in 2000,
i won the
los angeles ovation award for best choregraphy on deaf west's OLIVER!
i am forever grateful to
jeff calhoun
for that incredible opportunity.
this was my first professional choreographic experience. i wanted the kids from the bye bye birdie chorus to do something really fun. when i took the piece before tony-nominated director/choreographer jeff calhoun for notes he said he "wouldn't change a thing."
when i got the call to choreograph a live version of xanadu, i about fucking flipped my shit. i grew up on this film. so -- i did. i choreographed the show, sat in the audience and every night, when the mural curtain parted (revealing the muses coming to life -- duh) the audience went batshit crazy and i, fell in love with my childhood, olivia-newton john and the power of hope all over again. god love leg warmers and roller skates.
in pre-production meetings, tony-nominated director kristin hanggi told me she wanted to "tell the christ story in dance before the audience heard a word of terrence mcnally's text. i totally trust you, brian paul. now go." and i did.
i love jason robert brown. i think he's super-duper swell and i've always aspired to "bring dance to the brown." yeah. very few people see jason robert brown's musicals as dance pieces. now that i think about it, i think there's only one. and... it's me.
