Dancing in like Flynn

Patrick SWAYZE, who made his name as the hunky dance instructor-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks in 1987’s “Dirty Dancing,” will be displaying his moves onstage in Bob Fosse’s “Chicago,” beginning Wednesday at the Pantages Theatre for a three-week run. To prepare for the role of Billy Flynn, the slick legal eagle popularized by Richard Gere in 2002’s Oscar-winning movie, the actor put in a short, unadvertised stint in the Broadway production, his first appearance on the Great White Way since “Grease” more than 20 years ago. Next year, he’ll star as Allan Quatermain in Hallmark Entertainment’s “King Solomon’s Mines” and (one of the town’s worst-kept secrets) appear in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” set for release in February. Closest to his heart, however, is “One Last Dance,” 17 years in the making. Written and directed by his wife, Lisa Niemi, it’s part of their attempt to revive the movie musical -- a species on the rebound after “Chicago” and “Moulin Rouge” scored big.

Is it harder to “razzle-dazzle” an audience after they’ve seen “Chicago” larger than life -- on celluloid?

Not at all. The film actually created a giant resurgence in the musical’s Broadway road companies. “Chicago” continues to work so well because it’s so contemporary. These days, everything is smoke and mirrors and showmanship -- with the perpetual undercurrent of a lie. Billy Flynn, this Svengali ringmaster, manipulates people to his way of thinking -- no matter what the truth. The challenge is to bring a level of reality to such a stylized, almost vaudevillian concept. And to avoid falling down those stairs at the side of the stage when I’m making my grand entrance. I had a gymnastics scholarship and rodeoed for three years but, even so, they’re an accident waiting to happen.

Were you a fan of the movie?

What [director] Rob Marshall did with people who weren’t real dancers blew me away. He and the cinematographer created movement in every shot. If I had my druthers, I’d have cast unknowns and gone with the power that creates. But filmmakers need drawing cards -- a Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Renee Zellweger, a Richard Gere -- who not only pulled it off, but put people in the seats. I could kill myself for not going after that role.

Are you fully recovered from the 1997 horseback riding accident that shattered your legs and left shoulder?

I have a titanium rod in my right femur, 15 anchors and 20 staples in my shoulder. I’m the 6 Million Dollar Man, setting off alarms in airports. Fosse’s steps require a virtuoso level of athleticism, but, at 51, I’m in the best shape ever. I no longer drink, and I’m trying to lose cigarettes in my life. I was born with this intensity and drive like my dance-teacher mother, a powerful, talented beast with a “perfection” mentality. I spent so many years trying to be “Patrick Swayze” rather than “Patsy’s son.” Dad was a cowboy with this sweet, loving energy, and I inherited that from him. That soft but hard quality, I think, is what made my career work.

Did you draw on your experience with the Eliot Feld and Joffrey ballet companies in making “One Last Dance”?

I cleaned it up because no one would believe how grueling it was. Telling the complete truth would get in the way of storytelling and seem bitter or depressing. Still, no dancer calls it “suffering” because it’s such a gift to have an opportunity to do what you’re trained to do. I only abandoned that world because I didn’t want to subject my body to that anymore and knew my career would be finite. “One Last Dance” drew standing ovations at film festivals in Philadelphia and Houston, and we’re looking for a distributor. It deals with that moment in time when you give up a dream and, though we don’t go for the “Rocky” ending, it passes the “goose-bump” test. Because studios are consumed with blockbusters, and TV is so far down the road of “reality” crap, it’s up to the artists to take responsibility for the product.

You promised Gene Kelly to do everything in your power to pump life into movie musicals.

Kelly saw “One Last Dance” when it was a play and convinced us to make it a movie. He was my hero, an athlete -- guys could relate to him. I’m going to make sure “An American in Paris” gets remade -- with me in it. I agreed to do the retelling of “Dirty Dancing,” dancing this little girl’s heinie off, for free. Keep your money, I said to Miramax. Just give me your musicals -- they bought the rights to “Damn Yankees,” “Pippin” and “Rent” -- and your next hero roles.

-- Elaine Dutka