Right out of Paw Paw, Michigan, a huge talent was born unto the world. Jerry Mitchell left his humble beginnings behind to perform on Broadway as a dancer in Brigadoon and On Your Toes. His first choreography experience involved Jekyll & Hyde; he then moved on to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and The Full Monty.
He directed and choreographed Legally Blonde: The Musical and Kinky Boots, which won him a Tony Award for Best Choreography.
His newest directing project, On Your Feet!, tells the story of Gloria Estefan's rise to stardom. Windy City sat down with him during a recent press conference to learn more about it.
Windy City Times: Hey, it's Jerry interviewing Jerry!
Jerry Mitchell: Yes, I have read Windy City Times many times over the years.
WCT: Great. First question: What was the first musical you ever saw?
JM: The Wizit was my first Broadway show with Stephanie Mills. [I saw it] when I was 17 years old. I was on tour with West Side Story and The Young Americans. We had a day off and the bus took us to Times Square. We were free for eight hours and I went to a matinee of The Wiz. I will never forget it.
WCT: It changed your life...
JM: Well, it did.
WCT: You are originally from a small town.
JM: Paw Paw, right along the bottom of the lake. I was there Sunday. I drove there to see my dad for his 85th birthday.
WCT: Did you always want to be in theater?
JM: I was 8 years old and I was in the Paw Paw Village Players. That's where I got bit by the bug. I was one of the boys in the band in The Music Man and knew that was it. Get out of my wayBroadway, here I come!
WCT: After all of that, how was winning the Tony for Kinky Boots?
JM: It was surprising. It is so weird to be up against your peers for an award when you feel their work is just as genuinely good as yours. How do you compare apples and oranges in this business? It is something that happens in this business. First, getting nominated was a great honor because you are invited to the party. When you actually win then it is sort of surreal. You hear your named called, time stops, you go into a haze, you get up there and start spewing, then when you are offstage you only think about, "Who did I forget to thank?" It is impossible to thank everyone in 30 seconds.
It was an honor. I was very proud of Kinky Boots, on every level. It is a wonderful story. The reactions we got in Korea, where their mayor was just re-elected and promised to help with the LGBT community, then he reneged. We opened the show in Korea, and that was a big deal.
The secret ingredient in Kinky Boots is the character Don, who comes out at the end in boots; he's the bully factory worker. I think across America, now we are on a national tour, you see people get on board with Lola quicker than they do in the big cities. I think maybe because they are not exposed to drag and see it in such a positive way. There is not so much for them to fear about it. We show him as a little kid in high heels so you fall in love with him right away. What's the problem? The kid loves shoes!
Kinky Boots has really helped a lot of people.
WCT: Is there a gay aspect to On Your Feet? Doesn't Gloria have a gay friend or relatives?
JM: I'm sure she does. She has a gay director!
WCT: How did you find the lead who plays her, Ana Villafane?
JM: She walked into an audition and I knew. That was it.
WCT: She looks so much like Gloria.
JM: She does. She has some of her mannerisms, too.
WCT: Does she have the Cuban accent?
JM: Gloria has no accent and was an interpreter at the Miami International Airport because she was so good with languages. Emilio has never gotten over his accent but she speaks perfect English. She spoke it very young, also.
WCT: Will the show change a lot before it hits New York?
JM: I hope so. Kinky Bootsfrom the first performance to the last performancechanged. I put in two songs, cut two songs and changed about 40 pages of dialogue. The show was good but we left town with a much better show than we started with.
Hairspray, when I did it in Seattle, opened with a great show but left with a better show.
I changed sets, costumes and dancing. The reason I come is to listen to the audience, they tell me when they love it or are confused. They will give you a lot of information if you are listening. Hopefully that information is put to use in building a better show.
WCT: You created Broadway Cares to fight AIDS, which is huge now.
JM: This is our 25h anniversary this year. It is called Top Bottoms of Burlesque 'cause, baby, if you're a bottom then you're the top! I am directing it. After we open here then I fly back to New York the next day for four days to put the show together at the Hammerstein Ballroom with two shows. It's really exciting.
WCT: Did you choreograph Kristin Chenoweth when she was in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown?
JM: I did where she won her first Tony Award.
WCT: You are good luck! Any advice for people who want to choreograph?
JM: Do it wherever you can do itlocal community theaters, churches, schools. I did theater all over southwestern Michigan. I came here for dance conventions in Chicago. I came here to audition for a scholarship to Webster College. The night I was here, my friend got me two tickets see A Chorus Line on tour. We sat in the last row in the top balcony of the Shubert Theatre. I left in tears and said, "I am going to be in that show in two years." Two years later I was in that show.
WCT: It's about making it happen.
JM: It is.
WCT: What is your plan after Broadway Cares?
JM: I come back to Chicago in December with Gotta Dance. It is based on a documentary film where they had an audition for the New Jersey Nets with senior citizen hip hop dancers. They performed at half time show and became huge. It is a story about those seniors, how they got together and performed. It will be sensational. It is Marvin Hamlisch's last musical he worked on. It is being finished by Matt Sklar, who wrote Elf and The Wedding Singer. Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin wrote the book. Nell Benjamin is doing the lyrics. I am directing and choreographing. My co-choreographer is Nick Kenkel, who worked with me on Legally Blonde the Musical and Peepshow in Vegas.
WCT: How do you do it all?
JM: I love it. That is what really makes the difference.
On Your Feet! runs now through July 5 at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., before a Broadway debut Nov. 5. For tickets, call 800-775-2000 or visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com .