‘Chorus Line' original directs Cobb Energy cast

As Baayork Lee puts it, she’s the “keeper of the keys” to “A Chorus Line.” Over the years, she has taught some 40 different casts the spirit of the show she helped create in 1974. When it opened off-Broadway in 1975, director and choreographer Michael Bennett told her he would be busy doing other things and charged her with the task of “taking care of the company.”

Thirty-six years later, Lee is still taking care of the 19 dancers, singers and actors who bring the musical to life, including those taking their turns in the spotlight for the touring show coming to Cobb Energy Centre. She originated the role of Connie Wong via candid interviews about her own life that Bennett recorded then used as the basis for the show's characters. Lee didn’t make it to the first round of interviews and has famously quipped that no one would be interested in a short Asian who wanted to be a ballet dancer.

But that role opened up a career directing and choreographing big shows all over the world.

Here, Lee talks about the beginning of "A Chorus Line" and how it stays alive and well.

Q: Having directed, choreographed and cast so many productions, does it feel like you’re looking into a time capsule of your own life when you see young women trying out for Connie?

A: Absolutely. I look at that Connie and it's like an out-of-body experience. I have to look at the entire show and put it together, so my head's in a different place. But when I look at Connie, of course I think, oh my God, that was me almost 40 years ago! I keep saying to myself, was I like that?

Q: What was your reaction to participating in those interviews in 1974 that built the show?

A: We were all unemployed. This was about taking a chance and just trusting Michael Bennett, who was also a friend and a very talented choreographer at the time. But he wasn't really a director. We didn't know if he was going to make anything of it. A lot of people who were in the first workshop left to do other shows, and of course they were sorry afterward. But who knew? We took a chance. I'm very happy I took a chance.

Q: Did the 2009 documentary “Every Little Step” help the life of the stage musical?

A: It did. The [1985] film, I think it missed the boat. But this documentary really captured how the show is life imitating art. This was the first time the general public could see what we do because [auditioning] is very, very private. You go into that room and you bear your soul. You give everything you have to those people behind that table because you want the job.

Q: Is the hunger still the same as it was back then?

A: Maybe stronger. The numbers [of aspiring performers] have grown, but there's hardly any work. There are fewer shows. The film showed the backstage story of those young people and how they prepare. And I think any theater major or dancer, they need to see that film. A lot of them still think they're going to come to New York and it's going to be a bed of roses. I'm going to walk right in there, and they're going to put me in the show. It doesn't happen that way. You're on a line in the rain with 2,000 other people. You have to be passionate to be in this business.