Profile
Photos
Comments
">The first sole number after the opening is by Mike who starts off the
individual auditions hoping he will be one of the 8 out of the 16 who
will get the job.
Wayne Louis Cilento (born August 28, 1949) is an American dancer and choreographer. He is best known for originating
the role of "Mike" in the Broadway show A Chorus Line, and later becoming one of Broadway's most
prolific choreographers.
A Chorus Line and
Broadway
As a member of the original cast, the role of "Mike", the straight, short,
athletic and aggressive dancer, was based on Cilento's own personality. He
introduced the song I Can Do That, although the specific story was
actually that of another performer, Sammy Williams. One of the larger roles in
the show, he was a standout and received much attention at the time. During the
development of the show, the creators also toyed with Cilento having a second
solo titled "Joanne" about his first crush on a girl (done in a Gene Kelly style dance), and
appearing as a backup dancer for 'Cassie's' nightclub act, which was later cut. Along with the rest
of the cast, he is featured on the iconic marketing materials for the show, and
he won the Theater World Award for ensemble in
1976.
His next project was the ill-fated The Act with Liza Minnelli, but he made a stunning return in
Bob Fosse's dance revue, Dancin'. This intensive dance concert-style show
earned Cilento his first Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Cilento enthused. "In A
Chorus Line people were standing around talking about dancing, here we were
actually dancing!" He appeared in Fosse's next project Big Deal, as well
as the Frank Loesser revue Perfectly Frank, and the lead in the tour of the Jack
Cole musical Jack. He also had a small role in the film Annie with Anne
Reinking and Pamela
Blair.
In this period, he was featured in more than 100 national commercials,
including spots for VISA, Dr Pepper, Burger King, McDonalds, Kmart, and Dairy Queen.
[edit] Choreography career
In the early 80s, Cilento started building a career as a choreographer. Concert stage and television choreography include Alicia Keys, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Donna Summer, and Pete Townshend. Music
videosBilly Joel's
"Keeping the Faith" and Barry Manilow's "Read 'em and Weep" followed.
With dozens of commercials, he has won two Clio Awards. for
He turned to full scale musicals with the Jerry Herman revue, Jerry's GirlsChita Rivera) and Baby, for which he earned his second Tony
nomination. His choreography profile increased again when he won both a Tony
Award and a Drama Desk
Award for the musical The Who's TommyLondon in 1996 with an Laurence
Olivier Award nomination. He recreated Fosse's style in the How to Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying revival in 1995 and staged two new
musicals, Aida and Wicked,
two of the biggest hits of the 2000s. Most recently, he staged the revival of
another Fosse work, Sweet
Charity, with Christina Applegate. (with in 1993. He repeated the
success in
Personal life
Cilento resides in Mamaroneck, New York with his
wife Cathy. They have three sons, Brian, Keith, and Doug