Jerry Mitchell

Last updated

Jerry Mitchell
Born (1960-01-15) January 15, 1960 (age 64)
Occupation(s) Theatre director, choreographer
Awards

Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, Mitchell later moved to St. Louis where he pursued his acting, dancing and directing career in theatre. Although he did not graduate from the Fine Arts college at Webster University in St. Louis after attending for a year, he later received an honorary degree from Webster University in 2005. [2]

Career

Mitchell's early Broadway credits were as a dancer in The Will Rogers Follies and revivals of Brigadoon and On Your Toes . [3] [4]

Mitchell's first professional credit as a choreographer was for the 1990 Alley Theatre world premiere of the musical Jekyll & Hyde . Mitchell's first Broadway production as sole choreographer was the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , which he followed with The Full Monty .

Mitchell created and for many years directed the annual Broadway Bares benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. [5] In addition to the theatre, he has choreographed for films such as Camp , In & Out and Drop Dead Gorgeous . He garnered an Emmy Award nomination for his work on The Drew Carey Show .

In 2003 Mitchell was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". He directed and choreographed Legally Blonde: The Musical , which opened in April 2007, and served as a mentor on Bravo's reality competition Step It Up and Dance in 2008. [6]

Mitchell created, directed, and choreographed a stage show for Las Vegas, Peepshow , which opened at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in 2009. He was involved in workshops for the stage musical adaptation of the film Catch Me If You Can . [6] [7] [8]

In 2013, Mitchell directed and choreographed the Broadway musical Kinky Boots . He won the Tony Award for Best Choreography and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. He is the director of the new musical On Your Feet! , about the lives of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. The musical premiered in Chicago in June 2015 and opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on November 5, 2015. [9]

He is the director and choreographer of the new musical Half Time, based on the film Gotta Dance , which began performances on December 13, 2015 at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, and ran through January 17, 2016. The musical has the book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, with additional music by Marvin Hamlisch. [10] [11] [12] The musical opened at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey on May 31, 2018. [13]

Personal life

Stage work

Awards and nominations

Drama Desk Awards
YearCategoryWorkResult
2001 Outstanding Choreography The Full Monty and The Rocky Horror Show Nominated
2003Outstanding Choreography Hairspray Nominated
2004Outstanding Choreography Never Gonna Dance Nominated
2005Outstanding Choreography La Cage aux Folles Won
Outstanding Choreography Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Nominated
2007Outstanding Choreography Legally Blonde Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical Nominated
Laurence Olivier Awards
YearCategoryWorkResult
2008 Best Theatre Choreographer Hairspray Nominated
2011 Best Theatre Choreographer Legally Blonde Nominated
2015 Best Theatre ChoreographerDirty Rotten ScoundrelsNominated
2016 Best Theatre ChoreographerKinky BootsNominated
Tony Awards
YearCategoryWorkResult
2001 Best Choreography The Full Monty Nominated
2003 Best Choreography Hairspray Nominated
2004 Best Choreography Never Gonna Dance Nominated
2005 Best Choreography La Cage aux Folles Won
Best Choreography Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Nominated
2007 Best Choreography Legally Blonde Nominated
2013 Best Direction of a Musical Kinky Boots Nominated
Best ChoreographyWon
2023 Isabelle Stevenson Award Won

Related Research Articles

<i>Chicago</i> (musical) 1975 musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb

Chicago is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Engel</span> American actress (1948–2019)

Georgia Bright Engel was an American actress. She is best known for having played Georgette Franklin Baxter in the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1972 to 1977, Pat MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond from 2003 to 2005, and Mamie Sue on Hot in Cleveland from 2012 to 2015. She was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards and a BAFTA award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Stroman</span> American theatre director and choreographer

Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. Her notable theater productions include Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Contact, The Producers, The Frogs, The Scottsboro Boys, Bullets Over Broadway, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and New York, New York.

Walter Bobbie is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running Broadway revival of the musical Chicago. His most well-known acting role was Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIBC Theatre</span> Theater in Chicago, Illinois, US

CIBC Theatre is a performing arts theater located at 18 West Monroe Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago. It is operated by Broadway In Chicago, part of the Nederlander Organization. Opened in 1906 as the Majestic Theatre, it currently seats 1,800 and for many years has presented Broadway shows. In its early years, the theater presented vaudeville celebrity acts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André De Shields</span> American entertainer (born 1946)

André Robin De Shields is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award.

Chad Beguelin is an American playwright and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for The Prom. He also wrote the book for Disney's Aladdin, as well as additional lyrics for the score. He was nominated for Best Original Book and Best Original Score for Aladdin. He is also known for his collaborations with composer Matthew Sklar, having written the lyrics and co-written the book for the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer and the lyrics for the Broadway musical Elf the Musical. Beguelin was nominated for two Tony Awards for his work on The Wedding Singer, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

Lillias White is an American actress and singer. She is particularly known for her performances in Broadway musicals. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway musical Romance in Hard Times. In 1997 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for portraying Sonja in Cy Coleman's The Life. She was nominated for a Tony Award again in 2010 for her work as Funmilayo in Fela Kuti's Fela!.

Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 11 Broadway productions including New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Ashford</span> American stage director and choreographer

Rob Ashford is an American stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.

Jeff Calhoun is an American director, choreographer, producer and dancer.

Warren Carlyle is a British director and choreographer who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical for the 2009 revival of Finian's Rainbow.

Andy Blankenbuehler is an American dancer, choreographer and director primarily for stage and concerts. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography five times, and has won three times: for In the Heights (2008), Hamilton (2016), and Bandstand (2017). Blankenbuehler's other Broadway choreography work includes 9 to 5, Bring it On: The Musical, and the 2016 Cats revival. Blankenbuehler was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018 for his work on Hamilton. He also choreographed the movie adaptation of Cats. Most recently he choreographed, directed and co-wrote Only Gold - a new musical with Music by Kate Nash at MCC Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casey Nicholaw</span> American theatre professional

Casey Nicholaw is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. He has been nominated for several Tony Awards for his work directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), The Book of Mormon (2011), Aladdin (2014), Something Rotten! (2015), Mean Girls (2018), The Prom (2019), and Some Like It Hot (2023) and for choreographing Monty Python's Spamalot (2005), winning for his co-direction of The Book of Mormon with Trey Parker and his choreography of Some Like It Hot. He also was nominated for the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Direction and Choreography for The Drowsy Chaperone (2006) and Something Rotten! (2015) and for Outstanding Choreography for Spamalot (2005).

<i>Gotta Dance</i> American film

Gotta Dance is a 2008 documentary film and Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award Finalist directed by Dori Berinstein. The film "chronicles the debut of the New Jersey Nets' first-ever senior hip-hop dance team, 12 women and 1 man - all dance team newbies, from auditions through to performance.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teal Wicks</span> American singer and stage actress (born 1982)

Teal Wicks is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba in the Broadway, San Francisco, and Los Angeles productions of the musical Wicked and as Mary Barrie in the musical Finding Neverland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Gattelli</span>

Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer, performer and theatre director.

Sergio Trujillo is a Colombian theater director, choreographer, dancer, and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud and the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He is the first ever Hispanic recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

<i>On Your Feet!</i> 2015 jukebox Broadway musical

On Your Feet! is a jukebox musical that played on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre. Based on the lives and music of 26-time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan, the musical has a book written by Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and a score built around the Cuban-fusion pop music made famous by Gloria Estefan. The songs featured include "Get on Your Feet," "Conga," "1-2-3," and "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You." The musical also features the original song "If I Never Got to Tell You" with lyrics by Gloria Estefan and music by her daughter Emily Estefan.

Luis Salgado is a Puerto Rican performer, director, choreographer, and producer. His career has led him to Broadway, film, television, and stages around the world. He served as associate director and choreographer of Cirque du Soleil's Paramour that opened April 16, 2019 at the Neue Flora theatre in Hamburg, Germany. He has worked with directors, choreographers and performers such as Andy Blankenbuehler, Jerry Mitchell, Sergio Trujillo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti, Patrick Dempsey and Diego Luna.

References

  1. "Jerry Mitchell". The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  2. "Honorary Degrees at Webster University". Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  3. Jerry Mitchell (April 2, 2008). "An Interview with "Step It Up & Dance"'s Jerry Mitchell". AfterElton (Interview: transcript). Interviewed by John Polly. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  4. Jerry Mitchell (June 2007). "Broadway One On One: Jerry Mitchell". Pride Entertainment (transcript). Interviewed by Michael Rupert. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  5. Adam Hetrick (June 26, 2008). "Mitchell to Sign Broadway Bares Backstage Pass at Barnes and Noble June 27". Playbill. Archived from the original on June 30, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  6. 1 2 Robert Simonson (April 16, 2008). "Playbill.com's Brief Encounter With Jerry Mitchell". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  7. BWW News Desk (November 18, 2008). "Mel B and Kelly Monaco Join Jerry Mitchell's Upcoming Vegas Based 'PEEP SHOW'!". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  8. Gans, Andrew; Hernandez, Ernio (December 3, 2007). "Catch Me If You Can Reading Set for 2008". Playbill. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  9. Gans, Andrew and Gioia, Michael. "'On Your Feet!', Gloria Estefan Bio Musical, Opens on Broadway Tonight" playbill.com, November 5, 2015
  10. Cox, Gordon. "Stefanie Powers, Georgia Engel Join Cast of Broadway-Bound ‘Gotta Dance’" Variety, June 29, 2015
  11. Viagas, Robert. "Broadway-Bound Gotta Dance, Starring Lillias White, André De Shields and Georgia Engel, Bows in Chicago" playbill.com, December 13, 2015
  12. Gans, Andrew (December 14, 2015). "Gotta Dance, Helmed by Jerry Mitchell, Extends Chicago Run; Broadway Debut Set for Fall". Playbill.
  13. Hetrick, Adam. "New Musical 'Half Time', Starring André De Shields, Georgia Engel, Donna McKechnie, and Lillias White, Begins Paper Mill Run" Playbill, May 31, 2018