Larry Fuller (choreographer)

Last updated

Larry Fuller is an American choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor. Both a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominated choreographer, he best known for his work on Broadway where he notably staged the movement for the original productions of on On the Twentieth Century (1978), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Evita (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Is There Life After High School? (1982), and A Doll's Life (1982).

Contents

Life and career

Born in Sullivan, Missouri, [1] Fuller began his career as an actor portraying Enoch Snow in the 1957 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel at New York City Center with Pat Stanley as Carrie Pepperidge and Barbara Cook as Julie Jordan. [2] He went on to appear in the original Broadway productions of West Side Story (as a Jet swing), The Music Man , Redhead , Kean , Bravo Giovanni , Donnybrook! , No Strings , and Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand. [1] [3] He would go on to recreate the original Carol Haney choreography for the American touring and London West End productions of Funny Girl. [4] Additional touring productions Fuller has directed and choreographed include The Music Man, I Do! I Do! , Kismet and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever . [5]

Fuller's credits as a choreographer include the original Broadway productions of On the Twentieth Century (1978), [6] Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), [7] Evita (1979), [8] Merrily We Roll Along (1981), [9] Is There Life After High School? (1982), [10] and A Doll's Life (1982). [11] He has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography twice, for his work in Sweeney Todd and Evita; the latter of which also garnered him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Choreography. [1]

In Europe, Fuller has directed and choreographed productions of West Side Story in Vienna and Nuremberg, created Jazz and the Dancing Americans for the Opera House Ballet in Graz, Austria and the Theatre an der Wien in Vienna, and directed the European premieres of Leonard Bernstein's Candide and On the Town , and George Gershwin's Girl Crazy . [5] He also directed and choreographed in London's West End the mid-1980s hit multi-media musical Time and Marilyn! the Musical . [5] He also directed the 1992 European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar , [12] and in 1997 he directed and choreographed JFK: A Musical Drama in Dublin, Ireland. [5]

Television audiences have seen Fuller's choreography on The Ed Sullivan Show . [5] He also choreographed the 39th Tony Awards (1985), and both staged and choreographed he 40th Tony Awards (1986). [13] [14] He also choreographed the 37th Primetime Emmy Awards (1985) [15] and the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards (1986). [5]

Fuller had a romantic relationship with fellow choreographer/director Michael Bennett for many years. [16] The 1996 documentary On Your Toes . . . The Making Of - Director/Choreographer Larry Fuller (1996) documents the making of the musical production On Your Toes with the Stuttgart Ballet in 1990. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Patinkin</span> American actor and singer (born 1952)

Mandel Bruce Patinkin is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television, and film. As a critically acclaimed Broadway performer he has collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Patinkin's leading roles on stage and screen have received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for seven Drama Desk Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Fosse</span> American actor, choreographer, dancer, and director (1927– 1987)

Robert Louis Fosse was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), Sweet Charity (1966), Pippin (1972), and Chicago (1975). He directed the films Sweet Charity (1969), Cabaret (1972), Lenny (1974), All That Jazz (1979), and Star 80 (1983).

<i>Evita</i> (musical) 1978 musical by Lloyd Webber and Rice

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kidd</span> American choreographer

Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and who staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Robbins</span> American choreographer & director (1918–1998)

Jerome Robbins was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bennett (theater)</span> American choreographer

Michael Bennett was an American musical theatre director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gower Champion</span> American actor (1919–1980)

Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.

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

Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director 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.

Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer.

Kathleen Marshall is an American director, choreographer, and creative consultant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Layton</span>

Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Alton</span> American dancer and choreographer

Robert Alton was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. He is principally remembered today as the discoverer of Gene Kelly, for his collaborations with Fred Astaire, and for choreographic sequences he designed for Hollywood musicals such as The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Show Boat (1951), and White Christmas (1954).

Vincent Paterson is an American director and choreographer who has had an expansive career in many parts of the entertainment industry including film, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials. He has achieved success worldwide as a director and choreographer.

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.

Gillian Gregory is an English dancer and choreographer for stage and screen. She won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the Broadway musical Me and My Girl at the 41st Tony Awards. She has worked extensively as a choreographer for film and television. She was the choreographer for the films Mahler (1974), Tommy (1975), Bugsy Malone (1976), Queen Kong (1976), Valentino (1977), Quadrophenia (1979), There Goes the Bride (1980), Reds (1981), Shock Treatment (1981), Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), Privates on Parade (1983), Top Secret! (1984), and Déjà Vu (1985). She was also the assistant choreographer for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). She has choreographed episodes for television series The Mike Reid Show, The Lively Arts, Wogan, The Innes Book of Records, Thompson, and Campion.

Randy Skinner is an American dancer, director and choreographer, primarily for the stage. He has been nominated four times for Tony Awards, three times for Drama Desk Awards, and four times for Outer Critics Circle Awards for choreography.

Sergio Trujillo is a theater director, choreographer, dancer and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is now 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcia Milgrom Dodge</span> American director and choreographer

Marcia Milgrom Dodge is an American director, choreographer and stage writer. After working in regional theatre, Dodge directed and choreographed her first Broadway production, a revival of Ragtime in 2009. The production received four Helen Hayes Awards in 2010, including one for Best Director, and received 7 Tony Award nominations including one for Dodge for Best Director of a Musical.

Denise Faye Greenbaum is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, and director. She is the recipient of an American Choreography Award, as well as a Screen Actor's Guild Award for the 2002 film Chicago. Faye won the Dance Track Magazine Artist Award for best choreography in a feature film for her work in Burlesque. Additionally, she received nominations including the Fred and Adele Astaire Award and The World Dance Awards for her choreography in Burlesque.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Billman, p. 328
  2. ↑ Dietz 2014, p. 288
  3. ↑ Eyer & Smith, p. 159
  4. ↑ Bly, p. 339
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McLee Grody & Daniels Lister, p. 223
  6. ↑ Suskin, p. 310
  7. ↑ Patinkin, p. 450
  8. ↑ Patinkin, p. 451
  9. ↑ Dietz 2018, p. 107
  10. ↑ Dietz 2018, p. 125-126
  11. ↑ Suskin, p. 344
  12. ↑ "Jesus Christ Superstar". L'Europeo . 48 (10–17): 89. 1992.
  13. ↑ "Larry Fuller: CHOREOGRAPHER". Playbill . 2024.
  14. ↑ Rich, Frank (May 20, 1986). "THE STAGE: THREE LONDON MUSICALS". The New York Times . p. C14.
  15. ↑ "EMMY AWARDS, THE 37TH ANNUAL (TV)". Paley's Permanent Media Collection of Television and Radio Programs and Advertisements. 2024.
  16. ↑ glbtq >> arts >> Bennett, Michael Archived 2016-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Wall, C. Edward (1998). "Review: On Your Toes . . . The Making Of - Director/Choreographer Larry Fuller". Media Review Digest. 28: 381.

Bibliography

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.