In A Chorus Line, 17 dancers audition for eight available places.
The musical follows a group of performers competing for spots in the chorus of an unnamed Broadway show. The audition takes place on a bare stage, where the dancers gradually reveal personal histories while attempting to distinguish themselves from the other candidates.
A Chorus Line was conceived by Michael Bennett and developed from recorded conversations with dancers. James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante wrote the book, while Marvin Hamlisch composed the music and Edward Kleban wrote the lyrics. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1975 and transferred to Broadway later that year.
The number 17 refers to the dancers who remain in the audition process for eight positions, not the full number of people who may have initially appeared at the casting call. The musical’s structure emphasizes how intense competition, professional sacrifice, and individual identity shape ensemble performers’ lives.