Before Michael Gruber sang on Broadway, he was an NCAA All-American diver at the University of Michigan.

"I was diving during the Greg Louganis era," said Gruber, 38, referring to the prolific American athlete who medaled in three separate Olympics. "There was really only one more space after his on the team. After the 1984 Olympic trials came and went, I needed to make a choice about whether I wanted to train another four years (for the Olympics)."

Gruber, who performed in high-school musicals, opted to leave competitive diving to focus on becoming a song-and-dance man. He transferred to the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where he honed his performance skills.

He then moved to New York City and earned roles in the musicals "A Chorus Line," "Miss Saigon," "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Swing." His most prominent Broadway role to date was as Munkustrap in "Cats."

Through July 20, Gruber is starring as Bobby Child in PCPA's revival of the comic musical "Crazy for You." When not belting out a classic Gershwin brother's tune, Gruber (as Child) spends most of the play trying to win the hand of local beauty Polly Baker (Melinda Ann Parrett). Guess whether he gets her.

Audience and media reactions to Gruber's performance indicate that competitive diving's loss has become the Central Coast's gain.

A Times review of the play raved that Gruber "gives a performance that recalls musical idols of the Silver Screen, who literally swept their ladies off their feet with graceful dancing."

Starting Friday, Gruber and the "Crazy for You" cast will move south to Solvang to perform in that town's open air Festival Theater.

"Michael is one of the rare breed of triple-threat performers who sing, dance and act -- all first-rate quality," said Craig Shafer, PCPA spokesman. "His presence strengthens an already strong cast of resident and guest professional artists and interns on and off stage."

Recently the Times caught up with Gruber via telephone to talk about his life in the arts.

Times: So, do you miss New York?

Michael Gruber: We had two weeks off after the Santa Maria shows and before we moved down to Solvang, so I went home to New York. To be honest, it was like major culture shock. I was used to this mellow environment (on the Central Coast), so I was a little fried when I went to Manhattan. I was very happy to get out here again.

Times: Have you seen much of the Central Coast?

MG: I'm living in Santa Maria right now. I've also gone to Pismo Beach and the Avila Valley Hot Springs. They're great. I've gone up to San Luis Obispo and down to Santa Barbara. I'll have Mondays and Tuesdays off soon, so I hope to do more traveling. It's so beautiful out here.

Times: Do you mind doing shows outside of New York?

MG: I'm happy to fill in the gaps between Broadway shows by going out of town. I like to get a break from the manicness of New York. Regional theater often has more interesting projects.

Times: After performing in melodramatic Andrew Lloyd Webber shows like "Cats," how do you approach something lighter like the Gershwin-inspired "Crazy for You?"

MG: The audience really informs you of what you can get away with in something like "Crazy for You." They sort of construct your performance by their reactions.

You really have to extend yourself when you're doing farce, and take some chances. There's a lot of slapstick, tripping and falling. The audience sort of constructs your performance. A show like this is so fun, but you have to be brave. And so far the audiences have been great. Everybody's really enjoying themselves.

Times: Do you see any parallels between diving and theater?

MG: I guess being in the zone, and having that kind of concentration is very similar. And both are a kind of performing.

Both diving and acting involve judging. There's a lot of bias and politics to both. If you're competing against Louganis, and you did a dive comparable to one he did, he would still likely get the higher score. In theater, it's the same way -- a lot of it is mystique.

Times: Do you still have to audition for shows?

MG: Sometimes I'm just offered parts; that's really what I prefer. Sometimes, if they don't know you, you have to audition, but I never have to go to cattle calls anymore. They do what are called agent-submissions, where you'll go to a private audition. Each show is something slightly different.

Times: Do you have any interest in doing television or movies?

MG: They're such different industries. So much of (filmed) work is by who you know and who knows you. I don't have any kind of network in the industry. And I'm much more broadly skilled in theater craft.

Times: Is it difficult to have relationships when you're on the road so much?

MG: I'm not a big relationship person. I have my friends, but I've never really dated that much. It's very hard to pursue relationships in this business. I've actually sort of been dealing with that right now, because as I get older I'm starting to want a more serious relationship.

Times: What would you do if you didn't make your living as an actor?

MG: I've been working with a partner on composing some (musical theater) pieces. We've done three pieces together and we're writing the fourth one right now. It takes place in 1975 and it's called "Vegas Organic."

I'm totally addicted to The Beach (a Central Coast radio station), because that's the era of music we're writing for. I love Heart, Steve Perry from Journey, Freddie Mercury and Queen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith ... classic hard rock.

Times: So, I read that you were into psychotherapy? Are we talking Freud?

MG: No, classical analysis didn't really work for me. I found it too one-sided. And from what I've read, classical therapy has not been that successful. It's not necessarily practical.

The therapist I have now uses gestalt therapy. It's great. He collaborates with me. We have a dialogue. It involves more problem-solving and is more immediate. But when I'm on the road, I take a break. I don't want to become too obsessive about it.

Times: What kind of foods have you been eating in Santa Maria?

MG: It's total In-N-Out and Taco Bell. When I'm late for rehearsal it's McDonald's drive-through. It's bad because my metabolism isn't as fast as it once was.

Times: What have you been doing for fun around here?

MG: I went out last night to a friend's house. We watched TV and laughed and talked, drank a few beers and ate a pizza. College student-type stuff. It was a lot of fun.

Times: What's the future of the Broadway musical?

MG: It's tough to say, because the economy isn't so great right now, and people are more careful about how they spend their money. In this type of an economy, and when a Broadway ticket is $90, people are gonna want to see "The Producers" or "Phantom (of the Opera)." Or maybe they'll see "Chicago" because the movie was so successful. Those shows will always make a killing.

Producers want a market value. Unless you're Stephen Sondheim, it's very hard to get a different kind of musical produced. And even his shows don't have longevity because they're not going to bring in tourists.

"Long Day's Journey into Night," by Eugene O'Neill, would never be produced on Broadway now if it didn't have Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard, who are all movie actors. It's all about the economy. Once the economy improves and rich people start spending more money again, there might be more risky productions.

Times: What role do you really want to play?

MG: I'd like to play George in "Sunday in the Park with George." It's beautifully written and I relate to its themes, which involve the isolation of an artist.

Times: Are you looking forward to moving down to Solvang?

MG: It'll be cool. We're doing five shows a week with no matinees. It's a cool town and it's always great to work outside.

Times: What's your favorite part of doing the show?

MG: I enjoy the contrast of doing the romantic side of Bobby Child and the wacky silliness of Bela Zangler -- that whole level of being in disguise.

(For part of the play, Child disguises himself as the wealthy Bela Zangler)

There's a song in the show, "Embraceable You," and it's the first time Bobby realizes that Polly's falling in love with him and not Bella. It's the turning point. He doesn't tell her who he is because he doesn't want to lose her.

And he's realizing where the journey is going, and he doesn't know how to handle it.