The Musical as Drama

let, “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.” There is a further diegetic
problem that has to be solved before this number can be com-
pleted. Gangsters are waiting to shoot the lead dancer when he
stops dancing. So he frantically extends his final routine, danc-
ing to gain time until the police arrive and save him from disas-
ter. The plot is daft, but the dancing (originally by Ray Bolger)
is sensational.
A better example of the drama of the completed dance is
AChorus Line,which we discussed earlier as the epitome of en-
semble musicals. A Chorus Linebuilds to a climax about danc-
ing itself, the dancing of the chorus line of the title. (There is
also the half-baked plot about the relationship between Cassie
and Zach, but the real action is the dance.) But we also see the
chorus line rehearsing this climactic number; both the learning
process and the result are staged. Why should the rehearsal
process be staged? Because the drama resides in the achieve-
ment of the dance itself, and an ensemble that does not know
the routines is an effective beginning for an action that ends
with that ensemble knowing the routines perfectly. Tentatively,
awkwardly, the seventeen chorus-line aspirants don their top
hats and begin learning the steps for the number called “One.”
The question is not the dull one of “Will Zach and Cassie get
back together?” but the exciting one of “Will this ensemble
take shape?” Dancers are missing steps, and Zach is hounding
Cassie for being individualistic. The lyric to “One” turns into a
cacophony of voices. The first group is counting the beats that
dancers must keep in their heads (“five, six, seven, eight”)
while the second and third groups are repeating the dance
steps (“Lift, elbow straight, pose” and “Lift, lift, lift, change”)
and the fourth sings the lyric: “One moment in her presence
and you can forget the rest.” None of this can be understood.
The dancers are using the words as crutches (as dancers do
when they are rehearsing), and the language is a jumble of
sound. The hard work involved, the precision required, and the
pleasure that can be sensed at the moment everyone perfects
the routine simultaneously—these form the climax of the mu-
sical. The moment when the imperfections of the rehearsal
give way to perfect ensemble dancing is one of the glories of

THE DRAMA OF NUMBERS 117