One singular sensation: kicky new "Chorus Line"

NEW YORK — "A Chorus Line," the legendary Michael Bennett musical, will kick again on Broadway.

The story of dancers auditioning for a big Broadway show will open Sept. 21, 2006, according to John Breglio, who was the attorney for Bennett, its original director and choreographer.

"For many years, people kept telling me that it had to come back," Breglio said. "The challenge is to take that original show, keep its integrity, but make it fresh and new for 2006. That's not an easy task."

Breglio will produce the revival, which will include many of the show's original creators, including Bennett's co-choreographer, Bob Avian, who will direct the new production, and original set designer Robin Wagner. Bennett died of AIDS in 1987.

"There has to be another generation of people not only experiencing Michael's work but dancers who experience his style and his genius."

The show, which has a score by composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Ed Kleban, originally opened Off-Broadway in April 1975 before moving to Broadway. It ran for 6,137 performances, closing in 1990. It was the longest-running Broadway show of its time — but since has been passed by "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera."

" 'A Chorus Line,' for me, defines why a lot of people went into this business and why a lot of people love musicals," Breglio said. "It was the beginning for so many of us."