A Chorus Line No. 32 - Marcus Galante
- Lauryn Johnson
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
Greg - First National Tour
First Time Seeing A Chorus Line
"First time...well, I didn't know much about Broadway, I was a ballet dancer. I lived in the Bronx across from the Zoo. I remember it was winter and I came down to Shubert Alley and tried to get a ticket to ACL, standing room of course. They were very nice and were sorry that it was sold out. I didn't know anything at the time. So, I went across to the Booth and got a standing room for For Colored Girls. My first Broadway show and I was mesmerized. I thought the women were amazing and the show drew me in. I bought a poster that I kept for many years. After that, honestly, I can’t remember when I finally got a standing room for ACL. But when I did, that was it.
"I started going to Phil Black’s studio to take jazz classes with Dennis Dennehy. Dennis was a wild-looking man’s man…a great dancer and teacher…I knew nothing but it was so much fun, so fabulous I stuck it out…a little ballet boy. I had a shirt that said Broadway Baby and I remember him once yelling 'GO BROADWAY BABY'. Amazing days in that little studio over the last Dance Hall for ladies and their gentlemen callers 😊.
First Audition for A Chorus Line
"I had no idea that you had to sing but I started going to auditions when we used to have the 'trade papers'— how I miss them. My first audition experience was in Chicago where I was dancing for Maria Tallchief’s company. I read that there was an audition so I went to the Shubert. Baayork and T. Michael Reed. The audition for ACL was: step forward, say your name, where you are from and do a double pirouette and then a time step. I remember it very clearly. Baayork said, ‘good’ after my pirouette but I didn’t really know what a time step was, so I did a single and that was that hahaha. I can’t remember what happened later.
"I returned to NYC and I was close with 2 great Broadway dancers Jeff Veazey and Danny Ruvolo. I auditioned at the Shubert a couple of times and finally, I was staying in Jeff’s apartment on 46th street, off 10th avenue and I got the call, 'We are sending you to Chicago.' Well, it gets complicated after that. I had laryngitis because it was winter and I was afraid to say anything so I couldn’t sing that well. I was scared to death because I had no experience in the Broadway world. I was alone with the conductor/vocal coach and the dance captain, Roy. Fern and Wanda were in that company. There was a boy, a Paul understudy, that they almost fired because he had a hard time learning the show. Believe me, this is a very HARD show to learn. You had 2 weeks alone with the dance captain, vocal coach and I had 1 girl with me. I had tons of notes, a tape recorder, no money—it was terribly stressful. I think Tina Paul was one of the assistant dance captains. I remember trying to do the steps in the wings and the guy playing Paul complained. Tina said, 'Don’t stand in the wings. Some people can’t concentrate,' or something like that. It was not a great time for me.
"I remember my first stage rehearsal. People running from place to place because they had to understudy many parts. It’s hard because they didn’t want to be there for new people. I stood next to Wanda Richert who was playing Cassie and Fern Fitzgerald who was Sheila. I remember kicking Tina at the finale because I was so scared. You can’t imagine the pressure. Roy, the dance captain, yelled at me for saying “life darlings.” I as Greg was determined to say the same line said on Broadway. “I told you not to say that line”. Oh well…always a rebel. Short lived moment of glory.
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