Monday, October 11, 2010

One....singular sensation

My acting resume says: Actor - Singer - Dancer

In that order.

I’m confident that I can act, whether it be comedy or drama. I can also sing. Not classically trained like the opera singer Enrico Caruso, mind you, but more like Ethel Merman. I have what’s called, “a stage voice.” Meaning, I can BELT out a song so the audience members in the last row can hear me. I don’t read music, but I have a good ear.

On the other end of the spectrum, my weak spot has always been when it comes to dancing.

Now I can dance, but there’s a big difference between a God-given gifted dancer, and a person who can BULLSHIT his way into making the audience THINK I’m a dancer.

(yeah, that’s where acting comes in handy)

I’ve got good rhythm and a very flexible chassi, but it takes me FOREVER to learn a dance combination because I don’t contain the psyche of a true dancer. Nevertheless, once I learn it I can LOOK like a dancer.

It just take me until hell freezes over.

I remember seeing the original Broadway musical A Chorus Line in NYC, back in 1975, and thinking to myself, “OMG….if I could only dance like that!”

In shows’ finale, the dancers perform a spectacular number called, One, in which they are all decked out in top hats and gold glittery tuxedos.

It’s beyond exciting! You literally get chills watching it.

For those of you are not familiar A Chorus Line is, it’s a fabulous musical based on the real-life stories of professional dancers. The musical takes place during an audition for a new show that’s being produced, as the audience watches the process of what dancers go through on a chorus line. Each dancer tells their life-story through song and dance. It’s both humorous and heartbreaking.

Now what’s really ironic, is that many years later while performing as a professional actor in Florida, I was asked to take on one of the roles for a production of A Chorus Line that was being produced in Orlando, since the guy who had initially been cast dropped out for another dancing job. I had my apprehensions about taking on the part because I knew how intricate the dance numbers were.

However, I decided to take on the challenge and do it anyway.

Once rehearsals started I knew I was in over my head, because all the other cast members where learning the dance numbers in one or two rehearsals, yet I was lagging behind like a confused little puppy dog. And what made it worse was that the director/choreographer had no patience, and it was quite evident that he was NOT HAPPY with having me in the cast.

So, by the end of the first week of rehearsals, I had a talk with him and said that I thought he should recast my role because there was no way I could learn the dances as quickly as he wanted.

And (letting out a sigh of relief) he agreed.

However, whenever I see that show, I always imagine myself in the finale; wearing a top hat and gold glittery tuxedo, singing, “One….singular sensation….every little step she takes…….”

*and please notice me in the FRONT of the line*