Dennis Parlato (born March 30, 1947 in Los Angeles) is an American dancer, actor, and singer.

Early life and education

He is the son of

Charlie Parlato Charles Parlato (February 16, 1919 – September 8, 2007) was an American musician who performed with the Lawrence Welk orchestra. His instrument was the trumpet. Bio Born and raised in Fredonia, New York, Charlie studied music at Ithaca Conser ...

, and the uncle of Grammy-nominated

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer

Gretchen Parlato Gretchen Parlato (born February 11, 1976) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke. ...

. Parlato taught high school English in San Francisco before realizing he wanted to perform. He was performing in chamber concert groups and teaching full-time. While on vacation with his first wife, they decided to see the ballet nearby just as something to do. He went to the

Nederlands Dans Theater Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT; literal translation Netherlands Dance Theatre) is a Dutch contemporary dance company. NDT is headquartered at the ''Amare'' building in The Hague. NDT also performs at other venues in the Netherlands, including Amste ...

, a premier theatre company that, unbeknownst to him, was putting on a ballet of ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

''. After watching the ballet, it inspired him when he got back home to switch to half-time teaching and study ballet. He met Austin Tichenor (of

Reduced Shakespeare Company The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) is an American touring acting troupe that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of different topics. The company's style has been described as "New Vaudeville," combining both physical a ...

) when Parlato joined the Metropolitan Ballet of Oakland (not the

Oakland Ballet The Oakland Ballet Company is a non-profit ballet company based in Oakland, California. OBC was founded in 1965 by Ronn Guidi, an Oakland native, and gained international recognition through its historical reconstructions of ballets from the leg ...

) as a featured solo dancer and Tichenor was stage manager. He moved to New York when he was thirty years old. His fiancée at the time Maggie Caponio had a scholarship to the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

and he decided to go with her. He auditioned for everything, even though he had no formal vocal or acting lessons. He was cast in ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'' and after that was able to afford proper lessons. Parlato is probably best known for his work in

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s where he played Barton Crane on All My Children, Michael Grande on One Life to Live, Clay Alden on Loving and Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light.

Career

Broadway credits

*''

'' (1977), understudy *''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'' (1988), Walter *''

Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers'' ...

'' (1998), Captain George Von Trapp (replacement) *'' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (2005), understudy and Lawrence (replacement)

Off-Broadway/regional credits

*''Moby Dick'' (1986), Starbuck *''Have I Got a Girl For You!'' (1986), Igor *''

Romance/Romance ''Romance/Romance'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Barry Harman and music by Keith Herrmann. Synopsis The show is composed of two acts linked only by the common theme of love and one song performed in both acts. The first, ''The Little Co ...

'' (1986) *''The Knife'' (1987), Dr. Bauer *'' Shylock'' (1987), Antonio *''Violent Peace'' (1990) *'' Hello Again'' (1993), The Husband *''Down By The Ocean'' (1994), Dan Bailey *''Jack's Holiday'' (1995), Inspector Thomas Byrnes *''Overtime'' (1996), Antonio *''Barefoot Boy with Shoes On'' (1999) *''

When We Dead Awaken ''When We Dead Awaken'' ( no, Når vi døde vågner) is the last play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Published in December 1899, Ibsen wrote the play between February and November of that year. The first performance was at the Hayma ...

'' (2002), Rubek *''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' (2004), Sky Masterson *''Amazing Grace'' (2012), Captain Newton

Films

*'' The Dream Team'' (1989) -- TV newscaster *''

Johnny Suede ''Johnny Suede'' is a 1991 American film the directorial debut of Tom DiCillo, and stars Brad Pitt, Catherine Keener, Calvin Levels and Nick Cave. Synopsis Johnny Suede is a young man with an attitude and an immense pompadour, who aspires to be ...

'' (1991) -- Dalton *''Bury the Evidence'' (1998) -- The Enforcer *''

Rick Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

'' (2003) -- BusinessTalk Anchor *'' Delirious'' (2006) -- Royce Ralston *''

Starting Out in the Evening ''Starting Out in the Evening'' is a 2007 American drama film directed by Andrew Wagner. The screenplay by Wagner and Fred Parnes is based on the novel of the same name by Brian Morton. Plot Now aging and ailing, the one-time celebrated author ...

'' (2007) -- Author *''

Bride Wars ''Bride Wars'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Gary Winick and written by Greg DePaul, June Diane Raphael, and Casey Wilson. The film stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway with Kristen Johnston, Bryan Greenberg and Candice Berg ...

'' (2009) -- Dance Instructor

Television

*'' One Life to Live'' (1988-1990) - Michael Grande *'' Loving'' (1992-1995) - Clay Alden #3 *'' Guiding Light'' (1997-1998) - Roger Thorpe

References

External links

* *
Lortel entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parlato, Dennis 1947 births Living people American male soap opera actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male musical theatre actors Male actors from Los Angeles