Choreographer Chris Gattelli sends a love letter to his dance hero

If Christopher Gattelli's choreography looks familiar, that's probably the point. A veteran of over 20 Broadway shows and a follower of film musicals, he has an Ensec Click Dance Brain. This is a catalog of references for musical theatres that are deployed throughout the work on stage and on screen. The homage is his calling card.

And it makes him a very clever satirist. His two current projects – stage adaptation of the television show “Schmigadoon!” until Sunday in the Broadway Center Stage Series at the Kennedy Center in Washington. And on Broadway's “Death Become Her”, both feature detailed send-ups to the evil “musical theatre dance.”

For Gattelli, 52, those horror quotes may be embraces. As with his dance humor, it is supported by his love for the genre, and because of his overload and quirk.

“It's easy to be mean when you're spoofing something you know so well,” he said in an interview. “It's easy to put all the bargains in. But I really write a love letter to all of my dance heroes.”

The choreography of the stage version (based on its first season) directed by Gattelli is even broader and even broader. Now, when performers sing “Shmigadoon” with the opening number, they “Oklahoma!”, and they also spell the letters in their own body.

In “Death Beed Her,” choreographed and directed by Gattelli, the bibliography is not pointed out slightly, but the dance jokes are just as sharp. Based on the 1992 film, two women promise eternal youth and drink potions of eternal emphasis – the musical adds a body-friendly dancer chorus as “immortal.” . Like the self-aware dance ensemble of Fosse's “Pippin”, they are pleased with their own ominous sins.

And Gattelli says, “Death assures that “her gaze” is alive to the number “her” for her gaze. There is a parade of feathered Zefeld Folly's Showgirls, with shoulder shimmies and hips pushing forward enough to put strength into disco-era variety show show show show. . (The black bob wig dancer even has a cart wheel for a cameo, like Liza Minnelli, flying jazz hands.)

Dancer and actress Ariana DeBoth, who appeared in the TV version of “Schmigadoon!”, said in a phone interview that she appreciated Gattelli's multi-layered dance humor. “He knows how to build these big, illustrious glasses, and that energy will be transformed into any audience,” she said.

But for fellow musical theatre enthusiast DeBos, who began as a dancer on Broadway, he said, “We were talking about how we can emulate certain qualities with great dance movie stars and theatre stars.” Sometimes a lot of magic happened,” she said. “We were referring to Vera Ellen in “White Christmas,” “Chorus Lines.” They meant something to us. ”

A Washington rehearsal on a recent Zoom call during “Shmigadoon!”, Gattelli discussed his approach to dance-based satire. These are excerpts from the conversation.

When did you start using dance to make people laugh?

Some of my early choreography jobs were due to the Broadway Care/Equity Fight AIDS event. It's the kind of audience you've made 90% of the theatre jokes, and even deeper cuts. So we create these opening numbers that infuse everything. My peers, my community, my laughter – the bug really bit me.

How do you convey your eyebrows raised in a dance? Dancing bodies are usually such vulnerable and serious.

Even the archness must come from a serious place. It happens most naturally when the dancer is talking to the audience directly. It helps to “death become her.” This comes from Michelle Williams character Viola Van Horn to speak to the audience. When the immortal comes out for that first number and flirts with the audience, it doesn't feel like a cheap wink – it feels like she's helping her tell her story.

We have created a stage-style music number for the TV screen of “Shmigadoon!” Are they interesting on stage now?

What I find interesting is that I'm doing the opposite of what's happening in most of those golden age movies now. These choreographers usually took gorgeous stage dances and tried to fit the film.

The stage is honestly a much more comfortable arena for me. This is the place and history I know best. And I felt like I could take my vision even further, as they were always dictating and choreographing the numbers as they had intended. Especially because I have a body to play with more bodies, or at least a body that people can always see.

The idiosyncraticity seems to be a big part of the humor of “Shmigadoon!”

Ah, definitely. When I was choreographing these numbers first, I would sit in my room and show me some old musical dancer YouTube videos, then follow up with an email full of links. Look at what they're doing four minutes before “June is fully bust-out.” Watch this moment from “Dance at the Gym.” “I really got there. (lol)

Most audiences can quote a few lines from Broadway songs. However, not many people can quote Broadway choreography. How do you confirm such a dance joke?

I think the key is to add to the details of going “Oh, I've seen it” even if you don't know where the average audience is coming from. Like Ariana's big numbers from the first season of “Schmigadoon!”, the chimney sweeps this toe tapping moment from “Step-in-Time” in “Mary Poppins” I will. It's not exactly famous, but it's iconic. Even if people can't name the moment, they're familiar with the way they make it. And if they can make it a name, it's a great little Easter egg.

Musical satire can be as nihilistic as in the Book of Mormon, but your work seems fundamentally optimistic. Is that?

Well, I like to lead kindly. I feel like I tend to choose shows that can do it, or those shows tend to choose me. Even shows like “Death is She” are what we call warning stories, but the idea is to still lift, not push down. I've been part of a hit song and I've been part of a mistake, but what I'm always aiming for is joy. And the big belly makes me laugh.