Next Big Broadway Choreographer?

[downstagecenter]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 2:33pm

So a few months ago, someone posted a video here called Love in 3 Acts directed and choreographed by a guy named Jason Wise.

I don't know him, I'm not being paid to promote him, but DAMN he's GOOD!
Does anyone know what his deal is or know him? Does he teach a class?

A Bushel & A Peck (Guys & Dolls)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuT-C7PBFA

Jet Set (Catch Me If You Can)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zuEsAvePv0

I recognize some of the names of his dancers from Broadway and National Tours, so there has to be some legitimacy to this guy.



Updated On: 4/12/12 at 02:33 PM

[bdn223]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 3:17pm

It may look good, but its unsingable...meaning that there is no way that performers could both sing and dance at the same time, so is he the next Susan Stroman, Jerry Mitchell, or Kathleen Marshall? Probably not, but the next Twyla Tharp? Possibly

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 3:19pm

Why not contact him directly via the website linked on both of the youtube links you attached?

I feel shilly.

[shrekster224]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 4:16pm

Very good, but definitely not singable. It also doesn't quite have the polish or originality that Chris Gattelli or Sergio Trujillo are current producing.

Funny that this was brought up because in the Spiderman rush line a couple days ago one of the stuntman's girlfriends was talking about Wise and he actually called her while she was talking about him.

(For what it's worth, I think the dance break in "Radio" and "Underground" in Memphis and are some of the best pieces of choreo on Broadway right now; I really admire Trujillo's work. Haven't seen Newsies live yet, though.)

[downstagecenter]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 4:41pm

You are right about the polish. The dancers at BDC were saying that he teaches these in 3 hours. I've seen dancers rehearsed for weeks that aren't nearly as tight so he must be a slave driver?

[shrekster224]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 4:54pm

I didn't mean no polish in the dancing, just the choreography. It was just bland and un-innovative. That is, if you were being sarcastic.


Updated On: 4/12/12 at 04:54 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 5:01pm

"...there has to be some legitimacy to this guy."

You should just go ask him if his parents were married. It's not as sensitive a topic as it once was.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 5:02pm

I would like to see what Josh Bergasse(Smash choreographer) would do with a new Broadway musical(not Marilyn/Bombshell). I think he has tremedous potential.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 5:04pm

I guess choreographers today really want to win an award for Most Choreography.

[CukorLover]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 5:17pm

Nothing more than Jazz class choreography. The steps and music are all interchangeable. What visually distinguishes one dance from the other aside from the music? There is nothing remotely theatrical about any of them.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 6:09pm

One of the biggest no-nos for stage choreography DURING singing is having them do a lot of turns or face upstage.

If they were actually singing, the song we be completely lost.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 6:23pm

Looks like Final Project Showcase at the Jean Ann Ryan School of Hack.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 7:06pm

He definitely isn't without talent--as others have said, it's hard to know when they're not performed while singing. Some of it seems bland--I know it's hard to top Fosse (or even Rob Marshall's version which I'm far less keen on) but Shoeless Joe for example barely uses any dance vocabulary that reminds you of a baseball game.

ACL I like Bergasse's work but every dance he does that I've seen--he did a number of the Broadway routines for So You Think You Can Dance, use EXACTLY the same types of movement--I guess he'd have to find something that really fit that (or pull a Fosse and twist the material to fit his style, but very few people can do that). That said his Broadway routines were miles better than SYTYCanDance's other Broadway dances by good ol' Tyce Diorio (or however you spell it) who would alwyas take a famous Robbins, or Fosse, or whoever routine and essentially water it down and call it his own.

I would like to see a big new choreographic talent on Broadway. I see a lot of very good choreographers, but nothing that feels both classic and new.

[downstagecenter]

Posted: 4/12/12 at 7:57pm

I wrote Jason Wise using the contact form on his website and told him to check out this thread. I just got this e-mail back from him:

Hi Downstage Center,

I can't believe people are discussing me. That is thrilling and somewhat nerve wracking at the same time.

A lot of those posters have valid concerns with my choreography. Let me explain a little bit what the videos are about.

I toured with Cats for 2 years on a tumbling track, so when I returned to New York I had to take it easy (physically) and wanted to stay busy. I have a huge passion for choreography so I decided to set out on a quest to build that aspect of my career. I have been increasingly discouraged with the lack of choreography on Broadway, even in shows where there is great opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I love attractive boys taking their shirts off, but at $126.50 I want to see some dancing too!

I thought the most beneficial thing for me to do would be to talk to the choreographers who have made the transition from chorus boy to choreographer which historically has been a career path for some of the greats.

I got some response, and was invited to sit down and talk. The first thing I was told was that I needed to put my work on film so when I walk around saying that I choreograph I have examples to slam down on the table.

What happened next was a slew of studio rentals & asking my friends to dance for me (for free too), which has been a learning experience. Because of the expense of space in Manhattan (sometimes $50-$75 an hour), I had to stage short, quick examples of what I visualize as staging a full number would take hours and hours of rehearsal which was seemingly unaffordable (Hey, I was a Jellicle Cat not a Real Estate Mogul).

Yes, in reality the numbers are slightly over choreographed but that is to give a feel of a 5 minute production number in under 2 minutes. I also did not expect professionals to sit through lengthy examples of my work so the shorter the better.

That being said, you can't stage 32 counts of "easy" choreography to be done while singing and expect someone to recognize you can handle a meaty Broadway show.

I put them up online and have been taken aback by the amount of views on the videos and instances like this (a thread on BroadwayWorld, please. The theater geek in me is throwing a party).

The Tony Award Winning choreographers who have been helping me have been giving me constructive criticism which I have applied in each new number that I do. This whole thing has been about receiving feedback, so I couldn't be happier with the criticism.

Because I'm young (22), I am not going to be hired to choreograph a Broadway show without any credentials, so I choose to re-stage numbers from shows that would be done regionally as those are the jobs that will be easier to get right off the bat. Re-staging works that have been done for years is wonderful but at the same time yes, lacks originality because you have to stay within the realms of the work.

Either way, I am thrilled at the exposure and I suppose any talk is good talk.

Please send this to the BroadwayWorld thread, and if there's one thing I can ask - what would they like to see me do next? I don't live under a rock. BroadwayWorld readers know their sh*t!

Happy Thursday, Jason Wise

Updated On: 4/12/12 at 07:57 PM

[popcorn]

Posted: 4/13/12 at 6:21am

No one knows who Bill T Jones is ?
he is the next big thing on broadway he has two tonys

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/13/12 at 8:21am

"Looks like Final Project Showcase at the Jean Ann Ryan School of Hack."


That has got to be one of the funniest things I've read in a long time!


And this thread is reeking of shill.

Updated On: 4/13/12 at 08:21 AM

[AngusN]

Posted: 4/13/12 at 8:47am

I think he has a bright future ahead of him and love his attitude towards his work.
Best of luck to him.