A Chorus Line: Homecoming for Gerrard Carter

Gerrard Carter who plays Larry, the assistant choreographer, in the new Australian production of A Chorus Line, has returned to Australia after 16 years dancing in Europe, on Broadway, and even at the Oscars. He speaks to Neil Litchfield.

A Chorus Line is very much the dancers’ and performers’ story. Are there parallels in your own career?

“Certainly. Every job you go for is a very personal thing; you put your heart on your sleeve. It’s very vulnerable, so it’s nice to be a part of a show which explores that - where you go into detail of individual dancers’ personal stories– their fears and their dreams.”

I read that you started your career here with Cats and West Side Story before establishing your career overseas.

“That was when I was very young, so it’s nice to have come full circle. I only arrived from the States in August and I had no idea that the auditions for A Chorus Line were happening. I’d stopped dancing 18 months before the auditions. I thought I was done and dusted, so I had to come out of retirement for this show.  Most of my career has been overseas. I only did a couple of shows before I left, so really it's a dream because my family get to see me dance, I’m catching up with friends, and, just the chance to work with Australians. It’s great.”

How did you start your career?

“I started quite late. I didn’t have my first dance class until I was 16, then two or three years later I was doing shows. It happened so fast.”

What led to that sudden attraction to dance at age 16?

“It’s a funny story. I was actually learning African music at the Adult Education Centre in Melbourne, believe it or not. The music teacher was away for three weeks, and a dance teacher came in. I was such a hyperactive kid, and I was just doing everything, wanting to try different things. So my first dance lesson was actually African dance.

“My friend heard that I was doing it and enjoying it, and she suggested coming along to her dance school. The teacher said to me, ‘if you do Jazz you have to do ballet,’ so I went OK. So I went on to have a career in classical, because I started off, even before I did Cats and West Side Story, dancing with the Victorian State Opera and the Australian Opera in their ballets.

“So it was an interesting path to take to my first ballet class, but I’m grateful because I ended up having a career out of it.”

And the crossover from ballet to musical theatre?

“ I always loved Jazz and doing commercial work, so it was just a natural progression to go from classical ballet classes to working in musical theatre. It’s the base for everything. While training full time classically, I also went to the Australian College of the Arts, which was such a great base to go into musical theatre.  I went to the audition for Cats and got it, and I’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

What led to the move overseas?

“I’d always dreamed of dancing in Europe, because I love languages, and I always thought of working there. When I was working in Europe, an American choreographer saw me and she offered me a job in the States. From there I went to Los Angeles, and then to New York, which was amazing because I got to do Broadway. “

It’s usually remarkably hard for Australian performers to work in America isn’t it?

“Absolutely. The competition there is very fierce, but I arrived there at a time in my life when I felt like I was at my peak, so it was wonderful timing for me to be there and around that competition.”

What were your highlights while you were working in the States?

“I’ve been there for 14 years, and I’ve been so blessed. There’s been some amazing shows. There was Sweet Charity on Broadway with Christina Applegate, her physical comedy was just genius. I used to watch her in the wings.

“And Fosse - I love that style of dancing – it’s such a part of the American theatre.  I was able to work with such great people in the States that really had that style. I loved working with Ann Reinking.

“The Academy Awards was amazing. I also danced for the Los Angeles opera, and I got to perform with Placido Domingo.

“I loved working with Patti LuPone. Just to be in a rehearsal situation with such an icon in musical theatre was incredible. She’s this huge Tony Award winning star, and she just has these incredible rushes of humour. She’s a star, but she’ll still talk and hang out with all the chorus people and have a laugh. I love her sense of humour. To be backstage with her is a treat - she’s such a hoot. She’s such a powerhouse.

“I loved doing Dame Edna on Broadway because that was something that came to me from Australia. To be working in America for so long, to have an Australian icon like Barry Humphries come to the States, and he was so incredibly well received on Broadway. Everyone loved him, and it was such  successful run.

I’ve just had some amazing highlights.”

Tell me about the Oscars.

“I did the 87^th Academy Awards – that was with Beyonce and Hugh Jackman. They had auditions in New York. There were 20 girls and 20 boys, a lot of dancers, but it was just such a great honour to be part of it.”

And you mentioned being in Fosse. What is it about the Fosse choreography for you?

“Fosse is by far my favourite style of dancing. It’s a style that’ absolutely timeless. The reason why shows like Chicago and Sweet Charity and anything he’s choreographed is so appealing today is because when you get a choreographer who has such great style, it never dates. It’s as appealing now as it was back then. For me Fosse was such a great show because it was a showcase of all the different shows he choreographed. It was a dancer’s dream to be in that show because it was one incredible dance ensemble after another.”

If the Fosse dance DNA was carried forward into that show, the Michael Bennett DNA must certainly have carried forward in A Chorus Line.

“It was such an incredible experience, like a piece of New York coming out to Australia, with Baayork (Lee) coming out to direct. I’d left New York in August this year, but I felt like I haven’t left it in a way, because I had that experience. We’ve had Michael (Gorman, the original Bobby on Broadway) and Baayork, and the rehearsal experience, although it’s been really fast, was wonderful because we were able to learn about the choreography from the people who were involved in the original production. That’s such a gift.

“Baayork’s energy is just endless – she’s such a powerhouse. And what I loved so much about Michael, who was her assistant, was he is so invested in the show, and he cares so deeply. I watched how personally invested the two of them are in the show. They knew the people that these characters were based on, and they’d tell us stories. It was so exciting to be in the room with that, having that piece of history, because you knew you were going to be in a show that they created over 30 years – just being with people who were so passionate about something, and that love and passion never falters.

“I remember the audition in Melbourne, because it was onstage in Her Majesty’s Theatre. I’d retired a year and a half before the audition, and to be back on a stage, and back in a theatre, and have this American accent going. It was so exciting – I got chills just when I was doing the dance combination.

“Michael sat us down and went through each of the characters and talked about them. He really teared up talking about some people, because they were no longer with us, and he was talking about their lives, and what they were like personally, and that to me was such a piece of American Musical Theatre history.

“I remember one thing he said that really made me want the job even more; that took the wind right out of me. I forget which character he was talking about, but he knows he has a minute to dance. I thought my minute was a year and a half ago because I was 38. I thought to myself, if you give me this minute I will take it with both hands. He made me realize that the life of a performer is not forever, and you have to cherish it. For me to be in the room with someone who would say that, then ending up getting the show and being able to perform it – if this is my last minute I’m going to have a riot of a time doing it. What a show to go out on!

“But it’s kind of scary. I’ve got the bug. I’m having such a great time, I don’t want it to end. So who knows what comes after this. I don’t know what shows I’ll be right for.

“The producers were really smart to have those auditions on stage in a beautiful theatre like Her Majesty’s, because it just created that atmosphere of A Chorus Line from the start. We weren’t in a studio. We were on stage watching each other from the wings, they were out in the audience. I kept thinking about the ghosts past of the theatre – everyone who has stepped on the stage or worked in the crew at this theatre – it’s such a piece of Australian theatre history. And now we’re going to be performing at that theatre. I just can’t wait to get home to Melbourne and do that.”

“What’s beautiful about being in this company is we’re so much like a family. What I loved so much was watching these young dancers who are getting this incredible opportunity in their first show. They realize that it’s such a gift, and didn’t take it for granted. They realized, just as much as the older ones in the company appreciate it because we’ve been doing it for a long time, it’s so wonderful to be in a company with younger performers who are all so humble and grateful for the experience.”

What is it about Bennett’s choreography that's extraordinary?

“The style is classic Broadway American Musical Theatre. The ‘One’ number is genius. I love that it is a wonderful musical from the seventies that is sill entertaining today.”

So when you came back home you’d basically retired from the stage.

“Well I thought so. I’d been away – I’d lived in Europe for three years, then America for 13. I was missing my family. Don’t get me wrong, I only came home with a bag. I still have my apartment in New York. It’s all just a huge surprise to me.

“I only found out the auditions because I went to start teaching at a couple of schools, and I thought I’d give it a go. Sure enough I got it. I was so happy. Here I was thinking I was just coming home for a Christmas, an Aussie summer, and to spend time with my family, and now I’m having a ball doing a show in Australia. My family are wrapt because they will get to see me performing, and my sister flew over for opening night in Adelaide, and we had a fantastic time.”

So is it back to the stage with a vengeance now?

“I also love teaching now. I didn’t realize how much pleasure it would bring me. I’ve never really taught much during my career, because I was performing, but now that I’ve had a chance to teach I really love it. I think you make the best teacher when you’re at peace with your performing, and you want to give back and you know you can change someone’s life. I look back on the teachers that I’ve had, and they’ve had such an influence on my life. It’s funny that it’s taken me until now to realize what an incredible gift that would be to give someone else. I think that’s about maturity, and when you receive those experiences at the right time. I’ve loved watching the progression of students, even in about five classes, and how they grow. It’s beautiful, and the response that I’ve got has been so nice. I feel such pride when that happens; that people can learn from me.”

What key things would you like to pass on to the next generation of dancers?

“Discipline! Big time! You’ve got to think of yourself like an athlete. I remember when I was at ballet school, every exercise would be a stepping stone to stepping on a professional stage. It was that drive and passion, and it never stopped because I wanted to be a professional dancer. To me, it was still a shock that you could be paid for something you loved, so as a full-time student, every step, every dance, was a step closer to being on a professional stage, and actually getting paid for something that you love.”

Link to our earlier coverage.

Images: Gerrard appears on the right without a photo, in the headshot image and on the left in the Gold image.

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