Before “American Idol,” there was “A Chorus Line.”
Michael Bennett and Marvin Hamlisch’s groundbreaking 1975 musical about a group of Broadway “gypsies” hoping to make the big time proved an enduring hit. A New York revival is now in the works, but American Musical Theatre of San Jose has beaten the Great White Way to the punch.
Their new production of “A Chorus Line” opened this week and runs through March 6. Among the cast is Elisa Nixon, a nice Jewish girl from Alameda, co-starring in the very musical that inspired her to act in the first place.
It’s a long way from chanting Torah to singing in a Broadway musical for Nixon, who grew up as a member of Alameda’s Temple Israel, where she and her three siblings became b’nai mitzvah.
“My Judaism is my sense of family,” she says. “We did all the holidays together and still do. Also, I encounter so many Jewish people in theater. The Jews tend to find each other.”
The origins of her career go back to her childhood in Alameda. “When I was little, my parents took me to New York to see the original production of ‘A Chorus Line,'” says Nixon. It was a life-changing moment, and from then on, she considered herself a dancer first and foremost.
“I was shlepping her to dance class by the time she was 7,” recalls Walt Jacobs, Nixon’s father and a well-known Alameda real estate broker along with his wife, Judy. Walt’s grandfather was a founding member of Temple Israel. Judy’s father, the late Mel Schwartz, was a well-known area pediatrician and Temple Israel activist.
She studied theater and dance through her teen years at ACT and went on to earn a degree in biopsychology from U.C. Santa Barbara. However, she notes, “The day I graduated, there was a loud voice in my head that said, ‘I want to dance, I want to perform.'”
She spent some years pingponging between theater and the business world, including a long stint as an executive with Gap in San Francisco.
But ultimately, the stage proved too alluring. Nixon won a part in a San Jose revival of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” then moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to pursue theater full time. She has since starred in several shows and worked in film, TV and commercials.
In “A Chorus Line,” Nixon plays Kristine, whose solo number “Sing,” a comic patter song about her less-than-sterling vocal chops, goes in part: “And all my friends say/ I am perfect for the shower.”
Actually, she’s much better than that. So far she’s thrilled with the production, especially with her fellow cast members and director Kay Cole, a veteran of the original Broadway production.
“Kay played the original Maggie,” the 30-year-old dancer, says Nixon. “She has the actual Michael Bennett bible” — referring to the director’s playbook for staging the show — “it’s like being on stage with a ghost.”
“A Chorus Line” is a sacred show for most people who make their living, or try to, in musical theater. The story is their story, something no less true for Nixon.
“It’s amazing the amount of emotion in this,” she says of the show. “We spent many times breaking down. The character of Zack the director asks us what would we do if we couldn’t dance anymore. The thought is so scary.”
She doesn’t have to worry about that, however. With “A Chorus Line” up and running, friends and family will enjoy Nixon’s fancy footwork. In fact, her parents’ chavurah from Temple Israel will make a night of it, catching the show next week.
“We’ll be there rooting for her all the way,” says Walt Jacobs. “We love the way she lights up when performing. This is something she does from the heart.”
“A Chorus Line” is now playing, 8 p.m. Tuesday -Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, through March 6, at the Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd., San Jose. Matinees 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $41-$65. Information: (408) 453-7108 or www.amtsj.org.