of his West End
domination. Kinky
Boots are heading
this way...
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t eight-years-old, Jerry Mitchell decided he wanted to be a GDQFHU+HKDVQ·W stopped moving since. By 23, he had six Broadway shows under his belt; at 26 he was an assistant choreographer in the West End. Flash forward three decades to DQGKH·VFKRUHRJUDSKHG or directed some of the most successful musicals on either side of the Atlantic – from Hairspray and Legally Blonde to Kinky Boots.Now, Michigan-born Jerry, 54, is back in London directing what he hopes will be another hit. Based on the Steve Martin classic and starring the likes of Robert Lindsay, Samantha Bond and Rufus Hound, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a comic musical about two con men competing over who can swindle a young American heiress out of ÀUVW,WRSHQVDWWKH6DYR\ Theatre in April.
“Sam Bond is just blowing me away,” Jerry marvels when we meet during rehearsals. “I knew she could DFW%XW,GLGQ·WNQRZVKHFRXOGVLQJ DQGGDQFHDQGVKH·VGRLQJERWK She studied when she was young.” Freed from the acres of lace and period dress of Lady Rosamund, her character in Downton Abbey, “she has DNLOOHUERG\,PHDQMXVWFUD]\6KH·V in amazing shape.”
-HUU\·VIDFHOLJKWVXSZKHQKH WDONVDERXWKLVFDVW´,·YHEHHQLQ awe of Robert since I saw him in Me and My Girl in the West End,” he VD\V´7RGD\ZDVWKHÀUVWWLPHZH had other people in. You could just VHHWKHVSDUNVVWDUWWRÁ\EHWZHHQ him and Rufus because there was laughter in the room.”
From Lauren Bacall (“she yelled at me, I yelled right back, we became fast friends”), Tim Curry and Patti LuPone, who he met via Hairspray songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, to the “sensational” Sheridan Smith in Legally Blonde, Jerry has worked with a dizzying array of talent. Tall,
charming and in better shape than PRVWPHQKDOIKLVDJHKH·VFOHDUO\ not overstating when he says “my life is musicals.”
:LWKDGDQFHU·VÁDLUDQG discipline, Jerry has established a globally successful career. And the latest chapter in his story is what has brought him back to London in 2014. While he loves Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, having choreographed LWVGHEXW%URDGZD\UXQLW·V actually part of a bigger picture. +H·VMXVWODXQFKHGKLVRZQWKHDWUH production company here.
Jerry Mitchell Productions will develop new shows in Ambassador Theatre Group venues across the ZRUOG,W·VEDVHGLQ/RQGRQEHFDXVH “the cost is much less” than New York, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is just the opening act.
“Pulling together artists I have JUHDWDGPLUDWLRQIRULVVRPHWKLQJ,·P really looking forward to doing,” he says, clearly relishing his shiny new SURGXFHU·VKDW´:K\VKRXOG\RXOLPLW yourself when musical theatre is a world entertainment?”
,I-HUU\·VFDUHHUKDVEHHQGULYHQE\ a desire to continually try new things – from dancing and choreographing to GLUHFWLQJDQGSURGXFLQJ²KH·VUHDOO\ H[FLWHGDERXWRQHSURMHFWKH·VKRSLQJ to get off the ground: an original PXVLFDOEDVHGRQ7HUU\5RQDOG·V beautiful coming-of-age novel, %HFRPLQJ1DQF\2QFHKHÀQGV VRPHRQHWRDGDSWLW´LW·OOEHWKHÀUVW WLPH,·OOKDYHSURSHOOHGDERRNLQWRD musical,” he enthuses.
Becoming Nancy is about Dulwich teenager David Starr, who is cast as Nancy in a school production of Oliver and falls for the handsome captain of the football team playing Bill Sykes. Mitchell picked up the novel while ZDLWLQJIRUDÁLJKWDIWHUUHDGLQJD UHYLHZRILWLQ*7·VYHU\RZQSDJHV ´$QG,FRXOGQ·WSXWLWGRZQµKHVD\V´, GLGQ·WÀQLVKLWRQWKHSODQHEHFDXVH, GLGQ·WZDQWLWWRHQGµ
Why did he love it so much? ´%HFDXVHLW·VDERXWWKHSDUHQWVDQG people around the two boys just as
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gaytimes.co.ukhow far society still has to go. “You know why that happened?” he asks exasperatedly. “Because Billy Porter [as Lola] looks like a real ZRPDQDQGWKDW·VWKUHDWHQLQJWR SHRSOH&ORZQGUDJLVÀQH6HULRXV GUDJ"7KDW·VWKUHDWHQLQJµ
-HUU\LVQ·WRYHUWO\SROLWLFDO´EXW,·P YHU\DGDPDQWDERXWZKDW·VULJKWµ,Q 1992, he founded Broadway Bares, an annual burlesque fundraiser show for AIDS charity Broadway Cares. And from the fabulous cross-dressing Lola to the civil rights backdrop of Hairspray, his work is invariably about celebrating social inclusiveness and individuality in song and dance.
“Musicals are the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down,” he says, smiling. He points out that shows like Hairspray and Kinky Boots are “full of joy, but they also have great, great lessons in them.” His goal is for audiences to “go out KDSS\²EXWZLWKWKRXJKW7KDW·V UHDOO\LPSRUWDQW7KDW·VWKHNLQGRI show I always hope to do.”
,W·VDOVRDIDFWRULQZKR-HUU\ collaborates with, such as well-known LGBT ally Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots. He and book-writer Harvey Fierstein were keen to get her. “I thought VKH·GEHDIUHVKYRLFHDQGEHFDXVH VKH·GEHHQDELWRIDQRXWVLGHULQKHU own life, I thought it would be great IRU/RODµ7KLV-DQXDU\WKHVKRZ·V soundtrack won a Grammy.
&XUUHQWO\LI\RX·UH%ULWLVKDQG you want to see the multi-award ZLQQLQJ.LQN\%RRWV\RX·GEHWWHUEH DEOHWRVWXPSXSIRUDÁLJKWWR1HZ <RUN,W·VRQO\SOD\LQJ%URDGZD\DW the moment. Are we likely to see it hit the West End any time soon? ´,W·VFRPLQJRYHUKHUHµ-HUU\VD\V DGDPDQWO\´,GRQ·WNQRZH[DFWO\ ZKHQDQGZH·UHZDLWLQJIRUWKHDWUHVµ
7KHQKHODXJKV´%XW,·PQRW supposed to talk about it anymore. I got a bit beaten up last time.” Q
'LUW\5RWWHQ6FRXQGUHOVLVDW/RQGRQ·V6DYR\ Theatre from 10 March, scoundrelswestend. com, @jammyprod.
PXFKDVLW·VDERXW'DYLGDQGZKDW KH·VGLVFRYHULQJDERXWKLPVHOI $QGLW·VVHWLQ ZKHQ,ZDVMXVW ÀQLVKLQJKLJKVFKRROµ(YHU\WKLQJ about it spoke to Jerry, who is also JD\´,W·VP\VWRU\EDVLFDOO\7KHRQO\ GLIIHUHQFHLVWKDWLW·V'XOZLFKDQGQRW Paw Paw.”
Paw Paw is the tiny farming town in south-west Michigan where Jerry grew up. “When I was a kid there was one stop light, now there are WKUHHµKHMRNHV,W·VHDV\WRSLFWXUH him there as a child, kicking his heels and dreaming of Broadway. $QGLIWKHUH·VDFRPPRQWKUHDGWR KLVPXVLFDOVLW·VSHRSOHLQVPDOO communities dreaming big and challenging the status quo.
Jerry happily acknowledges this. “[Director and choreographer] -HUU\5REELQVRQFHVDLGWRPH¶,W·V KHOSIXOLIWKHUH·VDIHQFHDURXQGLW·µ What does that mean? “A problem comes into a small community and they have to decide how to move IRUZDUGµKHH[SODLQV´7KDW·VDJUHDW VWRU\,W·VRQHRIWKHJUHDWHVWSORWV you can have,” he enthuses.
´$QGLW·VPXFKHDVLHUWRWHOOWKDWVWRU\ in, say, Northampton [where Kinky Boots is set] than it is to try to tell it with the entire world. The attitudes in small communities are often alike, and often the problem is that somebody has to change their attitude. So, by offering that on a small scale, you KRSHLW·OOUHJLVWHURQDELJVFDOHµ
Jerry came out to his parents and his brothers in his late twenties, ZKHQWKHHQGRIKLVÀUVWORQJWHUP relationship left him so devastated he FRXOGQ·WSUHWHQGWREHKDSS\DURXQG them. Thankfully, “it was a non- event,” he says. “For my friends and family it always has been.”
Jerry knows how lucky he is. When it comes to the general attitudes towards difference, he is dismayed by the abuse Tom Daley got when he came out and points to the backlash that greeted .LQN\%RRWV·DSSHDUDQFHLQ0DF\·V Thanksgiving Day Parade – in New York a few years ago – as a sign of
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