Libertyville's Liberto on the 'Chorus Line'

Ian Liberto is not looking forward to performing in Buffalo, N.Y. Not that this 26-year-old Libertyville native has any personal beef with the Canadian-border town.

It all has to do with the character Liberto portrays in the national tour of the Broadway musical "A Chorus Line." For the past year, Liberto has been playing the sarcastically fey actor/dancer Bobby, a Buffalo native who trashes the tackiness and small-mindedness of his hometown.

"I'm a little nervous," Liberto said, pointing out that "A Chorus Line" plays Buffalo right after its three-week Chicago engagement at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.

"Especially given Bobby's famous line, 'To commit suicide in Buffalo is redundant!'" Liberto said.

As Bobby, Liberto gets a lion's share of the laughs in "A Chorus Line," the long-running and multi-award-winning 1975 "concept" musical set at the dance auditions for a Broadway musical. Seventeen dancers make the first cut, but there are only eight chorus needed for the show.

As a reminder for those who've seen "A Chorus Line," Bobby is the tall center guy in the sweater vest who is always delivering camp and comic zingers. He also wonders how people he perceives as no-talents could have become celebrities.

"He wants to be a movie star, but it's the 1970s and you can't really be openly homosexual and be a big movie star. He knows that and I think it bothers him," Liberto said. "He's uncomfortable with who he is in that regard, so he covers it up with humor."

Unlike Bobby, Liberto doesn't trash his hometown at the drop of a hat. But he does note some similarities he shares with his character (a semi-fictional creation originally based upon and played in the original production by the late award-winning choreographer Thommie Walsh). "Our cavalier flair is similar, and I was always creating costumes and choreographing and arranging things for the school talent shows," Liberto said. "But I was never uncomfortable with who I was or wanted to desperately leave Libertyville. Maybe having a big city so close by helped - that, and having parents who were very accepting in who I was and what I wanted to do."

Indeed, whenever Liberto has been cast locally in shows like "The Producers" at the Marriott Theatre or "The Most Happy Fella" at Ravinia Festival, he happily bunks in his parents' Libertyville home (For the past two years, Liberto has made New York his home - that is, when he isn't on tour).

Liberto is relishing being a part of such an iconic American musical, especially since he got to work with the same production team that was responsible for the Broadway revival that ran from 2006 to 2008 (particularly with Baayork Lee, who recreated Michael Bennett's award-winning choreography and direction and created the role of Connie Wong in the original production).

Dancing eight shows a week has taken a bit of a toll physically on Liberto, though he says his body has largely gotten used to the repetition. Whenever he does get tired of the routine, he reminds himself how lucky he is to be making a living in show business.

"There's a line at the end of the show where Richie says, 'The only chorus line you can depend on in this business is the one at unemployment,'" Liberto said. "It's very poignant and it doesn't matter if you're a performer or an athlete - this show speaks to anyone whose ever been on the line and either not gotten or gotten whatever they were trying for."

Liberto also hopes that what he's doing will inspire others to pursue creative pursuits - much like the Tony Award-winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who cites being inspired when he saw "A Chorus Line" on tour in Chicago as a high school student back in the late 1970s. Liberto has a similar story (albeit with a different show).

"I think about me when I was in high school and I was at the Shubert Theatre and I saw 'Chicago' on tour," Liberto said. "And that's what changed my life and made me want to be a performer."

"A Chorus Line"

Where: Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and April 19, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and April 22 and 30; through May 3.

Tickets: $18-$85

Box office: (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com.