NY Times on Choreography for the TONY

[Trish2]

Posted: 5/28/12 at 11:51pm

Favoring ONCE for all the right reasons.
Judging Tony Nominees by Their Dance Numbers

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:00am

Yes but you realize that the Tony already has Gatellis name on it right? That and best score are the only 2 catagories where there really is no question of who is going to win.

[Trish2]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:04am

Like the man said, if they go for high energy, it's Gattelli's to lose.

[willep]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:04am

I agree that the Tony will most likely go to Gatelli, but I wish that it would go to Hoggett. I remember reading an interview with him where he spoke about the choreography for the song "Sleeping" and how he thought of it as the "anatomy of a hug." I loved that phrase, and seeing the show again after reading that, I paid attention to that number more closely. Such beautiful, simple choreography he created for that show.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:10am

WILLEP you can see the exact same symbolism in NEWSIES if you read any interviews with Gatelli. Hoggart will be rewarded when Tiffany wins Best Direction. I have a feeling that this is going to be a "Tit for Tat" Tonys...NEWSIES win score, ONCE wins orchestrations, ONCE wins direction, NEWIES wins Choreography, and so on.

[Trish2]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:11am

I imagine they have to throw a bone or two at Disney whereas Gattelli will take it. But let's face it, how often is Best Choreography remembered in years to come? Heck, there have been some years when that award wasn't even telecast on primetime.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:15am

Considering the Choreography is the only reason to see NEWSIES I think it will be.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:28am

I'm not saying Newsies WON'T win, but it shouldn't. (IMHO)

For all the things he says his choreography is about, it's not. I enjoyed the numbers, but strictly for the spectacle they were -- they completely took me out of the story, away from character. I found them to be nothing but fancy steps and great athleticism. Not artistry in any way, shape or form.

I would love to Once win -- for many of the categories it's nominated for. Incl; Best Musical, Orchestrations, Book AND Choreography.

I can't wait to find out.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:34am

I'm right there with you, dramamama. The Newsies choreography certainly is impressive to watch, but it's because of the execution and athleticism rather than the choreography itself. Me, I prefer Gatelli's simpler work in South Pacific.

"Gold"... Now that's a piece of choreography that I will never forget. It embodies the music and the story while being innovative and clever. It services the show and that moment within the show. It's truly felt.

[shrekster224]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:47am

I do personally like Gattelli's work in Newsies, but I do wonder what the show would be like if someone else had done it. I forget where but in some interview, Jeff Calhoun said he was handed a list of 10 possible people to do it and he chose Gattelli immediately. My favorite current choreographer is Sergio Trujillo. He always produces a more-than-worthy product, and I'm sure the project would have a different feel, but definitely interesting and fresh. Memphis current has the best choreography on Broadway, IMO (save Marshall's tap break in Anything Goes), so I'd love to see what Trujillo would do with it.

That being said, Newsies will probably win. I haven't seen Once yet, but a majority of the talk about Newsies is the dancing while Once is getting raves for music and story.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 12:50am

My favorite choreography in Once is during "Say It To Me Now", with the ensemble as the other bank workers at their tables. It wasn't eye-catching or huge, but really supported Kazee singing the song.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:01am

If ONCE should win this one, that would be a major upset.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:01am

Also, Once's dance transitions > Newsies's dance transitions

Listen, I love watching boys leap and pirouette and tumble. I really do. But I get it, they can leap and pirouette and tumble. And do it all while the set moves into place. On the other hand, the movement transitions in Once were seamless and very smartly done. And of course, they're all playing instruments while dancing. I don't see any newsies doing turns in second with a trumpet. :P

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:06am

No instead they are backflips while they are belting...realize to the average broadway dancer there is no way they could do this choreography without pit singers, which makes it all the more remarkable. To those who don't see the thought in the choreography in NEWSIES just look at the progression of Sieze the Day and how every move can be derived by the starting march, and he tweaks it one step at a time.

**yes I am on my phone, so please exscuse my spelling since I do not have spell check.***

Updated On: 5/29/12 at 01:06 AM

[Bwaydide92]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:06am

I think it could go to Once. Billy T. Jones won for Spring Awakening and that choreography wasn't really flashy, especially in comparison to the competition (Legally Blonde, Curtains, and Mary Poppins). But Jones's choreography was the perfect compliment to the songs and the story. If that's how Once's choreography is then I think the voters might give it to Hoggett. It doesn't seem as far-fetched as it could be.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:19am

With Spring Awakening there was also a lot of cheorography, at least 75% of the songs had cheoreography, Once has maybe 3 or 4 songs with Cheorography or as they label it "movement". Spring Awakening has actual cheoreography. Bill T Jones is also a World renenoud cheoregrapher, Spring Awakening was just his first Broadway show, after all he got the Kennedy Center Honors less than 5 yrs after that, which is a lifetime acheivment.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:19am

bdn223, that was a lighthearted comment from me. Clearly what they're doing is some of the hardest choreography and highest belting (simultaneously) I've ever seen onstage. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if they do incorporate sweetener tracks. It's fully warranted with what they're asked to do.)

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 1:58am

Boys don't "belt".

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:11am

Okay...

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:14am

No instead their doing backflips while their belting...realise to the average broadway dancer their is no way they could do this cheoreography without pit singers, which makes it all the more remarkable. To those who don't see the thought in the Cheorography in NEWSIES just look at the progression of Sieze the Day and how every move can be derived by the starting march, and he tweaks it one step at a time.

With Spring Awakening there was also a lot of cheorography, at least 75% of the songs had cheoreography, Once has maybe 3 or 4 songs with Cheorography or as they label it "movement". Spring Awakening has actual cheoreography. Bill T Jones is also a World renenoud cheoregrapher, Spring Awakening was just his first Broadway show, after all he got the Kennedy Center Honors less than 5 yrs after that, which is a lifetime acheivment.

I really try not to be a dick on here, and maybe you were using your phone. But when posts have this many spelling and grammatical errors, it's truly hard me to take any of it seriously.




Updated On: 5/29/12 at 02:14 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:21am

And the way contemporary musical theatre is written, yes, boys belt. It is a term commonly used for men nowadays, no matter if it's technically incorrect to say.

[Bwaydide92]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:33am

But still Spring Awakening wasn't flashy like the others. It was like Once, it was unrealistic but portrayed the feelings behind they story. for Once it's how music affects us, for Spring Awakening it was the emotional struggles of the characters. They seem to be in the same boat. And Spring Awakening's choreography was very repetitive (in the best way possible). Mama Who Bore Me, Touch Me, The Mirror-Blue Night, and Totally F*CKed all share large amounts of choreography, but it all helped to tell the story. And a lot of it was "just" jumping around. From a dance perspective it shouldn't have won, but story wise it was just incredible.

[undercoveractor]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:46am

This reminds me of 2002 when THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE competed against URINETOWN for choreography. A good argument could be made for either winning, because they both served their respective shows so well....and in such drastically different ways.
Still my favorite work from Rob Ashford....and the John Carrafa choreography is sublime.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 2:55am

Honestly if Once didnt have choreography in less than numbers having it would be a totally different story, its wonderful and symbolic there is just too little of it. A similar argument was made for Next to Normal's book, which it really doesn't have, which is in part why Billy Elliot had that category sewn up. I rember they discussed the N2N book dilemma on Theater Talk back in the day. IMHO Once has the same problem with its choreography.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/29/12 at 3:05am

Except the award is for Best Choreography, not Most Choreography.