John Carroll

A Chorus Line is perhaps the best known musical in Broadway’s long and colorful history of productions.  It is a Broadway show about the making of a Broadway show, or at least the long and arduous audition and casting process.  Through the course of the musical, the audience sees the myriad of hopeful and struggling dancers, called gypsies, who try-out for Broadway productions, collectively and as individuals.

A Chorus Line is a classic. It has both the moving song and dance solos as well as the rousing, high-energy full cast numbers.  But unlike many other Broadway shows, after the audience has connected with the individual characters, they are lost in the glittery finale, their futures unknown. They may never escape the chorus.

A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in July of 1975.  Over the better part of 15 years was performed more than 6,000 times making it at the time the longest running show on Broadway.  A Chorus Line was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won 9, including Best Musical and Best Choreography. It also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

But A Chorus Line was daring for its time.  When I spoke with John Carroll who portrays Larry, the assistant to the choreographer/director Zach, we spoke about the show and its historical context.

“There’s a Black character, an Asian character, and even a gay character,” Carroll explained. “…In the age of Oprah, we see all of these kinds of people but in 1976, to be on stage as gay character was very brave.  Now it’s a stereotype but then is was very good story telling…I have to remember that it was first performed in 1976, so it was an amazing piece of art. It was ground-breaking.”

A gay character in a Broadway musical about the musical theatre?  Is that so surprising when one of the many stereotypes of the gay community is that gay men love show tunes and were all in the drama club in high school?  Is there any truth to the idea that the theatre is a haven for homosexuals?  I asked Carroll what he thought as a theatre insider.

Carroll laughed a little and said, “It’s funny you should ask that.  When we officially opened last night [in Boston], one of the patrons was asking that same question.”

He went on to answer by saying, “In my opinion, gay men are definitely the majority of performers in musical theatre.  There are straight men…it depends on the show and the area and the energy but we are definitely the majority.”

So, that’s a stereotype that is closer to truth than fiction.  Is it a negative stereotype?

“No,” said Carroll.  “First of all to be labeled gay is a blessing so it’s not a negative stereotype.  Now if you say something like all men in theatre are effeminate, that wouldn’t be good.”

John Carroll proudly fits the “gay dancer in musical theatre” stereotype.  He grew upon Long Island and started dancing when he was six-years old.

“My mother also wanted to dance and my dad had a love of the theatre. I started dancing…at a rinky-dink studio around the corner.  I was totally hooked.”

From dance classes he went on to a performing arts high school. Knowing that many of the “artsy” kids I went to school were obvious and easy targets for the bullies, I told Carroll that I guessed he was pretty safe from bullying at a school that catered to the arts.

“No, I didn’t get harassed there but before the performing arts school I went to a public school and had to leave because of the teasing and threats.”

Carroll went on to say, “Funny enough, the character Paul [in A Chorus Line] has a huge monologue about how he had to drop out of school because he was gay…I could really relate to that… They were really making strides back then [1976].”

Carroll’ first show was a community theater production of South Pacific in which he was one of the island dancers.  When he was 16, he was in a community theater production of A Chorus Line.  In that show he played the same role he has now, Larry.

After high school, Carroll attended Julliard and then his career “snowballed from there.”  Upon graduating from Julliard, Carroll was cast in the first national tour of Fosse.  From Fosse, he went to the Parsons Dance Company and then the Robert Battle’s Battleworks Dance Company, and on and on.  He is even one of the one of the poster boys for the 2008 Broadway Bares production, and annual benefit performance for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA).  You can check out his Web site at www.johnrcarroll.com for more information about Carroll as well as some amazing pictures of him including some from Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland.

When he’s not touring, Carroll divides his time between New York City and Philadelphia.

“Philly is where my partner lives…he’s going to law school at Rutgers in Camden, New Jersey.  We’ve been together for over three years…are engaged but don’t have a date set yet,” he explained.

The current touring production of A Chorus Line began rehearsals in April.  After five months of dancing and performing with the cast, Carroll says they are a “top-notch cast.”

“We keep hearing that this is like a dream team cast.  Not only is it a talented cast but some of the people are the most talented people I’ve worked with thus far.”

The national tour of A Chorus Line will be performing in several more cities in North America through the end of the year. One of those stops is at The Peace Center in Greenville this month.  Carroll explained that the “principles” in the show are contracted for only six months at a time.  He has decided to leave when his contract is up.

“I will have hit 12 cities in that time.  It’s always great to travel on someone else’s dime.  I get to go to cities I would never get to but it’s also great to be home and have a routine, so I’ve decided to go home to my hubby and our two dogs.”

And then what will this talented gay dancer do?  He’ll keep dancing of course.

“I think I’m just going to try to hit the theatre scene in New York,” he said.

Maybe he will end up in a few tryouts with the other “gypsies” vying for a place in the chorus…or maybe not.

If you would like to see John Carroll and the other talented dancers in A Chorus Line you can see it at The Peace Center in Greenville, SC October 7 through October 12. A Chorus Line was conceived and originally choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett and features a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. For this new production, Baayork Lee is re-staging Bennett’s original choreography. Visit The Peace Center’s Web site for more information and to purchase tickets, www.peacecenter.org.