Kent State student actors will take the stage to show off their singing and dancing Friday in the School of Theatre’s musical production of “A Chorus Line.”

Seventeen cast members in the musical have major roles, and each of them are required to be a “triple threat” which is to sing, act and dance, said Terri Kent, director.

“It’s very challenging when you do the original choreography,” Kent said. “It’s very demanding. This is the choreography that professional actors did on Broadway, and we are asking our student actors to rise to that level.”

“A Chorus Line,” the fifth-longest-running Broadway musical, opened in 1975 and won nine of the 12 1976 Tony Awards for which it was nominated. The production is based off of real monologues from dancers trying to succeed in the business.

Kent is working with choreographer Maryann Black and Jonathan Swoboda, Kent State musical director, to put the production together because a large amount of work goes into integrating the triple threat into one.

A returning professional, James Weaver, who made a living on Broadway, is part of the cast for the musical. Weaver, a freshman musical theater major, said he is excited for the production and enjoys working with his fellow cast members.

“Everybody is working very hard, and they want to do their best, and they are all devoted to the show being as good as it can be,” Weaver said.

A wide range of students, including freshmen to graduate students, will be performing in the musical.

Kent said she had to cast students who already had dance experience because dancing is a huge portion of the musical.

“We had to take people who already had a background in dance because we can’t teach them to dance and teach them the choreography simultaneously,” Kent said.

Weaver said he hopes people will attend the production and hopes the audience will enjoy it.

“For an audience to come in and see this I would love for them to take away a sense of appreciation,” Weaver said. “I want them to be enlightened about the amount of work that goes into putting on a show and to have fun.”

Contact Katie Fickle at [email protected].