<P> The dancers go downstairs to learn a song for the next section of the audition, but Cassie stays onstage to talk to Zach . She is a veteran dancer who has had some notable successes as a soloist . They have a history together: Zach had cast her in a featured part previously, and they had lived together for several years . Zach tells Cassie that she is too good for the chorus and shouldn't be at this audition . But she hasn't been able to find solo work and is willing to "come home" to the chorus where she can at least express her passion for dance ("The Music and the Mirror"). Zach sends her downstairs to learn the dance combination . </P> <P> Zach calls Paul, who has been reluctant to share his past, on stage for a private talk, and he emotionally relives his childhood and high school experience, his early career in a drag act, coming to terms with his manhood and his homosexuality, and his parents' ultimate reaction to finding out about his lifestyle . Paul breaks down and is comforted by Zach . Cassie and Zach's complex relationship resurfaces during a run - through of the number created to showcase an unnamed star ("One"). Zach confronts Cassie, feeling that she is "dancing down," and they rehash what went wrong in their relationship and her career . Zach points to the machine - like dancing of the rest of the cast--the other dancers who have all blended together, and who will probably never be recognized individually--and mockingly asks if this is what she wants . Cassie defiantly defends the dancers: "I'd be proud to be one of them . They're wonderful...They're all special . I'd be happy to be dancing in that line . Yes, I would ..." </P> <P> During a tap sequence, Paul falls and injures his knee that recently underwent surgery . After Paul is carried off to the hospital, all at the audition stand in disbelief, realizing that their careers can also end in an instant . Zach asks the remaining dancers what they will do when they can no longer dance . Led by Diana, they reply that whatever happens, they will be free of regret ("What I Did for Love"). The final eight dancers are selected: Mike, Cassie, Bobby, Judy, Richie, Val, Mark, and Diana . </P> <P> "One" (reprise / finale) begins with an individual bow for each of the 19 characters, their hodgepodge rehearsal clothes replaced by identical spangled gold costumes . As each dancer joins the group, it is suddenly difficult to distinguish one from the other: ironically, each character who was an individual to the audience seems now to be an anonymous member of a neverending ensemble . </P>

Who gets the job in a chorus line