In 1953, a skinny young tapper from McKeesport, PA boarded a bus for New York with $130 in his pocket and a desire to see if he could land a job on Broadway. It never occurred to him that he would soon be featured as Snowboy in the original company of West Side Story, be discovered by Noel Coward for a leading role in Sail Away, be fired by Agnes de Mille in New York, swim with Esther Williams on CBS' first color broadcast in Hollywood, beat out Dustin Hoffman for an acting role on a daytime soap, co-star with Gene Kelly in "The Young Girls Of Rochefort," or be acknowledged with a Tony nomination for his direction of Broadway's The Magic Show. All of this was in store for the skinny young tapper who grew up in a 3-room shack on a dirt road in McKeesport PA.