A lack of great new choreographers and director-choreographers?

It seems that in the past decade, we have not seen the emergence of many great new director-choreographers. It seems particularly dire for women and people of color as choreographers and director-choreographers, especially in the musical-comedy mode. Who’s doing exceptional work at the regionals or Off-B that Broadway should be making note of?


The "usual suspects” have been around a long time (Casey Nicholaw, Jerry Mitchell, Susan Stroman, Kathleen Marshall, Rob Ashford) and their quality is inconsistent of late. Christopher Wheeldon is a shining light but he’s only done two shows in nine years. Blankenbuehler, Warren Carlyle, and Josh Rhodes have tried directing but are better as choreographers. A lot is riding on Christopher Gattelli for DEATH BECOMES HER and Sergio Trujillo for REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES. Donna Feore and Camille A. Brown are being hired on potential.

I’m finding that some of the emerging go-to choreographers range from uninspired to poor: Lorin Latarro, Ellenore Scott, Mayte Natalio, Chris Bailey, Danny Mefford, Chase Brock, Sarah O’Gleby, Spencer Liff, Kelly Devine, etc. A few people who’ve come from other areas of dance haven’t yet returned to Broadway (Ayodele Casel, Hofesh Schecter, Michelle Dorrance). Some people have done great work on one or two shows and I’d like to see them do more: Sonya Tayeh, Denis Jones, Jennifer Webber, Rick & Jeff Kuperman, Sam Pinkleton. And of course there's Justin Peck, the most promising of all in my book.

Thoughts? Am I alone in this thinking?

Ah I should have specified --- I intentionally left out people like Savion Glover, Steven Hoggett, and Bill T. Jones because they're choreographers who have been doing great work for more than a decade and aren't really new to the field.

I think there's also honestly nowadays more money to be made for those really amazing choreographers in other things. With the number of shows being put up being much less than in the past, the idea that an up-and-coming choreographer could have a show or two mounted every year and sort of naturally make their way up the chain to directing is a lot more fragmented. And now with how often shows are workshopped as two-day readings and hardly ever any workshops, they sort of become the least likely kind of director for someone to put their money on at the beginning of a project.

What has changed is the base training ground for chroegoraphers. The great choreographers of the Golden Age of Musical Theatre all came from the world of ballet and classical dance, which is rooted in using dance and pantomime to tell a story. Most of the choregraphers today come from contemporary dance which isn't focosed on those idioms.

As a result, most choreographers today don't truly know how to use movement as an extension of revealing character or telling a story. They focus instead on things like generic audience pleasing athleticism.

Good points being made here.

I think there ARE a lot of other outlets for choreo nowadays, and opportunities for people like James Alsop or Mia Michaels to try out Broadway, but I don't know if those are keeping people away from Broadway. There's a lot of short contracts.

I'm, anecdotally, finding the ones who come up as associate choreographers and then branch out on their own are among those in the "uninspired to poor" category. Warren Carlyle might be the best modern example (if trying to become a director/choreographer for 20 years counts as modern), but he still hasn't directed a successful show. I assume if a dancer like Robbie Fairchild wanted to try his hand at choreographing, he could do so (at least regionally or off-B in the way that Jared Grimes and Stephanie Klemons have tried to break in as choreographers in their own right).

I wonder also if some of the choreo problems come from shows being workshopped to death in 2-3 week increments, where there isn't enough time to devote to big dance numbers? That paired with the natural evolution of smaller, character-driven musicals that don't have as many opportunities for dance, and shows being developed at nonprofits with small stages and thus smaller casts.

Updated On: 12/19/23 at 10:44 AM

Raja Feather Kelly.

Josh Rhodes!

Speaking from the regions, I want to throw two names in the mix that have done exceptional work, in my opinion, again and again.

First is Dennis Jones. Who, of course, has choreographed a couple of Broadway shows (quite impressively, in my opinion). I find his movement creative, original, exciting, and deeply based in story. He was a protegee of Stroman, and the influence is clearly felt. He's a person whose work I always seek out, and I'm surprised his Broadway work hasn't made him a more recognizable name yet.

The second is Katie Spelman. A director/choreographer who started her career in Chicago but is now New York-based. Earlier this year, she did a stunning production of Once at Writers Theatre, just outside of Chicago, that--for my money--equalled and exceeded John Tiffany's staging. Several years ago she did a beautiful Cabaret as good as any I've seen. She'll be making her Broadway choreography debut this spring with The Notebook, although that show is not terribly heavy on dance. But I am sure she will soon be a very sought after name on major, high-profile musicals.

I am frustrated that Josh Rhodes has not had an opportunity to direct more in NYC. In recent years, he has directed productions of Evita, Cabaret and The Sound of Music at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota. His work on all three was spectacularly outstanding. If his direction of Evita had been used by ART, Evita might right now be a hit on Broadway. IT was that good and never seemed derivative of the original Prince direction. (I am sure he would not have cast the lead from ART).

I have seen 6 different productions of Cabaret that I can remember, and I honestly liked his version the best. It certainly had the best ending, one that was truly shattering. This is not to diminish the Prince and Mendes versions. I'll acknowledge that he had the advantage that those productions had already existed, but he really added to the greatness of the production).

Re SOM, I had no desire to see it, but went begrudgingly. His staging made the performance outstanding.

Someone needs to give him a shot at a new musical or at least a new revival with a decent budget.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "We also can't forget that the legacy of the great director-choreographers comes from the pre-AIDS era.

That dynasty was interrupted in no small part by the AIDS crisis. Heirs to the throne were cut down before they could flourish or, in some cases, even bloom, and I think we missed out on decades of innovation as a result.

A Jerry Mitchell or a Susan Stroman are brilliant in their own way at what they do, but they're not legends on the level of the greats, and I think it's because they don't have the competition that could have been their whetstone and made them truly majestic."

I find it interesting you bring up Jerry Mitchell, because he very much is the 'missing link' in the problem you describe. Jerry Mitchell assisted Jerry Robbins on Jerome Robbins Broadway, was one of a few assistants on Michael Bennett's Scandal. He also assisted Jeff Calhoun who was overseen by Tommy Tune on the Grease revival. Unless you are saying there was a lack of competition for him to get jobs when he came of age, he certainly has a pedigree very few do. (I overall agree with your post btw.)

I think part of the problem in lack of great director/choreographers is financial in a different sense than was previously mentioned in the thread. Fosse and Robbins and Bennett are auteurs. There are other collaborators but the audience ultimately sat and watched the Director/Choreographer's perspective. It was the loudest authorial voice.

No one is giving Camille A Brown $20mill and giving her space to create the musical of her dreams. She is put on the Alicia Keys jukebox show and although she could likely direct that show herself, they bring in an endlessly tried and true director to further 'protect the investment'.

Too many producers, with opinions they feel they cannot put aside considering the money at stake, leads to a dearth of the style of Auteurship that cements a Director/Choreographer's standing.

Updated On: 12/20/23 at 10:24 PM

Sam Pinkleton all the way.

I have a personal bias re: Josh Rhodes as he was a participant in a Decatur Park District program that I was in charge of way, way back when he and I both were much younger. (FYI, I DO NOT claim to be the "dance father" he credits in other interviews). Still, because I knew him when, I'm ecstatic for his professional success.

It does not matter to me whether Josh's acclaim comes from his work on Broadway or in regional theater. I feel that wherever he works, his accomplishments will be superior. His accolades will be well deserved!

The choreographer's work I currently most enjoy watching is Justin Peck's. I LOVED his work in Carousel. Does it matter to me if he directs, also? Nope, Not unless it matters to him.

Jerry Mitchell may be able to channel the joy of a Tommy Tune show, but above all he is a populist, more aligned with Gower Champion. He's not doing crazy things like trying to resurrect a musical people thought was dead (GRAND HOTEL) or create something from nothing (MY ONE AND ONLY) or create a bio-musical of a lesser-known American figure (Will Rogers Follies) or a musical about a whorehouse.

I don't know if there's anyone equivalent to Tune nowadays who can take weird ideas and turn them into crowdpleasing stagings.