Donna McKechnie Brings a Spark Of Broadway to Hudson

Broadway dancer and singer Donna McKechnie is best known for her performance as Cassie, in “A Chorus Line,” as well as for originating roles in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Company,” “Promises Promises” and “State Fair.” She brings her cabaret show, Same Place, Another Time, to Club Helsinki on March 24.Q: How did you come to create your new cabaret show, “Same Place, Another Time?”DM: The genesis was the first time I went to 54 Below. It was a déjà vu experience, taking me back in time to the days before it was a theater, when it was Studio 54. My first apartment, in 1959, was on the same block. I started writing about the lives that people led here, the condition of the heart, living in the city with all your hopes and dreams ahead of you. Q: What was it like to write your own life story?DM: The story came together as I developed it, which is exciting and scary. It started writing itself, like a free falling experience. I was writing as a woman of a certain age, going back in time. The memories that came up with it weren’t always wonderful. I explored some of the music of the time — Jim Croce, Peter Allen, Bette Midler, Irving Berlin and of course Sondheim. Marvin Hamlisch is the centerpiece. I talk about him writing the score for “A Chorus Line” and some of the background of the composition.Q: Most people know you from “A Chorus Line.” Your character, Cassie, was it based on your life?DM: Not really. It was really Maggie, who sang “At the Ballet” who was me.Q: Is this the first time you’ve performed the show since its debut in New York City?DM: Yes, I’ve heard such wonderful things about Club Helsinki — how beautiful the room is, how the lighting and sound is just spectacular. My friend Linda Lavin just played there. I’m taking the show to London after this.Q: How is Broadway different now than when you started out in the 1960s, in “How to Succeed in Business?”DM: When I teach, I tell my students, don’t listen if they say you’re not right for this, you’ll never be right for that. For ages people have been saying that. Stay with your studies, be prepared, keep vocalizing, keep taking care of yourself. Now there’s too much emphasis on instant results. I love TV shows like “American Idol,” but it’s all about, how high you can sing, not about building a song from the inside out. Training for Broadway takes longer, you need the experience of going show to show, rehearsing, learning along the way the process of developing a character. I see these kids trying to mimic, thinking too much about the results and not enough about process. When “A Chorus Line” first started, it was kind of like a little university for dancers. You didn’t have to be a name personality. When I started out, there was always a dancing chorus and a singing chorus. Dancers didn’t talk or sing, singers didn’t dance. Now the students I teach can do it all. I’m so inspired by the talent I see, not just in New York, but everywhere.Q: What is your show like? DM: I always try to write from a human, personal place. I’m not a chanteuse where I lean against a piano, though I love that. I like to create more of a sense of theater. I set the songs up in a personal way so there’s a connection with the audience. I’m pleased with how it turned out. Club Helsinki, at 405 Columbia St., in Hudson, NY, continues its Broadway Sunday Series with Donna McKechnie in “Same Place, Another Time,” March 24 at 7 p.m. For tickets and more information, call 518-828-4800.