DAYTON — Tory Ross is acquainted with Broadway, having been in the original casts for the musicals “9 to 5” and “Cry-Baby.”

She’s headed back in that direction later this year to work on the pre-Broadway tryout of the newly announced Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein show “Kinky Boots,” based on the 2005 indie film.

But it’s not just what you know. It’s who.

Her name bubbled up when The Human Race Theatre Company was struggling to find the right performer to portray singer Rosemary Clooney in the musical “Tenderly,” which opens Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the Broadway Series at the Victoria Theatre.

Kevin Moore, Human Race producing artistic director, had auditioned numerous performers in New York. They generally came in and simply belted out their audition number, which might have been fine if Rosemary Clooney was singing today.

But the Maysville, Ky., native and Cincinnati legend “preceded the age of the belter,” Ross, 32, said. “She was gutsy, such a broad and a fun gal, but she was more contained.”

Moore was having dinner and discussing the show with others one night when Sean Michael Flowers, who is the music director, said, “You know, Tory Ross has a husky voice.”

And that was almost that. Affirmation was immediate. The casting suggestion made perfect sense.

Everyone at the table knew what she could do because Ross got her start in and around Dayton as a student at the Miami Valley School, with the Muse Machine and at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

Ross was singing and acting the role of Mrs. Claus in the touring Christmas spectacular of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes when Moore called in November to ask if she would be available.

“I had just bought a convertible and was planning to drive across the country and move to L.A. I still plan to do that. But as soon as I read the script, I begged for an audition. It’s an incredible story,” said Ross, who also performed in the national tour of the musical “The Producers.”

Her preparation has included reading Clooney’s two biographies, listening to recordings and looking at film supplied by the singer’s estate. She learned bits of information including the fact that one of her character’s biggest hits, “Come On-a My House” was based on an Armenian folk song.

“I started working on Rosemary’s sound right away, because without that, there’s no way the audience will go with me,” said Ross.

“I’ve never played a part this big. I don’t leave the stage for the entire 90 minutes and there’s no intermission.”

She had a surprise revelation while doing her homework. She discovered that she had officially shared a stage with Clooney once.

“It was part of a PBS special. I was doing a show in Cincinnati. It was circa 2000. The entire cast took the stage to sing ‘God Bless America.’ I sang with Rosemary Clooney,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.