Michael Gruber was headed for the Olympics. The Cincinnati native was a natural athlete and gymnast.

And then one night in 1980, he took in a road show of A Chorus Line.

"It really did change my life," he chuckles today.

"It's a cliche, I know, but cliches are often based in truth. That night, I decided that dancing was what I really wanted to do -- much to my parents' chagrin."

I'm sure that over the years, his parents have forgiven their wayward son.

Not only did Gruber go on to dance in the original Broadway company of A Chorus Line, but to perform some of the greatest roles in American musical theatre.

He will be playing the central role of Zach in the new national tour of the seminal Broadway show which opens in the Jubilee Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Broadway is mostly known for its glitz and glamour. Its stars glitter. Its shows feature waves of shimmering dancing girls and massive set changes.

When A Chorus Line opened off-Broadway on May 21, 1975, it changed all that.

The show was assembled and choreographed by Michael Bennett.

For months, Bennett interviewed Broadway's famed "gypsies" -- the boys and girls of the dance line.

He enlisted the help of composer Marvin Hamlish and lyricist Edward Kleban and put the lives of 17 dancers, told with intimate detail, onstage. Many of the original company played themselves.

Its setting was a bare stage during a final audition during which many of them will be, American Idol-style, dismissed.

HIT A CHORD

The production hit a chord, and held it. It became an unpredicted box office and critical hit, winning many awards -- including a Pulitzer Prize -- and went on to become the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical ever.

I saw the Broadway revival last year and was struck by the musical's freshness despite repeated viewings. Michael Gruber played Zach in that run.

Zach is the supposed director of the show for which the dancers are auditioning. He plays a latter-day Simon Cowell spliced with a Freudian confessor -- dragging out the dancers' stories onstage.

"I think my character should disappear, because it's about the 17 dancers, not about me. I'm just there to keep the production moving forward -- keeping the focus and intensity."

Keeping Zach in the background must be a tough job for a man who has played Don Lockwood in Singing in the Rain, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, Munkustrap in Cats, both on Broadway and in the movie, and the lead in the Stratford, Ont., production of Anything Goes.

"The show is about the dancers and their love of dance. It's like they wrote the song What I did for Love and they're singing about what they give up to dance.

"The role of Zach is tricky because you want to make it more about you, but it should be the kids in the line who get the big emotional payoff."

After a lifetime in theatre, Gruber still loves to perform. And he loves this new version of his show.

MASTERPIECE

"This masterpiece was conceived by Michael Bennett, and we try to do the best we can for him (Bennett died in 1987).

"We return to his original concept, and I think people will be just as thrilled as when it opened 35 years ago."

A Chorus Line, a production of Broadway Across Canada, plays Nov. 10 through Nov. 15 at the Jubilee Auditorium.