Details

"God, I m a dancer; a dancer dances" sings Cassie in A Chorus Line. Edward Kleban, the man who wrote that lyric was a composer. He was happiest writing theatre music, and produced songs that were gracefully eloquent, intimately expressive, and charmingly attractive. Until his untimely death in 1987 from cancer - the death that robbed him of the chance to keep plugging - Kleban continued to write songs for the stage, but none of his musicals was ever produced. It didn t matter. He was a composer; a composer composes! A moving and emotionally charged tribute to a man who had an enormous impact on musical theatre, the show is effectively a gift to its composer. When A Class Act opened on Broadway, it posthumously satisfied Kleban s dream of becoming a Broadway composer. A simple and artful book tells his life story using the songs he wrote for other projects. The show is structured around the gathering of his friends for a memorial service after his death at the age of 48, late in the run of A Chorus Line, using the 'flashback device to take us on a whistle-stop tour of the highs and lows of Kleban s somewhat turbulent and neurotic existence. For fans of musical theatre, A Class Act is a delightfully privileged glimpse behind the curtain at how a certain type of musical is created and brought to the stage. The show is, by it s very nature, a love letter to the musical and to theatre magic. It celebrates the musical creation process the way we d like it to be – as the fantastic place where a slightly mentally imbalanced guy can stun theatre professionals into silence with his first song. For anyone who just likes a good song, A Class Act introduces us to 20 of Kleban s songs, many of which have scarcely been performed before: some of them are used in the context of the musicals-in-progress for which they were intended, whilst others are shameless character songs for Kleban himself and the people who shared his life.

Cast/Performers

John Barr, Sarah Borges, Erin Cornell, Barry Fantoni, Charles Hagerty, Gary Jordan, Laura McCulloch, Jane Quinn

Creatives/Company

Music: Edward Kleban
Lyrics: Edward Kleban
Book by(s): Linda Kline, Lonny Price
Producer: Theatrica Ltd
Director: Robert McWhir
Design: Martin Thomas
Lighting: Richard Lambert
Choreographer: Robbie O'Reilly