One former Red Deerian is dancing under the big lights after she was cast in a Broadway musical earlier this year.

Georgina Moore has landed a role in the female ensemble for the show 42nd Street and is touring across the United States with the production.

“There are 18 of us girls and there are 10 boys. I’m part of all of the big dance numbers in the show. In my opinion, I have one of the most fun parts – I get to be in all of the big dance numbers and I get to wear all the fancy costumes,” she said. “There’s really, really elaborate dance numbers in this show and that’s why it’s every dancer’s dream to be part of this musical because as a dancer the numbers are second to none. The choreography, the staging, the costumes – as a dancer this is the show you want to do absolutely.”

According to their web site, 42nd Street tells the story of a starry-eyed young dancer named Peggy Sawyer who leaves her Allentown home and comes to New York to audition for the new Broadway musical Pretty Lady. When the leading lady breaks her ankle, Peggy takes over and becomes a star.

The production is directed by Mark Bramble and choreographed by Randy Skinner – both of who staged the 2001 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival.

The original 42nd Street opened in 1980 and was revived in 2001. It is the 14th longest running show in Broadway history.

The original production won two Tony Awards in 1981 – one for Best Musical and the other for Best Choreography. The production also won two Drama Desk Awards that same year for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

The 2001 revival was also awarded some hardware in the form of two Tony Awards for Best Musical Revival and Best Leading Actress. It also won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival that same year.

A recent graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy this past spring, Moore decided to audition for 42nd Street in February. “I had heard there was this big audition for the show and it has always been a dream to be in this show – I love tap dancing – so as soon as I heard, I figured why not give it a shot? There were around 300 girls at the audition. It was very overwhelming at first and it was also my first professional audition in New York City.”

Moore said the morning of her first audition, she set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. Along with a few friends, they took the subway downtown and signed their names up on the audition list. The group went back home and back to sleep before returning at 11 a.m. for their audition.

“The first day we learned some choreography and at the end of the day they made some cuts and I heard my number called which is exciting, so I continued on. We had a series of callbacks which basically means you continue to come in and sometimes they would ask us to prepare a song or to learn some lines from the show if we were being considered for a role. That callback process continued to happen for about 10 days,” she said. “The stakes get higher the further you get into it.”

Moore made it to the final callbacks. “I did my dancing, I did my singing and I did my acting and that was it. I had done everything that I could. I put my best foot forward, literally, and I did the best that I could.”

A short time later, Moore did get the call that she had landed a job in the ensemble for the show.

“It was amazing, I couldn’t really believe it at first. It seemed to surreal to me that two weeks before I didn’t even know about the audition and now I was sitting there and I have a 13 month contract on my hands. It was a very special day. I will never forget that day.”

The tour officially opened in Salt Lake City in September.

“We did five or six shows in Salt Lake City. My parents were able to fly and my mom saw the show three times and my dad came twice and they were really happy to be there. They loved the show.”

Over the course of 13 months, the group will tour to 66 cities and perform more than 260 times and life on the road is something that Moore said she is adjusting to.

“You really make it up as you go. Some things you are prepared for – like I was mentally prepared to be on a bus sometimes for 10 hours a day. But there are always going to be things that you could never really prepare for,” she said. “Living out of a suitcase is an experience – you can’t pick up too much along the way otherwise your suitcase will be too heavy. It’s hard but I feel like it is getting better. I am finally feeling like I am finding my groove and how to get along those long bus days.

“But it has been fun because the cast is amazing and it’s amazing to think we’ve only been working together since mid-August since we started rehearsals in New York and now just under two months later they already feel like a big family to me. We’re all in it together – we’re all on the bus together, we’re all on stage together, we’re all in the hotels together. We are really living and breathing this together.”

Meanwhile, Central Alberta has seen its fair share of talent come out of the area whether it be in theatre, sports, business, and of course dance, among others. For Moore said she encourages all of the aspiring dancers in the area to follow their dreams.

“It is important to take advantage of every opportunity that is in front of you because no matter who you are taking a dance class from or no matter who you are learning from, I really believe there is something to be taken and learned from every teacher or studio or class you encounter. I really believe my foundation started in Red Deer with my training and I trained at multiple dance studios in Red Deer with more instructors than I can remember,” she said. “If you would have asked me last year what I would be doing, I never would have said this. You have to be open minded and try new things. Never miss a chance to dance.”

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com