- Bobby: I couldn't catch a ball if it had Elmer's Glue on it. And wouldn't my father have to be this big ex-football hero. Well, he was so humiliated, he didn't know what to tell his friends, so he told them all I had Polio. On Father's Day, I used to limp for him.
- Zach: Goddammit, now can't ANYBODY up there hear me! Just let your hair down! Can't you talk? All of you, just talk, to me, to each other!... Jesus Christ!
- Zach: What made you start dancing?
- Mike Cass: Because of my sister. She was a girl. So, my Mom decided she's the one to get all the dancing lessons. So, very Saturday my mother would take her. Once in a while she'd take me along.
- Zach: How old were you?
- Mike Cass: Four. Five. I'd sit there all eager and...
- [singing]
- Mike Cass: I'm watchin' sis, go pitter-pat, Said, "I can do that", "I can do that"...
- Sheila: I have a daughter. She's nine. She loves me a lot, hates me a lot. And, uh, God help her, she wants to be a dancer.
- Diana: What's so wrong about that? How can anybody in their right mind want to be anything else? I remember I used to stand outside this stage door, and watch the girls come out, and think: "God, can anything like that ever happen to me?" But now I meet somebody, and they say: "Wow, you dance on Broadway? You got somewhere. You're something."
- Bobby: I would always try to find ways to kill myself, but then I realized to commit suicide in Buffalo is redundant.
- Paul: [singing] Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don't know, What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around and here we go, I need this job, Oh God, I need this show.
- Zach: Let me explain what I'm doing. This is not gonna be like other auditions. I'm looking for a strong chorus... people who can work together as a group - but I'm going to try to shake you up, see who you really are. We've got some small but important parts to be played by people in the chorus. Since I need great dancers, I can't expect you all to be great actors. So I don't want anybody to try to act. You understand? Just to be exactly who you are, which is just as important to me as how well you dance.
- Bebe: [singing] Now, "different" is nice, but it sure isn't pretty, Pretty is what it's about, I never met anyone who was "different" who couldn't figure that out...
- Sheila: [singing] He wasn't warm, Well, not to her, Well, not to us, But everything was beautiful at the ballet, Graceful men lift lovely girls in white, Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet, hey, I was happy at the ballet...
- Mark: I was twelve years old and, well, I really didn't know much about it. So I went to the library I took out this medical book with pictures of the male and female anatomy in it. And, well, I thought that was pretty interesting. Oh, I used to read that book a lot!
- Val: Let's get one thing straight, I never heard of "The Red Shoes", I never saw "The Red Shoes", I don't give a shit about "The Red Shoes". I came to New York because I wanted to be a Rockette at Radio City.
- Val: Every audition, I would dance rings around the other girls and I'd wind up in the alley with the other rejects. Until one day, after an audition, I swiped my dance card. And on a scale of 1 to 10 they gave me for dance: 10, for looks: 3. Well.
- [singing]
- Val: Dance 10, Looks 3, And I'm still on unemployment, Dancing for my own enjoyment, That ain't it, kid, That ain't it, kid. Dance 10, Looks: 3, Is like to die. Left the theater, And called the doctor for my appointment to buy: Tits and ass, bought myself a fancy pair, Tightened up the derriere, Did the nose with it, All that goes with it, Tits and ass, Had the bingo-bongos done, Suddenly I'm getting national tours, Tits and ass, Won't get you jobs, Unless they're yours. Didn't cost a fortune, neither, Didn't hurt my sex life, either...
- Zach: This is for chorus, it's not for you.
- Cassie: But this is the only place there is for me! Oh, Zach, I'm a gypsy. I never had an apartment in my life that wasn't a sublet. All I know how to do is to point my toes and leap.
- [singing]
- Cassie: I, Oh, Zach, I'm a dancer, That's who I am, What I do, Ah!
- Zach: Cassie.
- Cassie: [singing] I, I am a dancer, Give me the steps, I'll come through, Give me somebody to dance for...
- Cassie: [singing] Kiss today goodbye, The sweetness and the sorrow, Wish me luck, The same to you, But I can't regret, What I did for love, What I did for love...
- Cassie: Don't you know why I took that job in Hollywood? Not for me. For you. It was the only way that I could hold you, I thought, was to be a star like you. Make you want me again. Treat me important.
- Larry: Again! Step, push, step, step-touch, kick. Again! Step, push, step, step. Strong arms! Again. Step, push, sharp pivot, touch, kick. Good. Right. Turn, turn, right, left. Up, step, pivot, step-touch, kick. And down! Got it? Going on and, turn, turn, right, left, chest, step. Five, six, seven, eight. Turn, turn, right, left, chest, step. Five, six, seven, eight. Turn, turn, right, left, chest, step. Pivot, step, walk, walk, walk. The last part is: pivot, step, walk, walk, walk. Going to the end and, five, six, seven, eight. Okay. You. The girl in white, the girl in blue, boy in the green, Michele, Greg. The boy with the headband, Diana, yellow sweats, and the pink, stage left. The rest, thank you very much. Next group!
- Zach: Right! I want it strong! Make it sharp. Take it on the downbeat. Ready? And, five, six, seven, eight.
- Zach: I'm going to ask you some questions. What I want to know is details about yourself. Things you're proud of, things you're ashamed of. So if anybody can't handle it and wants to leave, right now is the time to make up your mind.
- Bobby: Do you want to know all the wonderful and exciting things that've happened to me? Or do you want the truth?
- Greg: Finally I got a girl who was actually willing to do it. So, there I am, making out in the backseat with Sally Ketchum. A little of this, a little of that - very little of that. Well, after about an hour she said, "Don't you want to do anything else?" I suddenly thought to myself, "No, I don't."
- Zach: Did this come as a big surprise to you?
- Greg: I guess. Yeah. It was the moment I realized I was gay.
- Mark: I was in shock! I mean, golly; well, I didn't have anybody to talk to. So, well, I went to the priest.
- Greg: Sex happens to be the one subject I can speak about - with absolutely no authority whatsoever.
- Richie Walters: [singing] Sweet, Icicle hot, Smooth as a lemon pie, Sailing across the sky, Into the ocean, We liked it a lot, You can imagine why, We had begun to fly, Feelings in motion, And then we did it again...
- Zach: Okay, listen up! Larry's got the exact style I'm looking for. Very thirties. Everybody, just keep your eye on Larry. Let's continue now from "moment in her presence". And, five, six, seven, eight!
- Judy Monroe: My name is Judy Monroe, but my real name is Marilyn Monroe. No. No, no, no. It's always been Judy Monroe.