Paul is based on the life story of Nicholas Dante, one of the authors of the show ACL, who contributed his story as well as helped edit and refine the stories of the other dancers and develop the overall structure of the play.
Seriously, there's a lot of information in ACL about Paul, but some helpful hints...
Paul is introverted, but that doesn't mean he's not dynamic. I have seen Paul performed as a miserable, miserable person, and listening to someone whine for ten minutes is probably one of the worst things that can happen to a play. Really try to find all
the different emotions in his monologue. For example, he may be working in a drag joint, but he is very excited about working professionally.
I think Paul's big thing is feeling dignified. Think how being told to quit school because you're gay--totally unrelated things--would make you feel. Paul is already an ethnic minority, now he gets discriminated against in another way! The theater environment is of course different, but it consumes him and the
pride and honor he can bring to his family. To me the monologue ends on a positive note, because he realizes that his family loves him even though Paul feels he let them down. I read a quote where Nick Dante said "it wasn't that it was the first time my dad ever
called my his son, it was just the first time I heard it. I later realized that my own societal conditioning and preconceptions about being gay made me ashamed of myself. The drag queens with the Jewel Box were the ones with the real dignity, not me for looking down
on them and myself for doing it"
Another essential thing is that you use humor in the Paul monologue. This will make him more human and likeable, and keep the audience more involved.
His introduction is a place where you can show pride, dignity and warmth. He really doesn't have a joke like most of the auditioners, so you have to find another way to make him stand out.
He is supposed to be best friends with Diana, which is part of the reason they stand next to each other. Obviouslly, they have a smilar background, are in the same business, and are both NYC natives. Get together with your Diana and spend some time developing your "memories" together. In my opinion,
Paul is somewhat dependent on Diana, and she kinda takes care of him. There are several places where this relationship can be shown, such as during the opening, Diana's intro, the short Paul scene, the reentrance after Paul's monologue, and obviously up and through the accident scene. It's not that Paul would be
unfriendly to Mark or the others, but he always feels he needs to prove himself. By the way, this relationship is based on Nick Dante and Michon Peacock, who was one of the co-conceptionists of
the show (and basis for Bebe) Nick got included because she know him.
After Paul/Nick worked in the Drag show for 3-4 years. He quit to become a full-fledged Broadway dancer. He trained for over two years without auditioning, because he felt that although a naturally talented dancer he really needed to improve to compete
with the other dancers.
Other facts:Paul is second from the left. The original Paul wore parachute pants, a tee, and an orange sweatjacket. The jacket works on a metaphorical level as protection, especially if you removed the jacket after you talked--you've opened up. He doesn't
know a lot of the auditioners, but he has seen them or is perhaps nodding acquaintances.
Paul doesn't have to be played with an accent or anything, but his speech may not be as polished as others. He has a really interesting rhythm to his speech "so he said: blah blah
blah. And I did." etc. This was based on Sammy Williams' speech patterns. He had tried to read the monolgue as written and it was just terrible. But when Michael Bennett told him to tell the story in his own words, it blossomed. So, they re-wrote the monologue tailored to Sammy. As you may know, Sammy won a Tony for his portrayal. Unfortunately, he hasn't done a lot of work since the show, which is really terrible!
As for Nick Dante, he continued to write and act. He has become somewhat bitter toward all involved with the original company, feeling that they never really gave him the credit he deserved. The stories were based on their lives of course, but Dante did a
lot of work as well. Sadly, Nick has passed away.
