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

Early life and career

Gattelli grew up in

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorpor ...

. He started dancing at the age of 11 and is a "Star Search" Grand champion.Gattelli biography
feldentertainment.com, retrieved December 29, 2009 As a performer, he appeared in '' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (Revival) and the role of Pouncival in ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

''.

Choreographer

Gattelli has choreographed several special benefit concerts, including ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'' (2003), '' Hair'' (also co-director, Actor's Fund, 2004), and "Chance and Chemistry: A Centennial Celebration of Frank Loesser" (also directed, Actors Fund, October 2009). His work as choreographer for Broadway includes ''Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me'' (2006), '' High Fidelity'' (2006), '' The Ritz'' (2007), ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande ...

'' (Revival, 2008), ''South Pacific'' (2008), '' 13'' (2008), "Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," "Godspell," ''Newsies'' (2012), and the 2015 revival of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the child ...

''."Christopher Gattelli Broadway"
ibdb.com, accessed September 17, 2015 His

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

choreographic work includes ''Adrift in Macao'' (2007, also Philadelphia, PA 2005), ''How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes'' (also director, 2006), '' I Love You Because'' (2006), ''Altar Boyz'' (2005), ''tick, tick...BOOM,'' ''Dogfight'' and ''Bat Boy: The Musical'' (2001). In regional theatre he is the choreographer for '' The Baker's Wife'' ( Paper Mill Playhouse,

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...

, 2005), ''Tom Jones'' (2004), '' tick, tick...BOOM!'' (2004, also London Fringe, 2005), ''Me and My Girl,'' and ''O. Henry's Lovers'' (Goodspeed Opera House, 2003). He directed Jim Henson's '' Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas'' at The Goodspeed Opera House, Connecticut in 2008, and choreographed Julie Andrews' ''The Great American Mousical'' there in 2012. His production of ''The Jungle Book'' played the Goodman Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company in 2013. He is the director of the musical spoof '' SILENCE! The Musical'', which ran in 2005 at NYCFringe and is scheduled to open in London in January 2010. Other West End and London credits include ''South Pacific'' and ''Sunday In the Park With George.''"'In Your Arms'"
broadwayworld.com, 2015 He is in charge of musical staging for ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. The film s ...

''. He collaborated with Stephen Flaherty on the world premiere of ''In Your Arms,'' which he directed and choreographed for the

New York Stage and Film New York Stage and Film is an art and film institution founded in 1985 by Mark Linn-Baker, Max Mayer and Leslie Urdang in order to provide artists with a rigorous and nurturing environment to invigorate the artistic process; to promote collabora ...

Powerhouse Theater The Powerhouse Theater (officially the Hallie Flanagan Davis Powerhouse Theater) is a theater building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, US. Originally built as a power station in 1912, it was renovated and repu ...

at Vassar in 2014. He is directing and choreographing ''In Your Arms'' for a production at the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

in September 2015. Gattelli directed and choreographed the Spring 2014 lab of RKO's ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

'' in New York. This is a new version of the 2011 stage version that ran in London and the UK, and is being worked on by Gatelli and Chad Beguelin. The production "is still several seasons off", according to Gatelli in January 2017. His choreography can also be seen in the Coen brothers feature ''Hail Caesar!''. He was the resident choreographer for '' The Rosie O'Donnell Show''.

Awards

Gattelli was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography for ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'' and won the award in 2012 for ''

Newsies ''Newsies'' (released as ''The News Boys'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1992 American musical historical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega in his film directing debut. Loosely based on ...

''. His ''Newsies'' choreography also won him the Outer Critics Circle Award. He won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, Outstanding Choreography for '' Altar Boyz.'' He won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreographer for ''Altar Boyz'' and '' Bat Boy: The Musical''.

Personal life

He is openly gay.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gattelli, Christopher American choreographers Living people LGBT choreographers Gay entertainers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century LGBT people Tony Award winners