A Chorus Line No. 46 - Cheryl Clark
- Lauryn Johnson
- Jul 26
- 2 min read
Australian Premiere as CASSIE 1977 Broadway 1978 for 3 years 1981-82
The Desert Inn Las Vegas Premier Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre 1985
The Opening of film for Sir Richard Attenborough A Chorus Line 1985
Over 3,000 performances of CASSIE
I was in the Original 1975 CHICAGO when we opened at the 46th St. Theatre and saw the downtown production of A CHORUS LINE at the Newman Theatre at Joe Papp's Public Theatre and was blown away! I knew Baayork Lee who had hired me at age 20 for the Bus and Truck tour of PROMISES PROMISES and being an ex-ballerina with the Original Harkness Ballet of New York since age 17, my make-up was running down my face upon seeing and hearing the great Kelly Bishop, Nancy Lane and Kay Cole perform AT THE BALLET!
The psychology of the entire, brilliant production moved me greatly, and especially Priscilla Lopez (who I had done Broadway PIPPIN with two years before at the Imperial Theatre), and the great Sammy Williams playing the role of PAUL. I continued performing in CHICAGO (originating POP! in CELL BLOCK TANGO) until I went to an open audition call for replacement in A CHORUS LINE in 1976 and after I sang, Michael Bennett asked me "Where have you been?" And I said, "Over at the 46th Street Theatre doing CHICAGO." He asked me to learn "The Music and the Mirror" and I had 5 call back auditions. Being only 25 years old, he asked me to play Cassie with leading American Scott Pearson as Zach for the Australian premier, rehearsing at the Shubert Theatre in cold December of 1976 and Opening at Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney, Australia early in 1977. When I returned to America after a 10 month contract in Australia, Michael Bennett asked me to join the Broadway Co. of A Chorus Line at the Shubert Theatre, and since this article is covering 1975-1990, I performed Cassie nearly 3,000 times. At the closing in 1990, Scott Pearson and I were asked, after auditioning for Cassie and Zach, to play the European tour, and I negotiated having my 3 year old Mimi Page with me for a very successful continuation of A Chorus Line touching the lives of so many people globally. I am forever a "groupie" of the brilliant Original A Chorus Line cast and the creative team!
Cheryl: “Donna coached me. None of the women could ever duplicate her back and her arms, I truly listened to her about what the drama of the dance meant. And I have to give a lot of credit to Baayork Lee for my understanding and interpretation, because she was right there with Michael and Donna. Michael loved my extension, it was probably the highest of any of the women that played the role and we incorporated it into the dance. I did the role longer than any other Cassie, between Broadway and the road, and I always religiously stuck to what Donna and Michael wanted.”
—The Longest Line by Gary Stevens and Alan George
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