This is the 40th anniversary of A CHORUS LINE opening so I thought I'd post a comment. I got such an incredible email from Kelly Bishop thanking me for this deconstruction and calling it a "tutorial worthy of a college course". I just call it an obsessed fan obsessing! That was followed by a hilarious and wonderful email from Ronald Dennis, the original Richie. The fact that the originals watched this is so moving to me. And especially the 8-year-old boy still inside me who listened to it NON-STOP! I love this show so much and it meant and will always mean so much to me!
0:38 Seth says he's still angry that they put "one blurry picture" on the fold-out of the record cover, puts the cover down and smoke immediately starts rising from that area. I seriously thought he set it on fire at that point. I was like "dude, bit of a strong reaction!!"
I am literally crying with laughter at that comment! I also saw the smoke but didn't notice it coincided with the moment he put the album down out of sight!
I wept buckets the first time I heard this song. Only took a handful of ballet classes in my life and definitely could not identity with being a dancer. But I was a fatherless girl who knew she would never be pretty, and escaped into music and musicals because of it. Listening to this analysis I'm crying right now. Thank you for reminding me of all the reasons this song is mine.
One more thing about "I was pretty / I was happy / I would love to..." The crescendo of emotional progression is clearly meant to be "I was pretty / I was happy / I was loved" You could even mis-hear it as:. I was pretty / I was happy / I was loved too..." So it is very cool but not a completely off beat group of three. The third one still has the right meaning but "I was loved" doesn't have enough syllables. "I would love to" is really about the only thing a lyricist could put there.
This song is about artistry that rises from pain. This montage is one of the saddest songs and yet -- hope springs eternal. The orchestration honors the battles, internal and external, that most true artists endure. ~love
I know this is an old post, and I realize Seth last posted some years ago. I just want to say thank you for this, and how much this particular act from Chorus Line STILL brings tears to my eyes. First time I saw Chorus Line was way back in 1975 at the Schubert Theater in W. Los Angeles when my mother took me dragging and screaming as a 15 year old “stoner teen” to see the show. To put it mildly, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing and for the first time in years, held hands with my Mom and cried. I believe I’ve seen A Chorus Line some 30-40 times since then, and have finally introduced my teen daughters to it now in 2022 here in Spain. It’s been a great ride this life of mine…Chorus Line left it’s mark on me permanently and indescribably. Thank you SO MUCH!!
How wonderful is it that I found this! I cry every time I hear this song. Memories flood my brain. I cry.. I reminisce. I remember seeing this at the Schubert on Broadway when I was 25 in 1981 and I was never the same agsin. Thank you Seth, just BRILLIANT..
Your deconstruction inspired me to use the song in my grade 3 & 6 classes today. I had the students listen to it once through with their eyes closed, then a second time and asked them to either draw or write the imagery and/or feelings the piece evoked for them. I got a fascinating array of responses back, and they ALL loved the song. Thanks Seth!
Lara Morton this is amazing, I know if one of my teachers ever did this it would be the so awesome, I love this idea also. Plus introducing Kids to these iconic musicals is so important ❤️❤️❤️ thank you
I am a self-acclaimed lazy Broadway fan - I don't explore too much, and never keep up with new shows and musicals. But finding Seth on the RUclips has helped me learn so so much and appreciate a whole new world of Broadway. A Chorus Line is in my top 5 musicals of all time - that I know - and this song moves me every time!
One of the most beautiful songs from one of the greatest scores ever written. And it makes me cry every damn time!! And thanks to Seth I get more out of it than I ever did when I saw it at Drury Lane in London back in the day. One of the great theatre nights of my life.
I've heard Seth on SiriusXM a few times. He is at an entire different level here. Amazing. Fascinating. Now I'm obsessed by his deconstructions... What a talent.
To me, the ending sounds as if the song is taking an extra moment to decide whether to end with a major or minor chord. Could have gone either way, I think; it's a very close call whether the story is tragic or triumphant. The ringing triangle (?) at the end sounds to me as if it is blessing the song and its characters. The other thing I wanted to say is that I use this video to practice speaking faster. "Phenomenal vibrato on 'metronome'...phenomenal vibrato on 'metronome'..." One of my favorite videos on RUclips! Thanks, Seth!
This is truly my favorite thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of great things including summer, a baby taking its first steps and SEVERAL tiny kittens.
Ok, first, I don't know how I missed this one, because this song is the greatest song in the best musical ever. @ me if you dare. Second, I know this show inside out and At The Ballet? Ha. There's no way Seth is gonna tell me anything I don't know. "So," I'm on the floor. As much of a treasure as A Chorus Line is, Seth and his deconstructions are just as valuable to the history and future of the Broadway musical. Thank you Seth!
What makes this video great, is his passion for what he is talking about. I love this show and this song too, and now hearing someone who loves music and has a passion for music, makes this video all the more entertaining to watch.
A smokin' deconstruction -- literally! As the smoke rose, I thought, well, the album packaging is just spontaneously combusting from Seth's bitter critique of the blurry inside photo. Listening to this song over so years, I still find parts of this song *devastating.* It's the Indian chief that always gets me: something magical and faraway, and out of reach of a child's grasp. Thanks for the master class!
LOVED this. It also reminded me of the bit from "Every Little Step" in which SO many singers struggled with the E on the last "at the ballet." When Mara Davi finally steps up and nails it, you can see the whole creative team just sort of slump in relief. Good grief, I may need to watch all of these deconstructions!
such an amazing show! i had the honor of playing Bobby in a show directed by danny herman who was an understudy for mike and performed as mike and mark for several years. it was a wonderful experience and this song is one of the most amazing works of music i have ever hard. the way it was written is just beautifl.
I've been listening to this song since I was a teenager. It's one of my favorite B'way songs. You made me discover diffrent parts of the song that I had never heard before. The song feels brand new to me now. I fell in love with the show when I had the chance to play Paul in a school production. Thank You so much.
This was the first Broadway musical I saw. It was on tour and I was living in Oklahoma City. I cried buckets when I saw it. I was taking ballet classes at the time. It was also the first Broadway musical cast album I bought. Luckily my mother was into musicals and owned several cast recordings from the 50's-60's.
Brilliant deconstruction of a brilliant song. Seth Rudetsky is a national treasure. Every time I hear this song, I react the same way to one line. Maggie's, "I used to dance around the living room with my arms up like this." The emphasis seems wrong. I think it should be, ..."with my arms up, LIKE THIS." But that's just me--it's all brilliant, as is all of A Chorus Line.
My god, Seth, how could I have spent so many years on this earth without ever having known you were out there. I am someone who falls in love with certain pieces of music but knows virtually nothing about musical "construction," for want of a better word. Among musicals, A Chorus Line has long been my unchallenged favorite, with Godspell running a distant second. I found you 'by accident' when I was looking for Kelly Bishop's work in the show since I had been told, as it turns out, on very good authority, that she was the definitive "Sheila." In any event, once a foolish supporter of the notion that, "...one only had to know what one liked..." in order to really enjoy a piece of music, I realize now that while that contention has some credibility, it's the sort of credibility that only has meaning on a fundamental level - and is, in fact, is indicative of a lazy approach to music appreciation (analogous, say, to enjoying a performance by Yuja Wang, only because of her openly provocative performance fashion sense which often results in a somewhat indulgent exhibition of her remarkably beautiful legs). Thank you so much for your work here. Kelly Bishop is dead on in her assessment; I feel as though I just beat a top university out of tuition money for one of its premier course selections in the arts.
Thanks for this deconstruction. You're not the only one who played this song over & over & over in their youth. A RUclips video shows Hamilton's cast welcoming ACL's original cast onstage to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. I've watched it repeatedly. It's truly like welcoming dear friends back home.
I watched the video you recently posted and that moment where the line reappears nearly took my breath away. You are so correct...absolutely spellbinding.
Chorus Line is such a personal show for me especially this number as it diretly reflects several aspects of my own life even though I'm not 1.) a woman and 2.) ever took ballet. Yet I am fragments of these characters. So emotional. Saw the revival on tour here in Detroit several years ago. Was hard to explain to my daughter and son why I cried during this number. Your deconstruction Seth was perfect!! Musically, emotionally..the REAL DEAL!! thank you
I had no idea this amazing song existed until I just happened to stumble upon this youtube video. Like many people I know Kelly Bishop from Dirty Dancing and Gilmore Girls. I don't think I realized she was on Broadway in the 1970's.
I never tire of every detail of A Chorus Line - this was so good - and hearing you demonstrate with the piano...and pointing out there were no strings.... just great
Seth, I so thoroughly enjoyed that! Imagine if we would have had the luxury of someone walking through these tunes with us when we were coming up? You are being of amazing service.
When I was 16, the only thing I wanted was a metronome. I was so excited when I got one. I was such a piano nerd!!! Who needs a car, when they can have a metronome???
Seth...this is brilliant! I have always felt the song on a very personal level, as I did with ACL overall. This deconstruction has opened my eyes to levels of this song that I never knew existed. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I'm barely 4 minutes into your video and had to write this. First off I was a woodwind player on the National Company of the show and would like to thank you for your kind words about the orchestrators' compensations for the lack of strings in the ACL pit writing, but that considered, they certainly did not make things easy on the four woodwinds, of which I was one, in order to make up for the lack of strings. There's a number of points I could make re: this alone but I wanted to get right to what prompted me to write this in the first place. I have no shortage of "war stories" about what the original production entailed, some of which are hearsay to me and others which are personal experience from having such a close relationship with the original production, even though I was a musician "on the road" on tour with the show (which by itself was a first - sending 18 musicians "on the road" - to the dismay of entrenched "local" union musicians employed in many theaters in a lot of cities). But finally I had to put this on "Pause" to write this. I have no idea what the musical knowledge is of anyone watching this video, whether they're an ACL junkie, a current MD (music director) of some local production, a singer/ DANCER thinking about auditioning for a production at any level, accomplished Broadway and tour vets like me or maybe a trained musician who's played the show on some other level (or about to for possibly the first time) or just a curious audience member. So my point is: Using a word like "metronome" is no big deal. Using just about any word from the English language in a lyric is a not big deal. While I can understand that a musically "illiterate" person, (which I'm NOT using in a pejorative way, because about 97% of the population has always been musically "illiterate"), may not know what a "metronome" is, there were probably quite a lot of people in 1975 that didn't know either, (although I would guess more people back then knew what a metronome is than do now in 2023). But to clarify what I mean, it's not the JOB of an artistic creator (namely a lyricist) to have to be overly concerned with "dumbing-down" their lyrics just to suit an audience. Especially in the Broadway theater, there has always been an educated, sophisticated show-going audience that appreciates the marvelous "turn of phrase" and vocabulary that's often been a hallmark of ANY, truly GREAT song or Broadway "standard", and the "wit" which incredible lyricists like Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Oscar Hammerstein, just to name a few, brought to their songs, never went unnoticed, by some percentage of the audience. In all likelihood, none of them probably could have cared less if nobody "got" their "plays on words" or not either but hey, there's another lyric line coming along they may "get". The main thing is that songwriters don't "dumb down their lyrics" just so that every "Average Joe" (I.E. New York tourist who buys a show ticket) might comprehend what was being said on the first "listen" in the course of viewing a performance. One of the problems I find with contemporary "Broadway" is it's LOSS of the clever manipulation of the English language and the breaking of all rules of any sort of intelligent grammar at almost any time is now strangely totally acceptable. But there's a reason why, back in the "golden age" of Broadway, certain song-writers were SOUGHT OUT by producers, and the chosen few were able to escape the morass of Tin Pan Alley songwriting, leaving it behind to put on display their artistic in greatness writing for the theatre, and leaving behind the ho-hum-ness of what mediocre song writing IS to the rest of the Tin Pan Alley hacks. All anybody has to do is go on eBay to see the hundreds of pieces of Piano Sheet music for sale that's from a bygone era that are "pop songs", most of which were probably already forgotten by the time their original print-run went out of stock in music stores (60-100 years ago). The problem with contemporary popular songwriting, (and including that which goes back to the age of Tin Pan Alley), is that too much of it reflects the asinine bad quality of lyric writing that can be best summarized in a lyric like "hold my hand and I'll understand". Please, REALLY? Gag me. I'll take something like using the word "metronome" in a theatrical lyric or a lyric like Ira Gershwin wrote within the chorus of "The Man I Love", to wit, "maybe Tuesday will be our good news day." That's being original, CREATIVE, and brilliant, (in only 10 syllables). Lyrics and especially lyricists are NOT created equally and Broadway has always deserved and gotten something far better than general "run of the mill", "ho-hum" popular music written only for short-term popular consumption, whether it was back in the age of Tin Pan Alley or whatever has passed for "popular music" since rock music displaced traditional songwriting (decades ago). A composer / lyricist like the late, great Stephen Sondheim spent many-an-hour coming up with succinct lyrics that cut straight to the point he was trying to make within the confines of musical form, without resorting to basic crowd pleasing or just to get applause for rhyming cleverness or to get a "hit" popular song. So if anybody in the audience doesn't "get it" that's THEIR problem. THIS is my main point here. There is NO reason to apologize for using any word in the dictionary if it fits the dramatic situation, and in the case of dancers, (or good musicians) a metronomic "beat" is essential, so why NOT mention a "metronome" in the realm of what it was like to escape life on a "regular" (IE metronomic) basis - going to a dance class?. As I said, who cares whether X-percentage of an audience doesn't "get it"? That's THEIR problem. A certain percentage of the audience will completely understand what it means, so just go ahead and use it; no apologies necessary. But, the sensitive writer must always of course keep in mind what the goal is, and when it does come to the "popular" theater, of course you can't "lose" the audience, when millions of invested dollars are at stake. But "Cleverness" just for the sake of being "clever" is just as disingenuous and transparent - in order to show that a writer can "do it" - as an infantile crowd-pleasing lyric fit for Sesame Street (or your average "bubble gum" Top-40 pop song since the 1960s; and some even might say since the dawn of Tin Pan Alley, (AKA, NOT the "popular" songs that came from the "better" songwriters who, historically, "graduated" to Broadway). Now with 40+ years behind me as a professional musician, arranger, orchestrator, bandleader and historian behind me I'm the first to admit that probably 95% of ALL popular music that's EVER been written from ANY era, just for the sake of being "popular", is just plain trite, if not bad or downright awful in strictly musical terms, (but amazingly and by some inexplicable reason, some of it becomes "hits"). There was a time when all that mattered, was the "meritocracy" and "better" musicians got "better" gigs and "better" songwriters ended up writing Broadway shows, and I'm totally OK with and down with that. Great music and art is the beneficiary, even if on it's surface "X-percentage" of an audience may not "get it" in a "LIVE!" performance and there's no rewind button. Besides, if you're a lyricist, who would ever want to be straight-jacketed into a limited vocabulary just to please a crowd? (The answer to that is the difference between being a creative artist creating what you do to satisfy your personal ambitions OR being an entertainer more concerned with how loud the applause is and trying to make everyone happy.)
Seth, thank you so much. I just saw this.... and it brougt tears to my eyes, remember everything I experienced when I was touring with the B&T and International Co. back in the day. Oh, the memories. "At the Ballet" put a lump in my throat every night, especially when we'd break into the ballet after Maggie's high note! xoxoxox
Thank you for these videos Seth. I have always loved Broadway musical theater but you give it freshness with your explanations. It makes me feel like I am hearing it again for the first time - - and that is a wonderful thing! Thank you and many hugs from Niagara Falls Ontario!
Seth deserves to be one of those MacArthur genius grant recipients so he could do these kind of analyses on the 100 greatest Broadway songs ever. Now there's a DVD I woul gladly pay big bucks for. As for "At The Ballet", it would not only make the top 100, it is probably in the top 5.
This is wonderful. Thank you so much for your insight and wisdom on this beautiful number, one of my favorites from the actually I always liked the Bossa Nova beat at the begining
Brilliant show! I took all of my new drama/dance students to see it every semester because it was perfection! (That makes over 50 times for me) but back then Joseph Papp offered $10.00 student tickets. Great deconstruction Seth!
Seth, you are always 100% spot on. You literally don't miss a thing. I'm slowly but surely watching all of your deconstructions - even with "less major" recordings like "You've Got Possibilities" from SUPERMAN, you brilliantly analyze all the joys in these cast recordings. I particularly enjoyed your AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' segment. "At The Ballet" is the finest writing (and probably most moving recording) from A CHORUS LINE, and you give it it's full due. BRAVO - keep 'em coming.
This was amazingly fun and I can hardly wait to watch the others. I recently saw the documentary EVERY LITTLE STEP and it was great to revisit all the wonderful things about A CHORUS LINE. Tonight, after 3 vodkas and sobbing hysterically to Bernadette in SUNDAY IN THE PARK - long day, don't ask - it's nice to see another OBCQ doing his thing. Of course Mr. Rudetsky has an actual career in the arts and I don't, but such is life. Ooooo, Another Hundred People!!!!
This is definitely my favorite number from the show. And in my opinion, one of the best from it as well. I mean, in just under 6 minutes, this song takes you on a ride through every one of your emotions. I know that may sound crazy. But, that’s just because it & I are crazy! And, I will cut you if you dare criticize Sheila’s dried up dusty old self for just trying to get one last show before calling it quits! TRUST!
My first "real" show was Annie, then I told my mother I would be 'Sheila.' She hated the idea so much. I never came close 20+ years for the revival to being cast, but it randomly made us so much closer, and brought us back together. Thank you 'Sheila' for shaping my life... "Can the adults please smoke?"
Obviously, I am late to this game, but imagine your eight year old child telling your "non" dance mom, that your only option in life was to be "Sheila." I might have been/ still dramatic.
Thank you for informing me of the facts related to this song. A CHORUS LINE is my favorite musical. Your knowledge and passion for music is quite evident in your deconstruction. BRAVA!
I love this! I also love how you say..."as a kid." My mom made me watch this being the musical nutcase I am, I thought I would hate it because it was right after my Grease obsession. However this play, movie, and album proves to be my fave! This song was always my fave too!
I saw the original cast in Los Angeles at the Schubert and noticed something Kelly Bishop did in this song that I thought was clever. AfterRUclips came on-line I saw the B/W off-BW preview of Ballet, it was present. Then the Donahue 25 anniversary show. 25 years later and she still did it. On the first singing of "metronome" she straight arm bumps her right fist on her right thigh 4 times to the beat, visually illustrating a metronome. Very clever. I've only seen one other person do it. If I ever met KB the one question I would ask her would be was this her idea, choreographed ahead, a direction after feedback, what? Whatever it was was strong enough to last for 25 years. Inquiring minds want to know. I question choreographed because it's not in almost every production I've seen, just the original and one other. Did they just miss it?
Seth, I enjoy your analyses - thank you! I'm sure you are a pleasure to work with in the pit. I've noticed something in the song, but cannot find any reference to it on the net. It seems unlikely that no one else noticed this, but they apparently never mentioned or discussed it. "The steep and very narrow stairway" is a metaphor referring to the dancer's path to success. It is "steep" in terms of the demands of training, preparation, and competition from the throng of other dancers. It is "very narrow" in the sense that there is not enough opportunity for those who aspire to succeed. "The voice like a metronome" could refer to all the dance teachers, everywhere, who call out instructions in class in the tempo of the indispensible metronome. I apologize if this seems so obvious as to never be mentioned, but it seems pertinent to me - and helps illuminate the meaning of the show.
AmmaLeslie Yes! And I forgot to mention, "...it wasn't paradise...but it was home" refers to dance class, recitals, rehearsals, shows, etc. - not their house & family...
Thank you so much for your passion, intellect, and talent, Seth. From another person who grew up so fortunately experiencing such greatness. Loved this, love you on Sirius "On Broadway". They couldn't find better individuals to do these precious performances justice. Brava!
I will now listen to this in a whole different way. This is my most played sound track album, I must have listened to it at least once a week for the last thirty plus years. Thank you for giving me a new way to hear it.
I always thought that Maggie's "I would love to..." at the end was basically an indication that she's still living in the fantasy from when she was a child. The others are talking to Zach, but she's off in her own world.
Thank you for this, one of my favorites, I love music I can never say "the favorite" because in a song I'll love it for different reasons from identifying with it to even breaking the music down in a song & loving it because of a certain section of beats or amazing riffs within the song...❤️❤️❤️❤️
Видеоклипы
"Chorus Line people. Is it the best show ever?...Yes."
Oh Seth, how I love you to death.
coolness06 isn’t he the bestest? ❤️
Thank you, Seth. ❤❤❤
This is the 40th anniversary of A CHORUS LINE opening so I thought I'd post a comment. I got such an incredible email from Kelly Bishop thanking me for this deconstruction and calling it a "tutorial worthy of a college course". I just call it an obsessed fan obsessing! That was followed by a hilarious and wonderful email from Ronald Dennis, the original Richie. The fact that the originals watched this is so moving to me. And especially the 8-year-old boy still inside me who listened to it NON-STOP! I love this show so much and it meant and will always mean so much to me!
SethTV You are me, if I had talent !!!!!!!!!
+Sylvester Smith These two comments made my week.
the original.......?
Seth Rudetsky ....love u!....wanted to always move to NYC and do what u did! U rock!
That is amazing that Kelly responded. So cool.
0:38 Seth says he's still angry that they put "one blurry picture" on the fold-out of the record cover, puts the cover down and smoke immediately starts rising from that area. I seriously thought he set it on fire at that point. I was like "dude, bit of a strong reaction!!"
Sorry but I agree with Seth about the liner photo, the show deserved more that that awful photo montage
i’ve been laughing at this for ten minutes OHMTGOD
Lol, i saw the smoke, too, but that's hilarious to pair it with the inside picture spread like you did
I am literally crying with laughter at that comment! I also saw the smoke but didn't notice it coincided with the moment he put the album down out of sight!
This may be the most perfect RUclips video ever made.
I wept buckets the first time I heard this song. Only took a handful of ballet classes in my life and definitely could not identity with being a dancer. But I was a fatherless girl who knew she would never be pretty, and escaped into music and musicals because of it. Listening to this analysis I'm crying right now. Thank you for reminding me of all the reasons this song is mine.
One more thing about "I was pretty / I was happy / I would love to..."
The crescendo of emotional progression is clearly meant to be "I was pretty / I was happy / I was loved"
You could even mis-hear it as:. I was pretty / I was happy / I was loved too..."
So it is very cool but not a completely off beat group of three. The third one still has the right meaning but "I was loved" doesn't have enough syllables. "I would love to" is really about the only thing a lyricist could put there.
I heard many people IN THE AUDIENCE talk about the drama in this song when the show was touring... the emotion was deep and VERY REAL.
The older I get, the more this song makes me cry
This.
ALL of this. ♥️
This song is about artistry that rises from pain. This montage is one of the saddest songs and yet -- hope springs eternal. The orchestration honors the battles, internal and external, that most true artists endure. ~love
I know this is an old post, and I realize Seth last posted some years ago. I just want to say thank you for this, and how much this particular act from Chorus Line STILL brings tears to my eyes. First time I saw Chorus Line was way back in 1975 at the Schubert Theater in W. Los Angeles when my mother took me dragging and screaming as a 15 year old “stoner teen” to see the show. To put it mildly, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing and for the first time in years, held hands with my Mom and cried. I believe I’ve seen A Chorus Line some 30-40 times since then, and have finally introduced my teen daughters to it now in 2022 here in Spain. It’s been a great ride this life of mine…Chorus Line left it’s mark on me permanently and indescribably. Thank you SO MUCH!!
It's absolutely phenomenal that young people coming of age have access to teaching like this.
How wonderful is it that I found this! I cry every time I hear this song. Memories flood my brain. I cry.. I reminisce. I remember seeing this at the Schubert on Broadway when I was 25 in 1981 and I was never the same agsin. Thank you Seth, just BRILLIANT..
I saw Idina Menzel recently and she said that Marvin Hamlisch said this was his favorite song he wrote RIP Marvin
Your deconstruction inspired me to use the song in my grade 3 & 6 classes today. I had the students listen to it once through with their eyes closed, then a second time and asked them to either draw or write the imagery and/or feelings the piece evoked for them. I got a fascinating array of responses back, and they ALL loved the song. Thanks Seth!
Lara Morton this is amazing, I know if one of my teachers ever did this it would be the so awesome, I love this idea also. Plus introducing Kids to these iconic musicals is so important ❤️❤️❤️ thank you
I am a self-acclaimed lazy Broadway fan - I don't explore too much, and never keep up with new shows and musicals. But finding Seth on the RUclips has helped me learn so so much and appreciate a whole new world of Broadway. A Chorus Line is in my top 5 musicals of all time - that I know - and this song moves me every time!
OMFG It's "So, beautiful..." not "So beautiful..."
Everything is so clear now.
Commas are SO important.
When I first saw it in San Francisco the singer went “Soooo beautiful...” and that helped me “ hear” the comma.
One of the most beautiful songs from one of the greatest scores ever written. And it makes me cry every damn time!! And thanks to Seth I get more out of it than I ever did when I saw it at Drury Lane in London back in the day. One of the great theatre nights of my life.
I've heard Seth on SiriusXM a few times. He is at an entire different level here. Amazing. Fascinating. Now I'm obsessed by his deconstructions... What a talent.
Yeeessss.totally wot I am thinking!!!
Love this song. Love this show. The harmonies kill me. I was never a dancer, but I felt so connecteed to these characters.
To me, the ending sounds as if the song is taking an extra moment to decide whether to end with a major or minor chord. Could have gone either way, I think; it's a very close call whether the story is tragic or triumphant. The ringing triangle (?) at the end sounds to me as if it is blessing the song and its characters.
The other thing I wanted to say is that I use this video to practice speaking faster. "Phenomenal vibrato on 'metronome'...phenomenal vibrato on 'metronome'..."
One of my favorite videos on RUclips! Thanks, Seth!
This is truly my favorite thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of great things including summer, a baby taking its first steps and SEVERAL tiny kittens.
Ok, first, I don't know how I missed this one, because this song is the greatest song in the best musical ever. @ me if you dare. Second, I know this show inside out and At The Ballet? Ha. There's no way Seth is gonna tell me anything I don't know.
"So,"
I'm on the floor.
As much of a treasure as A Chorus Line is, Seth and his deconstructions are just as valuable to the history and future of the Broadway musical. Thank you Seth!
What makes this video great, is his passion for what he is talking about. I love this show and this song too, and now hearing someone who loves music and has a passion for music, makes this video all the more entertaining to watch.
And that he lets the song be the star.
A smokin' deconstruction -- literally! As the smoke rose, I thought, well, the album packaging is just spontaneously combusting from Seth's bitter critique of the blurry inside photo.
Listening to this song over so years, I still find parts of this song *devastating.* It's the Indian chief that always gets me: something magical and faraway, and out of reach of a child's grasp.
Thanks for the master class!
Always makes my heart clutch.
This deconstruction had me in tears because it's such an achingly beautiful song. Thank you, Seth!
LOVED this. It also reminded me of the bit from "Every Little Step" in which SO many singers struggled with the E on the last "at the ballet." When Mara Davi finally steps up and nails it, you can see the whole creative team just sort of slump in relief. Good grief, I may need to watch all of these deconstructions!
They should list all of them!!
Seth your ability to Teach a Bypoler /Add / man in his 60's is amazing and your stuff stays with me ..Timing ,Verses
such an amazing show! i had the honor of playing Bobby in a show directed by danny herman who was an understudy for mike and performed as mike and mark for several years. it was a wonderful experience and this song is one of the most amazing works of music i have ever hard. the way it was written is just beautifl.
I've been listening to this song since I was a teenager. It's one of my favorite B'way songs. You made me discover diffrent parts of the song that I had never heard before. The song feels brand new to me now. I fell in love with the show when I had the chance to play Paul in a school production. Thank You so much.
I have seen this video so many times in the past 9 years
This was the first Broadway musical I saw. It was on tour and I was living in Oklahoma City. I cried buckets when I saw it. I was taking ballet classes at the time. It was also the first Broadway musical cast album I bought. Luckily my mother was into musicals and owned several cast recordings from the 50's-60's.
THIS SONG!!!!! truly one of the most beautiful songs ever written for a musical.
I agree, made me cry a few times along the way and to discover that it authentically happened to Kelly in real life… hits too close to home.
Brilliant deconstruction of a brilliant song. Seth Rudetsky is a national treasure. Every time I hear this song, I react the same way to one line. Maggie's, "I used to dance around the living room with my arms up like this." The emphasis seems wrong. I think it should be, ..."with my arms up, LIKE THIS." But that's just me--it's all brilliant, as is all of A Chorus Line.
He is not only good at description but funny as hell.
I like him because he’s not rude or pretentious
My god, Seth, how could I have spent so many years on this earth without ever having known you were out there. I am someone who falls in love with certain pieces of music but knows virtually nothing about musical "construction," for want of a better word. Among musicals, A Chorus Line has long been my unchallenged favorite, with Godspell running a distant second. I found you 'by accident' when I was looking for Kelly Bishop's work in the show since I had been told, as it turns out, on very good authority, that she was the definitive "Sheila." In any event, once a foolish supporter of the notion that, "...one only had to know what one liked..." in order to really enjoy a piece of music, I realize now that while that contention has some credibility, it's the sort of credibility that only has meaning on a fundamental level - and is, in fact, is indicative of a lazy approach to music appreciation (analogous, say, to enjoying a performance by Yuja Wang, only because of her openly provocative performance fashion sense which often results in a somewhat indulgent exhibition of her remarkably beautiful legs). Thank you so much for your work here. Kelly Bishop is dead on in her assessment; I feel as though I just beat a top university out of tuition money for one of its premier course selections in the arts.
I could not have said better! I love Seth and I love this video.
Doug Wild omg, I’ve been in A Chorus Line and Godspell
As a theatre major this song identified with the most. Especially Bebe’s part.perfectly describes why I got into musical theater
My favorite song from my favorite musical. Your deconstruction has taught me so much!
seth in this video is a real life "man in chair" from drowsy chaperone
We had that metronome at ballet class! It is totally relatable.
I obsessively listened to this album as a kid, particularly this song, and Seth explains why.
Thanks for this deconstruction. You're not the only one who played this song over & over & over in their youth. A RUclips video shows Hamilton's cast welcoming ACL's original cast onstage to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. I've watched it repeatedly. It's truly like welcoming dear friends back home.
This song always rips me apart.
I watched the video you recently posted and that moment where the line reappears nearly took my breath away. You are so correct...absolutely spellbinding.
Chorus Line is such a personal show for me especially this number as it diretly reflects several aspects of my own life even though I'm not 1.) a woman and 2.) ever took ballet. Yet I am fragments of these characters. So emotional. Saw the revival on tour here in Detroit several years ago. Was hard to explain to my daughter and son why I cried during this number. Your deconstruction Seth was perfect!! Musically, emotionally..the REAL DEAL!! thank you
1986 my Mom was Maggie in a toned done actors in 30s show. I saw it at 5.... even toned down it was over my head. Still have VHS; love it...
haha the smoke scared me at first, then i realized it was outside
What can i say/ it is so beautiful in the composing and lyric plus three wonderful presenters. perfection!
I had no idea this amazing song existed until I just happened to stumble upon this youtube video. Like many people I know Kelly Bishop from Dirty Dancing and Gilmore Girls. I don't think I realized she was on Broadway in the 1970's.
As was Edward Hermann (RIP). They presented an award together at the Tony's in the 70-80s. It's on RUclips somewhere.
Wonderful video analysis! Thank you! Also, I think the horns arrangement and playing on the original cast recording are fantastic.
Literal chills. Thank you, Seth!!
I never tire of every detail of A Chorus Line - this was so good - and hearing you demonstrate with the piano...and pointing out there were no strings.... just great
This is probably my favorite arrangement of a musical number ever. Thank you for the opportunity to savor every note.
I'm just now find this. Love your deconstructions. Love A Chorus Line and this post.
Oh my GOD, where have you been all my life! Love this. Thank you.
Seth, I so thoroughly enjoyed that! Imagine if we would have had the luxury of someone walking through these tunes with us when we were coming up? You are being of amazing service.
Only just discovered this brilliant appreciation of this amazing song from The Best Show Ever. Thank you Seth for your insights.
When I was 16, the only thing I wanted was a metronome. I was so excited when I got one. I was such a piano nerd!!! Who needs a car, when they can have a metronome???
Seth...this is brilliant! I have always felt the song on a very personal level, as I did with ACL overall. This deconstruction has opened my eyes to levels of this song that I never knew existed. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I'm barely 4 minutes into your video and had to write this. First off I was a woodwind player on the National Company of the show and would like to thank you for your kind words about the orchestrators' compensations for the lack of strings in the ACL pit writing, but that considered, they certainly did not make things easy on the four woodwinds, of which I was one, in order to make up for the lack of strings. There's a number of points I could make re: this alone but I wanted to get right to what prompted me to write this in the first place. I have no shortage of "war stories" about what the original production entailed, some of which are hearsay to me and others which are personal experience from having such a close relationship with the original production, even though I was a musician "on the road" on tour with the show (which by itself was a first - sending 18 musicians "on the road" - to the dismay of entrenched "local" union musicians employed in many theaters in a lot of cities).
But finally I had to put this on "Pause" to write this. I have no idea what the musical knowledge is of anyone watching this video, whether they're an ACL junkie, a current MD (music director) of some local production, a singer/ DANCER thinking about auditioning for a production at any level, accomplished Broadway and tour vets like me or maybe a trained musician who's played the show on some other level (or about to for possibly the first time) or just a curious audience member. So my point is:
Using a word like "metronome" is no big deal. Using just about any word from the English language in a lyric is a not big deal. While I can understand that a musically "illiterate" person, (which I'm NOT using in a pejorative way, because about 97% of the population has always been musically "illiterate"), may not know what a "metronome" is, there were probably quite a lot of people in 1975 that didn't know either, (although I would guess more people back then knew what a metronome is than do now in 2023). But to clarify what I mean, it's not the JOB of an artistic creator (namely a lyricist) to have to be overly concerned with "dumbing-down" their lyrics just to suit an audience. Especially in the Broadway theater, there has always been an educated, sophisticated show-going audience that appreciates the marvelous "turn of phrase" and vocabulary that's often been a hallmark of ANY, truly GREAT song or Broadway "standard", and the "wit" which incredible lyricists like Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Oscar Hammerstein, just to name a few, brought to their songs, never went unnoticed, by some percentage of the audience. In all likelihood, none of them probably could have cared less if nobody "got" their "plays on words" or not either but hey, there's another lyric line coming along they may "get". The main thing is that songwriters don't "dumb down their lyrics" just so that every "Average Joe" (I.E. New York tourist who buys a show ticket) might comprehend what was being said on the first "listen" in the course of viewing a performance.
One of the problems I find with contemporary "Broadway" is it's LOSS of the clever manipulation of the English language and the breaking of all rules of any sort of intelligent grammar at almost any time is now strangely totally acceptable. But there's a reason why, back in the "golden age" of Broadway, certain song-writers were SOUGHT OUT by producers, and the chosen few were able to escape the morass of Tin Pan Alley songwriting, leaving it behind to put on display their artistic in greatness writing for the theatre, and leaving behind the ho-hum-ness of what mediocre song writing IS to the rest of the Tin Pan Alley hacks. All anybody has to do is go on eBay to see the hundreds of pieces of Piano Sheet music for sale that's from a bygone era that are "pop songs", most of which were probably already forgotten by the time their original print-run went out of stock in music stores (60-100 years ago). The problem with contemporary popular songwriting, (and including that which goes back to the age of Tin Pan Alley), is that too much of it reflects the asinine bad quality of lyric writing that can be best summarized in a lyric like "hold my hand and I'll understand". Please, REALLY? Gag me. I'll take something like using the word "metronome" in a theatrical lyric or a lyric like Ira Gershwin wrote within the chorus of "The Man I Love", to wit, "maybe Tuesday will be our good news day." That's being original, CREATIVE, and brilliant, (in only 10 syllables).
Lyrics and especially lyricists are NOT created equally and Broadway has always deserved and gotten something far better than general "run of the mill", "ho-hum" popular music written only for short-term popular consumption, whether it was back in the age of Tin Pan Alley or whatever has passed for "popular music" since rock music displaced traditional songwriting (decades ago). A composer / lyricist like the late, great Stephen Sondheim spent many-an-hour coming up with succinct lyrics that cut straight to the point he was trying to make within the confines of musical form, without resorting to basic crowd pleasing or just to get applause for rhyming cleverness or to get a "hit" popular song. So if anybody in the audience doesn't "get it" that's THEIR problem. THIS is my main point here. There is NO reason to apologize for using any word in the dictionary if it fits the dramatic situation, and in the case of dancers, (or good musicians) a metronomic "beat" is essential, so why NOT mention a "metronome" in the realm of what it was like to escape life on a "regular" (IE metronomic) basis - going to a dance class?. As I said, who cares whether X-percentage of an audience doesn't "get it"? That's THEIR problem. A certain percentage of the audience will completely understand what it means, so just go ahead and use it; no apologies necessary. But, the sensitive writer must always of course keep in mind what the goal is, and when it does come to the "popular" theater, of course you can't "lose" the audience, when millions of invested dollars are at stake. But "Cleverness" just for the sake of being "clever" is just as disingenuous and transparent - in order to show that a writer can "do it" - as an infantile crowd-pleasing lyric fit for Sesame Street (or your average "bubble gum" Top-40 pop song since the 1960s; and some even might say since the dawn of Tin Pan Alley, (AKA, NOT the "popular" songs that came from the "better" songwriters who, historically, "graduated" to Broadway). Now with 40+ years behind me as a professional musician, arranger, orchestrator, bandleader and historian behind me I'm the first to admit that probably 95% of ALL popular music that's EVER been written from ANY era, just for the sake of being "popular", is just plain trite, if not bad or downright awful in strictly musical terms, (but amazingly and by some inexplicable reason, some of it becomes "hits").
There was a time when all that mattered, was the "meritocracy" and "better" musicians got "better" gigs and "better" songwriters ended up writing Broadway shows, and I'm totally OK with and down with that. Great music and art is the beneficiary, even if on it's surface "X-percentage" of an audience may not "get it" in a "LIVE!" performance and there's no rewind button. Besides, if you're a lyricist, who would ever want to be straight-jacketed into a limited vocabulary just to please a crowd? (The answer to that is the difference between being a creative artist creating what you do to satisfy your personal ambitions OR being an entertainer more concerned with how loud the applause is and trying to make everyone happy.)
This has always been my favorite song -- pretty much for the same reasons Seth mentions. It it is beautifully and poignantly constructed.
Seth, thank you so much. I just saw this.... and it brougt tears to my eyes, remember everything I experienced when I was touring with the B&T and International Co. back in the day. Oh, the memories. "At the Ballet" put a lump in my throat every night, especially when we'd break into the ballet after Maggie's high note! xoxoxox
Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be more brilliant....you continue to amaze me, Seth!
Thank you for these videos Seth. I have always loved Broadway musical theater but you give it freshness with your explanations. It makes me feel like I am hearing it again for the first time - - and that is a wonderful thing! Thank you and many hugs from Niagara Falls Ontario!
Brilliant man. Alexandra Billings lit the way for me to find your page. Thank you Alex. Thank you Seth
In tears... thank you for deepening my experience of the beauty of this song. My soul is touched by its genius.
..remembering Marvin Hamlisch..thanks Seth!
Seth deserves to be one of those MacArthur genius grant recipients so he could do these kind of analyses on the 100 greatest Broadway songs ever. Now there's a DVD I woul gladly pay big bucks for. As for "At The Ballet", it would not only make the top 100, it is probably in the top 5.
This is wonderful. Thank you so much for your insight and wisdom on this beautiful number, one of my favorites from the actually I always liked the Bossa Nova beat at the begining
Wonderful, Seth. I will never hear this great song the same way again.
Brilliant show! I took all of my new drama/dance students to see it every semester because it was perfection! (That makes over 50 times for me) but back then Joseph Papp offered $10.00 student tickets. Great deconstruction Seth!
Seth, you are always 100% spot on. You literally don't miss a thing. I'm slowly but surely watching all of your deconstructions - even with "less major" recordings like "You've Got Possibilities" from SUPERMAN, you brilliantly analyze all the joys in these cast recordings. I particularly enjoyed your AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' segment. "At The Ballet" is the finest writing (and probably most moving recording) from A CHORUS LINE, and you give it it's full due. BRAVO - keep 'em coming.
This was amazingly fun and I can hardly wait to watch the others. I recently saw the documentary EVERY LITTLE STEP and it was great to revisit all the wonderful things about A CHORUS LINE. Tonight, after 3 vodkas and sobbing hysterically to Bernadette in SUNDAY IN THE PARK - long day, don't ask - it's nice to see another OBCQ doing his thing. Of course Mr. Rudetsky has an actual career in the arts and I don't, but such is life. Ooooo, Another Hundred People!!!!
My absolute favorite show! I was singing along with you Seth and I can't sing...hmmm...Maybe I can play Christine LOL
I'm playing Maggie in a production currently and I loved this!!! ahhhh
Love, love, love these! The passion for the music and technical knowledge. Plus the facials expressions are very funny!
How did I just discover this! Love it!
I'M OBSESSED with this guy!!!
This is definitely my favorite number from the show. And in my opinion, one of the best from it as well.
I mean, in just under 6 minutes, this song takes you on a ride through every one of your emotions. I know that may sound crazy. But, that’s just because it & I are crazy! And, I will cut you if you dare criticize Sheila’s dried up dusty old self for just trying to get one last show before calling it quits! TRUST!
I also thought "so beautiful..." was totally confusing and weird, but I still sang along to it.
My first "real" show was Annie, then I told my mother I would be 'Sheila.' She hated the idea so much. I never came close 20+ years for the revival to being cast, but it randomly made us so much closer, and brought us back together. Thank you 'Sheila' for shaping my life... "Can the adults please smoke?"
Obviously, I am late to this game, but imagine your eight year old child telling your "non" dance mom, that your only option in life was to be "Sheila." I might have been/ still dramatic.
Thank you for informing me of the facts related to this song. A CHORUS LINE is my favorite musical. Your knowledge and passion for music is quite evident in your deconstruction. BRAVA!
I love this song!! I was Bebe in A Chorus Line very recently, I had a blast singing this song. So beautiful! (so, beautiful... 😉)
I love this so much I am crying
I love hearing Seth Rudetsky explain anything
You always make me so happy to hear you be excited about music.
I love this! I also love how you say..."as a kid." My mom made me watch this being the musical nutcase I am, I thought I would hate it because it was right after my Grease obsession. However this play, movie, and album proves to be my fave! This song was always my fave too!
I saw the original cast in Los Angeles at the Schubert and noticed something Kelly Bishop did in this song that I thought was clever. AfterRUclips came on-line I saw the B/W off-BW preview of Ballet, it was present. Then the Donahue 25 anniversary show. 25 years later and she still did it. On the first singing of "metronome" she straight arm bumps her right fist on her right thigh 4 times to the beat, visually illustrating a metronome. Very clever. I've only seen one other person do it. If I ever met KB the one question I would ask her would be was this her idea, choreographed ahead, a direction after feedback, what? Whatever it was was strong enough to last for 25 years. Inquiring minds want to know. I question choreographed because it's not in almost every production I've seen, just the original and one other. Did they just miss it?
I need you to be my guide on broadway, just like you have a guide on safari! I love this song and always have, but now I understand it. Thanks.
Seth, I enjoy your analyses - thank you! I'm sure you are a pleasure to work with in the pit. I've noticed something in the song, but cannot find any reference to it on the net. It seems unlikely that no one else noticed this, but they apparently never mentioned or discussed it. "The steep and very narrow stairway" is a metaphor referring to the dancer's path to success. It is "steep" in terms of the demands of training, preparation, and competition from the throng of other dancers. It is "very narrow" in the sense that there is not enough opportunity for those who aspire to succeed. "The voice like a metronome" could refer to all the dance teachers, everywhere, who call out instructions in class in the tempo of the indispensible metronome. I apologize if this seems so obvious as to never be mentioned, but it seems pertinent to me - and helps illuminate the meaning of the show.
Yes! I love that part too... Double meanings!!!
AmmaLeslie Yes! And I forgot to mention, "...it wasn't paradise...but it was home" refers to dance class, recitals, rehearsals, shows, etc. - not their house & family...
I never got that "So, Beautiful ..." !!!
Everyone who knew that "beautiful" was a condition they would never live to see, heard that the first time. like an arrow straight to the heart.
Seth, you make me so happy!
Thank you so much for your passion, intellect, and talent, Seth. From another person who grew up so fortunately experiencing such greatness. Loved this, love you on Sirius "On Broadway". They couldn't find better individuals to do these precious performances justice. Brava!
I will now listen to this in a whole different way. This is my most played sound track album, I must have listened to it at least once a week for the last thirty plus years. Thank you for giving me a new way to hear it.
This is everything.
This is so perfectly wonderful. Thank you for this absolute gem.
I always thought that Maggie's "I would love to..." at the end was basically an indication that she's still living in the fantasy from when she was a child. The others are talking to Zach, but she's off in her own world.
This was fan fucking tastic. Great song choice, great video.
Thank you for this, one of my favorites, I love music I can never say "the favorite" because in a song I'll love it for different reasons from identifying with it to even breaking the music down in a song & loving it because of a certain section of beats or amazing riffs within the song...❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is one of my all time favorites; thank you for a great lesson into a phenomenal song
Man, I wish you were one of my professors!!!!! I love your deconstructions!
God bless him. This is so fantastic and funny and full of love.