ellen Kane brilliantly supplements Bob Avian's original choreography, Marvlin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban's songs soar, and Foster is excellent at marshalling the ensemble in numbers such as I Hope I Get It, Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, and the gold-spangled, confetti-popping, top-hatted finale.
The quieter moments also count with Carly Mercedes Dyer's Cassie nailing a powerful The Music and The Mirror and Jocasta Almgill offers the pure voiced uplifting anthem What I Did For Love.
A Chorus Line runs at Sadler's Wells until August 25.
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