Andy Blankenbuehler: Overrated

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:14pm

So I just got back from Annie (t was hit or miss for me), but the one thing I thought was just dreadful and really killed most of the numbers was the awful choreographer. Is he a one trick pony? Is he the Doyle of choreographers? Why the heck are Hooverville members popping and locking? Why did "Hard Knock Life" have no actual LIFE in it? Ugh, so bad. Not to mention his awful choreography in 9 to 5. Why do people keep hiring him for these pretty standard musicals? His choreography was great in In The Heights, and while I didn't love it in Bring It On - it at least fit the material. What the what?!

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:34pm

I very much disagree with you. I admit, I wan't a fan of the Hoover number in Annie, but I liked the choreography throughout the rest of the show. I thought it fit the tone of Annie perfectly. And I may be the only person on the planet who liked his choreography in 9 to 5, but I will defend it until the day I die. In fact, it was probably my favorite part about that show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:41pm

If you liked 9 to 5, then of course you'd like Annie. It was a lot of the same movements and they felt out of place in both. Hooverville has such a great vamp and just rhythm to it. I don't know why he'd make people run and then stand in place. Just killed the whole song.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:42pm

Again, that number didn't really make sense. But I don't think it's accurate to say that the rest of Annie had much in common with 9 to 5. Hooverville aside, the rest of the show felt much more time appropriate.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 12:27am

I thought the second act faired a lot better than the first. But his whole signature like let's walk really fast then slow down then change directions just gets boring. And NYC was just a big swing and a miss.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 10:58am

If you can get to see the one man fringe show Desperately Seeking the Exit when it plays New York again you will hear some very funny moments about Andy. The play is from the writer of Desperately Seeking Susan the Musical (Peter Michael Marino) and also stars him and is about what went wrong with the making of that flop musical (Andy was choreographer).

http://www.seekingtheexit.com/desperately/DSE.html

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 11:36am

I liked his choreography in 9 TO 5 very much. And I hated what he did with ANNIE.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 11:42am

I always feel like his choreography consists of having everyone throw themselves around the stage as much as possible, while making sure they don't do anything that anyone else is doing.

It's energetic, but just looks like hyperactive chaos.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 11:46am

I just kept waiting for that moment in Hard Knock Life where I thought "Oh now it's going to take off" and it just never happened. It just wasn't that exciting. I mean, the original choreography with them whipping to the beat of the music was pretty genius. I just feel like he doesn't actually listen to what he's given and just does his own thing.

And the tap dancing Santa was stupid too.

[broadwaybabe1234]

Posted: 12/19/12 at 2:27pm

I usually love Blankenbuehler's choreo (esp. In The Heights and 9 to 5) but i will agree, i did not like his Annie Choreo at all. I don't think he's overrated, but he definitely has a specific style and sometimes doesn't work for all musicals.

I'm probably alone in this opinion but i loved his musical staging for People in the Picture.

[sklabam]

Posted: 12/21/12 at 3:19pm

I wonder that too - why in the world is he getting jobs?! Annie was C- and had not a kick of life choreography wise.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 1:12am

Oof. He did People in the Picture too? Ouch.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/25/12 at 7:04pm

The choreography in Annie helped kill the show. The direction and miscasting weren't much better.
I did like Andy Blankenbuehler's work on 9 to 5 and Bring it on. This was definitely a miss. and a mistake.