Broadway Who's Who: Casey Nicholaw

Broadway has a long history of actors becoming directors and/or choreographers. Bob Fosse, Graciela Daniele, Joe Mantello, and Maria Friedman are but a few. These days, Michael Arden carries that torch, too. But, so far the 21st Century's most prolific director/choreographer who used to be an actor is the latest addition to our Broadway Who's Who - Casey Nicholaw. 

 

His work on both Aladdin and The Book of Mormon continues to pack them in at The New Amsterdam and Eugene O'Neill, respectively. And he's a consistently working artist, including working on film (he choreographed the movie version of his The Prom), television (directing episodes of Smash) and the West End (such as an acclaimed revival of Dreamgirls and the stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman). Is it any wonder we are honoring him this way?

Broadway Who's Who:

Casey Nicholaw

Did You Know?...

        Born: October 6 

        Birthplace: San Diego, California

        Education: UCLA  

   

    

Broadway Acting Credits:

Crazy For You, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Victor/Victoria, Steel Pier, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Saturday Night Fever, Seussical, Thoroughly Modern Millie

 

Broadway Directing Credits (Plays/Solo Shows): To Be or Not to Be, All About Me

Broadway Directing/Choreography Credits (Musicals) 13 Tony Nominations, 2 Wins:

Spamalot - Choreographer

Shubert Theatre (March 17, 2005 - January 11, 2009) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

The Drowsy Chaperone - Director and Choreographer

Marquis Theatre (May 1, 2006 - December 30, 2007) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Elf - Director and Choreographer

Al Hirschfeld Theatre (November 14, 2010 - January 2, 2011) 

The Book of Mormon - Director and Choreographer

Eugene O'Neill Theatre (March 24, 2011 - present) 

⭐⭐Tony Winner - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Aladdin - Director and Choreographer

New Amsterdam Theatre (March 20, 2014 - present ) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Something Rotten! - Director and Choreographer

St. James Theatre (April 22, 2015 - January 1, 2017) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Tuck Everlasting - Director and Choreographer

Broadhurst Theatre (April 26, 2016 - May 29, 2016) 

Mean Girls - Director and Choreographer

August Wilson Theatre (April 8, 2018 - March 11, 2020) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

The Prom - Director and Choreographer

Longacre Theatre (November 15, 2018 - August 18, 2019) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

Some Like It Hot - Director and Choreographer

Shubert Theatre (December 11, 2022 - December 30, 2023) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐⭐Tony Winner - Best Choreography

Musical of the Month: The Drowsy Chaperone: The Creative Team

This week as we take a look back at what the creative team of April's Musical of the Month, we'll find some familiar names, and others who haven't been heard from since the show closed. As we will find out, many of the company of The Drowsy Chaperone - on and off stage - were also involved in recent (and just as joyous) show, The Prom!

So, what have they been up to since the show closed on December 30, 2007? Let's see!

Musical of the Month:

The Drowsy Chaperone

The Creative Team

Writing and Direction

BOB MARTIN and DON MCKELLAR (Book): Mr. McKellar hasn't contributed to a Broadway show since Drowsy, though he and Mr. Martin did take home both Drama Desks and Tony Awards for their efforts. Martin, however, has been a part of the Rialto scene with the books for both Elf and The Prom, earning a Tony nod for the latter. 

LISA LAMBERT and GREG MORRISON (Music and Lyrics): To date, their sole Broadway credit is The Drowsy Chaperone. They were awarded both the Drama Desk and Tony Awards.

CASEY NICHOLAW (Direction and Choreography): In the years since Drowsy, Casey has been one busy guy, with TEN additional Broadway credits, including the current Mean Girls, Aladdin and a little show called The Book of Mormon. Other shows include Elf, Tuck Everlasting, Something Rotten!, and - you guessed it - The Prom! His career includes 9 Drama Desk nominations and 11 Tony Award nominations. He has won one of each, both for directing The Book of Mormon. For The Drowsy Chaperone, he was nominated for both awards for both direction and choreography.

Design

DAVID GALLO (Set Design): Now entering his fourth decade as a scenic designer on Broadway, Gallo has made a career for himself designing nearly every main stem production of an August Wilson play, as well as a variety of musicals. Since Drowsy, he's designed 13 shows. Among them: Xanadu, Radio Golf, Memphis, A Catered Affair, and Holler If Ya Hear Me. He won the Tony and Drama Desk for Drowsy.

GREGG BARNES (Costume Design): A frequent collaborator with Nicholaw, they worked together on To Be or Not to Be, Elf, Aladdin, Something Rotten!, Tuck Everlasting and Mean Girls. Some of his additional post-Chaperone work includes: the revival of Follies, Kinky Boots and, most recently, Pretty Woman: The Musical. A 3-time Drama Desk nominee, he won for Chaperone and Follies; he won Tonys for both of those shows, and was nominated 6 more times.

KEN BILLINGTON and BRIAN MONAHAN (Lighting Design): Monahan, who was Tony nominated for Drowsy, hasn't been back since. Mr. Billington, with a career that began in the mid-60's, has been busy since the show closed in 2007. He's designed both revivals of Sunday in the Park with George and Sondheim on Sondheim. Unfortunately, he's designed for several flop musicals including High Fidelity, [title of show], The Story of My Life, The Scottsboro Boys, Chaplin, It Shoulda Been You, Amazing Grace and Gettin' the Band Back Together. On the other hand, he did design the revival of Chicago (Tony Award). 

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Musical of the Month: The Drowsy Chaperone

Next up in our Musical of the Month series is the hysterical, whimsical parody musical from 2006, The Drowsy Chaperone. Finding more than a few similarities between myself and the lead male character, Man in Chair, I feel a special connection to this show. Oddly enough, I only saw it once, and neither of my theater "besties" saw it at all. (This is a frequent joke with the three of us.) Though it was neither the big award-winner, nor longest-running show from the 05-06 season, it was definitely my favorite new musical. Given the current state of things, it is nice to look back on such a sweet, funny jewel. I guess most of us now have a lot in common with Man in Chair...

Musical of the Month:

The Drowsy Chaperone

Background, Stats and Plot

Background

Like another unlikely musical, Urinetown, the show, as we know it, got its start at a fringe festival. But before that its origins are surely unique. It all began as a risque sketch by friends (and collaborators) Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison (music and lyrics) and Don McKellar (book) written for the bachelor party celebrating the impending nuptials of Bob Martin and Janet Van De Graaff. Eventually, Martin came aboard, helped write the book (and creating his character, Man in Chair), and in 1998, it premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival. The team worked on it for several years, and the show opened at a legit theater this time, also in Toronto. Fast forward to 2005, and the show, helmed by Casey Nicholaw, had a pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles. 

Stats

• The show began the first of its 32 previews on April 3, 2006 at the Marquis Theatre, where it opened on May 1, 2006.
• Chaperone was a 14 time Drama Desk Award nominee. It won 7, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score - Music and Lyrics.
• The Tony Awards committee nominated the show for 13 awards, including Best Musical. It went on to win 5, including Best Book, Best Score, and a Featured Actress award for Beth Leavel.
• Bob Martin was honored with a Theatre World Award for his efforts.
• The Broadway production closed on December 30, 2007, following 674 performances.

The Plot

As is generally the case with shows of this type, the plot is hilariously complicated. But, in general terms, the show is what happens when the original social distancer, Man in Chair sits alone in his apartment listening to vintage original cast recordings. His favorite, he tells us, is The Drowsy Chaperone. Such is the intensity of his adoration, that the show comes to life before us in his one room studio. All of the roaring 20's stock characters are there, including an egotistical leading lady (a dazzling Sutton Foster), a self-absorbed Latin Lothario (a riotous Danny Burstein), a female aviatrix (a sassy Kecia Lewis-Evans), and the titular chaperone (a boozy delight, Beth Leavel). The darling of the evening was the late, great Georgia Engel, bringing her ditzy trademark voice and sweet charm to new, delightful heights.

NEXT WEEK: The Creative Team

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