The Bogart theater dynasty of Piqua, Ohio, started with Matt, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in '94 and went straight to the romantic lead of Miss Saigon on tour. In no time he was headed for Broadway in The Civil War, with his own solo.

        The show tanked, but Matt stayed on the Great White Way, in Smokey Joe's Cafe. These days he's the stand-in for the lead role, Ramades, in Broadway's Aida.

IF YOU GO

• What: Rent   • When: 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday   • Where: Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati, Aronoff Center for the Arts, Procter & Gamble Hall   • Tickets: $30-$50. $20 tickets for the first two rows of seats go on sale two hours before curtain at the box office for every performance. 241-7469.

        Then came Dan, who followed his brother through CCM, put in some time in Chicago at Steppenwolf in the acclaimed The Ballad of Little Jo. Now he's touring in Les Miserables.

        Dominic Bogart graduated from CCM in 2000. Starting Tuesday he can be spotted front and center in Rent, playing videographer Mark. The contemporary New York spin on La Boheme returns to Cincinnati in a one-week engagement at the Aronoff Center by Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati.

        It is kind of funny, Dominic muses, “that a family of farm boys are making it in New York.”

        Dominic wasn't even in high school when big brother Matt started making a name for himself.

        “I went straight from wanting to be a football player to wanting to be an actor,” he said from last week's tour stop, Peoria, Ill. “Now, every kid in Piqua wants to do musical theater.”

Studied drama

        While Matt and Dan graduated from the musical theater program, Dominic was in CCM's drama program. So of course he finds himself with a lead in a touring musical, because if there's one thing the Bogart guys can do, it's sing.

        But “being an actor, that's the primary thing,” Mr. Bogart says.

        He was part of the first senior drama class to do a New York showcase for agents and casting agents. He was quickly signed by the same agency that represents his brothers.

        Dominic stayed in New York after the showcase, moving in with Matt, where Dan was also staying in the one-bedroom apartment “between residences.”

        Dominic quickly got a job — as a bellboy at the uber-chic Hudson Hotel, which only hires models and actors, easy on the eyes of the monied clientele.

        “Very swanky,” he says, laughing. “You wear these get-ups by some designer, I can't remember which one. It was pretty cool. No caps, no stripes.”

        He even got a job at the Hudson for Dan, who only stayed for two weeks before being hired to understudy the male lead in the Les Miz tour.

Like to perform together

        Dominic found time last spring to co-star in an original two-man show Girlfriend by fellow CCM grad Todd Almond (who played the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Ensemble Theatre last summer) and take some comedy skit roles on The Chris Rock Show.

        These days, Dominic dreams of producing shows featuring his brothers and friends from CCM. “Everything's so commercial, and I didn't come from that. And there are all these great people coming out of Cincinnati.”

        The brothers (youngest brother Kevin is taking time off from Wright State) can't figure out where the yen to perform comes from. “Our mom has an angelic little girl's voice,” Dominic says, “but nobody in the family (until his generation) has shown any interest in performing.”

        He says he and his brothers would like to perform together at some point in the future. “We've definitely thought about that, and we have a few ideas,” he says.

        To date, Dominic and Dan have been the only ones to appear together, and only once, in Minnie's Boys during the CCM summer season.

        Until now, Piqua has been most famous for native sons the Mills Brothers. “There's a little sign as you come into town,” Mr. Bogart says. “We don't have that yet.” Yet.

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