Early life Cilento was born in the
Bronx,
New York City, and later moved to suburban
Westchester County. Though he attended one dance class when he was seven or eight, the teacher zeroed in on him; he panicked and didn't return. When he was in high school, he saw the original production of
Cabaret and was so taken with the show, he decided "I really
could do that." He auditioned for his high school musicals, got the dance leads, and started taking dance class twice a week. He continued to study dance at SUNY College at Brockport '72 where he met his
mentor Bill Glassman of the
American Ballet Theatre. "He was short and
straight--someone I could use as a role model." Not long after he married high school
sweetheart Cathy Colety, Cilento made his
Broadway musical debut in the chorus of
Seesaw. This marked his first exposure to working with
Michael Bennett as
choreographer. He worked on the infamous ''
Rachael Lily Rosenbloom and Don't You Ever Forget It, where he met many of his future A Chorus Line
co-stars, and Irene'' when he was invited to attend Bennett's workshop sessions of
A Chorus Line in 1974–5.
Career A Chorus Line and Broadway As a member of the original cast, the role of Mike, the short, athletic and aggressive dancer, was based on Cilento's own personality. He introduced the song "I Can Do That", although the specific story was actually that of another performer,
Sammy Williams. One of the larger roles in the show, he was a standout and received much attention at the time. During the development of the show, the creators also toyed with Cilento having a second solo titled "Joanne" about his first crush on a girl (done in a
Gene Kelly-style dance), and appearing as a backup dancer for Cassie's
nightclub act, which was later cut. Along with the rest of the cast, he is featured on the iconic marketing materials for the show, and he won the
Theater World Award for ensemble in 1976. His next project was
The Act with
Liza Minnelli, followed by a stunning turn in
Bob Fosse's dance
revue, ''
Dancin'. This intensive dance concert-style show earned Cilento his first Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. "In A Chorus Line''”, Cilento enthused, “people were standing around talking about dancing, here we were actually dancing!" He appeared in Fosse's next project
Big Deal, as well as the
Frank Loesser revue
Perfectly Frank, and the lead in the tour of the
Jack Cole musical
Jack. He also had a small role in the film
Annie with
Ann Reinking and
Pamela Blair. In this period, he was featured in more than 100 national commercials, including spots for
VISA,
Dr Pepper,
Burger King,
McDonald's,
Kmart, and
Dairy Queen.
Direction and choreographic career In the early 1980s, Cilento started building a career as a director and choreographer.
Concert stage and
television include
Alicia Keys,
Liza Minnelli,
Chita Rivera,
Donna Summer,
Jonas Brothers and
Pete Townshend.
Music videos for
Billy Joel's "
Keeping the Faith" and
Barry Manilow's "
Read 'em and Weep" followed with a
PBS special called
Spirit - A Journey in Dance, Drums and Song and dozens of
commercials, for which he has won two
Clio Awards. He turned to full-scale musicals with the
Jerry Herman revue, ''
Jerry's Girls (with Chita Rivera) and Baby, for which he earned his second Tony nomination. His choreography profile increased again when he won both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for the musical The Who's Tommy'' in 1993. He repeated the success in
London in 1996 with a
Laurence Olivier Award nomination. He recreated Fosse's style in the
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying revival in 1995 and
Sweet Charity and has staged two new musicals,
Aida and
Wicked, two of the biggest hits of the 2000s. Cilento staged the hip-hop musical
Holler If Ya Hear Me featuring the music of
Tupac Shakur and directed the
American Dance Machine 2015–16 season at The Joyce Theater. In 2023, he directed and staged the first revival of Dancin' on Broadway, which received positive reviews and 7
Chita Rivera Award nominations in recognition of its dancers.
Personal life Cilento resides in
Mamaroneck, New York with his wife Cathy. They have three sons, Brian, Keith, and Doug. ==Stage work==