Phamaly Theatre Stages Bold Take on A Chorus Line for Its 35th Anniversary

A group of passionate and talented people set out 35 years ago to establish a theater company that would challenge societal norms by promoting the work of disabled artists. Their vision was Phamaly Theatre Company, and their mission was to break down barriers and take disability-affirming theater to new heights.

One of the founding members, Teri Westerman Wagner, recalls the early days with a mix of nostalgia and determination. "When we first got started, we didn't even have a board of directors yet," she says. "It was Gregg Vigil's [another of Phamaly's founders] wish at the time that we do A Chorus Line because that was one of his favorite shows. It wasn't to prove that we could do it; what stopped us was that the rights to it were expensive, and we didn't have any money."

Although Westerman Wagner is aware of a rumor that members of the theater community convinced them that disabled people couldn't produce the musical, she wants to dispel it. "I want to be clear: It wasn't because other people were telling us we couldn't do it — we told ourselves that," she says. "Instead, we chose Guys and Dolls, which is just as difficult as A Chorus Line. We had always planned to return to A Chorus Line at some point, so I am thrilled that they have decided to take it on for Phamaly's 35th anniversary."
The iconic musical, which runs through August 25 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Kilstrom Theatre, tells the story of seventeen dancers vying for a spot in a Broadway chorus. Zach, the director, asks those auditioning to share their personal lives and explain their love of dance, revealing each performer's individuality in a field that frequently demands uniformity. Ben Raanan, Phamaly's artistic director and director of this production, has been interested in producing A Chorus Line since before joining the company in 2021.

"Even before I was artistic director of Phamaly, I saw the documentary Every Little Step, which is one of the best theater documentaries ever made, and it started this obsession with A Chorus Line," he says. "I wanted to create a version of A Chorus Line that did what A Chorus Line is supposed to do: tell a story of humanity and love about a group of people who are all different but come together because they love something."
While Raanan understands that many people associate the musical with its dance numbers, he believes "that is the least interesting part of A Chorus Line. Also, there is not much of it. Only about five of the seventeen really dance, which I find so interesting. I have always wanted to do it with the disabled community, as well as with people with various physical and mental abilities. So when I came to Phamaly, it was still on my radar. Little did I know that the company's founders had planned to do A Chorus Line when they first started but instead chose Guys and Dolls. Phamaly's 35th anniversary seemed like the ideal time and circumstance to stage this iconic show that forever changed American theater."

Raanan's vision for this production includes a diverse, 28-member cast with a variety of disabilities. He emphasizes that nothing in the script of A Chorus Line has changed. "Everything else is just on the table when it comes to Phamaly," Raanan says. "There’s no reason why a tap dance can't be done in a wheelchair with someone who is wearing gloves with taps on them, which is one adaptation we've made. We have seen how A Chorus Line looks when the dancers are blocked in sync, so let's do something completely different."
One of the significant challenges in this production was the choreography. Phamaly enlisted six choreographers, including Westerman Wagner, to ensure that the dances were specifically tailored to the performers' bodies and that instructors had more one-on-one time to learn about their accommodations.

"Dance is an art form that has been gatekept from the disability community," Raanan says. "When I walked into rehearsal, I realized that only three or four of our cast members were dancers." I thought, ‘Did I just set us up for failure?' But the cast has risen to the challenge. They have put their bodies on the line more than any show I can remember. When you ask actors to climb to the precipice of a mountain, they may fall at any time. It will cause frustration, tears and doubt — but the wonderful thing about this cast is that they have shown incredible resilience."

For Raanan, the journey to this point has been both exhausting and exhilarating. "It feels surreal," he says. "Most of my professional career has been in straight plays, so directing musicals is still new to me. I think this is my fourth musical, and it's certainly the biggest one I've ever done. I am so grateful to the cast for letting me figure out how to do this on-the-job training and for giving me the space to make mistakes as I learn."
Despite the challenges, Raanan is proud of the cast and the production. "We've accomplished something incredible," he says. With opening night approaching, Westerman Wagner is eager to take her seat at the DCPA and hopes that the energy backstage is as exciting as it was when she was performing with the troupe.

"I remember the energy backstage being palpable," she says. "I have done at least 25 shows with Phamaly, so I have had a lot of experience on the Denver Center stage; other companies do not get to use it. It is unbelievable to me that Phamaly still exists. If someone had told me [that] 35 years ago when we were having beer and pizza in my apartment discussing the whole idea of Phamaly, I would have told them they were crazy. I expected us to be a small theater company, but we are now internationally known and the starting point for people like Jenna Bainbridge [the first wheelchair user to ever play a role on Broadway, in Suffs], who would not have gotten where she is without Phamaly."

With the production nearing its debut, Raanan wants to set clear expectations for the audience. He believes that the true essence of A Chorus Line lies not in the precision of its choreography, but in the heart and individuality each performer brings to the stage.

"If people are coming to see a version of A Chorus Line with complicated choreography done in perfect synchronicity, that's not what you're going to get out of this production," Raanan says. "You're going to watch how different bodies move through the same choreography, which to me is so much more interesting. It is an entirely different version of A Chorus Line. Some things actively work against the script, particularly in terms of gender, because many people in the cast are trans, nonbinary or have disabilities that actively oppose what we have been told about perfection. Still, I think it's going to be a pretty damn perfect production."

A Chorus Line, through Sunday, August 25, Kilstrom Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. Learn more at phamaly.org.