NEW YORK CITY — A powerhouse of energy packed in a 5-foot-2-inch frame, Broadway dancer Joyce E. Chittick drew her share of applause two weeks ago during the new musical comedy "Thoroughly Modern Millie" playing at the Marquis Theatre.
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Staff photo by DARLA L. PICKETT | Joyce E. Chittick, right, formerly of Canaan, speaks recently with Alyce Corson of Skowhegan at the Wellington Hotel on 7th Avenue in New York City. Chittick's career in dance has brought her to Broadway, where she currently is performing in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Marquis Theatre. Corson traveled to New York recently with a bus out of Skowhegan. click to enlarge |
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The former Canaan resident tapped, sang and danced her way through the delightful 1920s-era Broadway musical that has received six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Sporting a blond, bouncing ponytail in some scenes and a short, boyish cut and a man's suit in another, Chittick was a chameleon in her roles as Ethel Peas, who gets shanghaied to ports unknown. Chittick also is part of a dance ensemble that supports dozens of other scenes in the lively musical. Her dancing skills and her on-stage speaking role on the Broadway stage have taken Chittick a long way from her home town. The petite 29-year-old began her dancing career 12 years ago at Bradley's School of Dance in Skowhegan. In a two-hour interview during a bus tour of New York City Nov. 9 with Herb Paradis' Paratours, Chittick said she was born in Waterville and raised in Canaan, where she attended the Canaan Christian School. Her introduction to show business came when she was 7 years old taking dance instruction from Bradley Adams. Chittick recalled the fun she had at Adams' studio, which she said ignited her devotion to dancing. "I took ballet and I took gymnastics, too," Chittick said. "After my first dance recital, I was hooked. I saw all those older girls and I wanted to do tap and jazz too. I wanted to move faster." Chittick said her mother supported her dreams with summer classes that she took with "grown-up" girls. While in Canaan, her parents Janet and Jim Chittick owned and operated the Golden Lion Motel. At the same time, her father had a job at C.F. Hathaway Co. in Waterville. Her mother worked for William Bowman, a veterinarian, at his Skowhegan clinic. When her parents moved to Reno, Nev., in 1984, the 12-year-old Chittick was soon back chasing her dancing dreams again at a studio there. However, Chittick said that Adams has been the teacher who has remained supportive and proud of her accomplishments. "I still remember the 'smile' sign on the balcony for all Bradley's kids performing on stage," Chittick said with a dimpled grin. "He's been to see me, to see the musicals. He's kept in touch." Adams said he knew that, even at her young age, Chittick was like a sponge, sopping up every dance class she could possibly take. He said her personality was suited for a dance career. He wasn't surprised with her successes. When Chittick was a high school senior, she joined a touring company of the musical "Cats," and took her final exams in Saginaw, Mich., in the company manager's office. Chittick has been dancing ever since. Last year, she was a member of the dance cast in the short-lived "Seussical," a musical celebration of Dr. Seuss. Chittick was responsible for teaching the musical's star, Rosie O'Donnell, her choreography in that play. "Rosie was a lot of fun," Chittick recalled. A well-known dancer on Broadway, Chittick has won the Fred Astaire Award and the traveling Gypsy award for "Cabaret" and again for "Seussical." An understudy for several Broadway roles, Chittick also has appeared in "Big," "Once Upon a Mattress," and "Tommy." Off Broadway, she has appeared in "The Wild Party," "A Dybbuk, Encores!" and "Wonderful Town." Chittick said most of the stars she has worked with are generous, fun-loving people. Sarah Jessica Parker, who starred in "Once Upon a Mattress," before she went on to star in the HBO series "Sex and the City," was among her favorites, she said. Parker was talented, funny and a real pro, Chittick said. "She's a great woman." Musicals are a whole different thing from a play, according to Chittick. "There is a very, very different vibe and energy," she said. "In musicals, people just love to have fun." Finding work on Broadway in good shows is as much about luck, as it is talent and hard work, Chittick says. Knowing the right people or being in the right place at the right time is important. Hundreds of dancers may show up for an "open call" for a new Broadway show, "and there may only be eight slots," she said. "I'm very lucky to have gotten the breaks I've gotten," Chittick said. "I moved to New York with a job. Friends I travel with still haven't done a Broadway show. Some have been back here over 10 years and they are still hanging onto that dream." Many times during the past eight years, Chittick has been chosen as dance captain for the Broadway and Off Broadway shows because she has a good memory for the "tracks," or routines, that each dancer has to master. That skill may get recognition, she said, but it adds hours of rehearsal time and a lot of extra work assisting and answering questions for dozens of other dancers. "It's a big responsibility," Chittick said. "It's a lot of work that sometimes takes up nights and weekends. You have to know 30 different tracks and who goes where on what count." As much as she is dedicated to her career, Chittick admits it can be tough. "I love what I do, but it's my job," said Chittick, who said she works eight performances six days a week with only Mondays off. At the same time, she continues to look at other plays and examine her career. Chittick said she has plans to audition for another play, but is not divulging the name. That, she said, would be bad luck. Life on the stage leaves little time for a personnel life, Chittick admits. Married for the past four years to Rory, a writer and creative director for a New York City advertising agency, Chittick is finally settled in an apartment in the Bronx. Before that, Chittick said she often led the life of a gypsy, learning how to pack and move quickly as more reasonable rents became available — "a suitcase and a box of personnel stuff, that was about it." Today, Chittick said she and her husband struggle to find time for one another. "We're always like ships passing in the night," she said. "But he grew up in this town. His father was an actor. He used to hang out back stage, so he understands." When terrorists struck the World Trade Center with airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, Chittick was in Los Angeles touring with the play "Kiss Me Kate." At the time, her only contact with her husband was on the telephone. As for the future, Chittick says she will continue to pursue the only career she has ever wanted since she was a 7-year-old in Maine. "We all wonder when we are going to grow up," she said. Darla L. Pickett — 474-9534, Ext. 343 [email protected]
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