Amanda DeLalla

Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching, and what better way to get into the spirit than by watching a production of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell? Well, you can do just that on Staten Island in just a few weeks. From November 14th-17th at the Snug Harbor Veterans Memorial Playhouse, In the Wings Productions will be presenting the hit musical, starring an incredible group of local talent. One of the players is Staten Island Yankees dancer Caitlin Scarpa, who was kind enough to talk to me about the production. Ticket info can be found at inthewingsproductionsny.com

Many performers find themselves drawn to the art after seeing a performance of a specific piece. And the influence of that piece forever changes their direction of life. Kirstin Tucker is no exception. After seeing a production of Swan Lake on television, she told her parents that she knew what she wanted to do- and now she's the dance captain of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway! This is Tucker's Broadway debut, and she was kind enough to talk to me about how it all began.

Picture it: a young man from Pennsylvania trains in ballet, moves to New York, and then finds success as a musical theatre dancer. It sounds like the stuff of fairy tales, doesn't it? Well, for 22-year-old Michael McIlwee, it was reality. This young dancer from Scranton is currently serving as the dance captain for the Harbor Lights Theatre Company production of Oliver, which runs July 12-28 at Snug Harbor Music Hall in Staten Island, New York. Mr. McIlwee was kind enough to talk with me this week about his passion for dance, his dream roles, and how Harbor Lights' production of Oliver is using dance to tell the story of the Charles Dickens orphan.

Not many performers get to serve as the dance captain of a classic musical and perform one of the principal roles in the show. But Polly Baird did just that. The strawberry blonde has played Meg Giry in The Phantom of the Opera and is now serving as the dance captain in the Broadway production. Ms. Baird was kind enough to answer some questions about Phantom, being a dance captain, and why people love to watch dancing.