Is there a better way to spend an evening than watching 17 performers battle it out for a place on the chorus line? If there is then I don’t want to know about it.

For a show that was once the longest-running Broadway production (until Cats came along in the ‘90s), A Chorus Line comes with a big reputation. You’ve got to go all in on the ambitious choreography and show-stopping tunes or go home… and this production is all in.

A Chorus Line, which is currently at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, made its Broadway debut in 1975 and ran for more than 6000 performances.

Since then it’s travelled the world pretty consistently and was most recently in the UK in 2013. That production was good, but this adaptation is different. Under the direction of Nikolai Foster, whose resume includes shows like Grease, The Wizard of Oz and Evita, it’s bold, modern and dynamic.

In the span of two hours (and there’s no interval, mind your bladders!) we meet 17 anonymous performers auditioning for just eight places in the line. Desperate to win the attention of God-like director Zach, they dance and sing themselves into existence.

For anyone who’s a fan of the ‘80s movie with Michael Douglas, there’s an expectation the show will be filled with spectacular blow-waves, with men and women in eye-wateringly tight leotards that leave little to the imagination. But this production takes a less synth, more sizzle approach.

Like so many shows at the moment, they’re using on-stage cameras that capture the performers close up and project them onto a big screen. It increases the intimacy and is a brilliant way to show the audience parts of the performance that we’ve never seen before.

I’ve loved this show for a long time, and when I was pregnant and hormonal all you had to do was hum a few bars of the finale and I’d dissolve into tears like a cheap biscuit into hot tea. But even though I know it so well the performances I saw were fresh and the takes on each individual character were new and exciting.

The songs range from the energetic I Can Do That to the beautifully moving What I Did For Love and the cast meets every challenge.

That’s impressive enough as it is, but when you put it on top of striking choreography it becomes an amazing spectacle that you can’t stop watching. It’s the work of Tony and Olivier-award-nominated choreographer Ellen Kane whose work you might know from Matilda the Musical.

It wouldn’t be a true reflection of the ups and downs of life in show business without delving into the lows. Some of the content can be quite confronting as the kids on the line share their stories.

But, to break up the harsh reality of the real world, there are perfectly timed comedy numbers like Sing! and Dance: Ten; Looks: Three that had the crowd laughing and whooping.

By the end of the show there’s a sense that we’ve all come through something together and no one in the audience leaves a stranger.

I was shaking and could feel my heart beating through my chest as they geared up for One – the iconic final number which was executed with gusto and a dash of pyrotechnics.

It’s a glitzy celebration that harks back to the Golden Age of musicals that had the woman in the seat next to me tapping her feet so hard she probably wore a hole through her sandals.

There was a definite buzz as we all left the theatre and I know I wasn’t the only one practising my showgirl kicks in the car park.

A Chorus Line is at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury until Saturday, September 7. You can book tickets here.

You can also book tickets by calling 01227 787787.