A Chorus Line may not be quite the "singular sensation" it was when it first opened on Broadway 33 years ago, but it remains a musical that makes you want to high-kick your way through the lobby when it's over.

Its laurels are legion, including a Pulitzer Prize, nine Tony Awards and the record for the longest-running American musical on Broadway.

In this mega-musical era of falling chandeliers and helicopters, it's easy to forget just how revolutionary A Chorus Line was for its time. Choreographer Michael Bennett culled material from hours of rehearsals with dancers to produce a show that celebrates the legacy of dance in the theater and the creative angst of being a performer.

It is a show remarkable for its potent simplicity, and that simplicity remains in the national tour of the Broadway revival, which is kicking off its trek at the Buell Theatre.

As the show opens, 25 dancers litter a rehearsal stage trying to make the cut for a new Broadway show. The director, Zach (Michael Gruber) is no-nonsense as he tries out new dance combinations and forces the hoofers to reveal a little about themselves.

That last bit is at the heart of the show. Zach receives a host of emotional responses, whether it be the gay Puerto Rican Paul (Kevin Santos), who tearfully recounts how his father found him in drag as a 16-year-old, or Sheila (Emily Fletcher), the aging vixen trying to hold onto her sexuality and her flexibility.

Then there's Cassie (Nikki Snelson), a talented dancer Zach plucked from the chorus years earlier and eventually lived with. She's gone to Hollywood, only to return to the chorus when her career fizzles.

Revealing the angst beneath the dancer acrobatics is only one of the show's enduring feats. The other, of course, is the music.

Marvin Hamlisch wrote the score and Edward Kleban the lyrics, and the songs remain timeless. At the Ballet finds little girls escaping their dysfunctional family lives in ballet class. Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love is an ensemble-wide salute to growing up. Dance: Ten, Looks: Three remains one of the best songs ever written about the superficiality of stage, where talent takes a back seat to looks.

And, of course, there's One, the show-stopping finale where the dancers are decked out in gold and silver tuxedoes, creating the ultimate chorus line.

The cast of the national tour mostly gels, although Snelson's Cassie hasn't quite found her wounded ferocity, and Tharon Musser's lighting design doesn't always pop.

Those are minor complaints. A Chorus Line reminds us anew why we love the theater: The music, the magic and the masquerade.

main A Chorus Line National Tour page