Interview: Chelsie Hill on Disability Representation and Choreography in WICKED: ONE WONDERFUL NIGHT

Chelsie Hill admits that she was surprised to find herself on the choreography team for Wicked: One Wonderful Night. Despite being a celebrated professional dancer and the founder and CEO of a wheelchair dance group, working behind the scenes in this capacity was uncharted territory for the entrepreneur.

“My career has always been in front of the camera. To be able to go in and support another disabled artist… I was just really excited that that's where my career took me,” Hill shared over Zoom during an interview with BroadwayWorld.

The dancer served as a specialty choreographer for Nessarose actress Marissa Bode, working with the actress on the movement for the NBC special. Like Bode, Hill is a wheelchair user herself, having sustained a spinal cord injury as a teenager. Her dance team, The Rollettes, works to provide women and children with disabilities the opportunity to express themselves through dance.

Hill’s involvement with the Wicked special came courtesy of Christopher Scott, the choreographer for the two films. After she and Scott met at a master class, he agreed to be a guest choreographer for Hill’s Rollettes empowerment weekend this summer. Though she describes it as a "dream" experience, she did not expect that their professional paths would cross even further. 

But after Scott's team invited her to work with Bode on Wicked: One Wonderful Night, their collaboration continued, resulting in her role in the new concert special. Ahead of the special airing on NBC, we caught up with Hill to discuss her experience on the production, what fans can expect, and the power of disability representation in storytelling.

Wicked: One Wonderful Night airs Thursday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, with streaming available on Peacock starting Nov. 7. 

This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

Obviously, we have Christopher Scott's choreography from the movies, but how do you balance that while bringing your own ideas and artistic voice into it?

Whenever I'm learning choreography, I always try to mirror what they're doing from the waist up. If they're doing a spin around, I always have to count. Is it a three-count spin or is it a six-count spin? That'll depend on whether I'm actually spinning. If not, then what are the alternative motions I can do that still give that illusion, instead of just turning? 

I like to say that wheelchair dancers are constantly overthinking because, obviously, not being able to use the bottom half of my body, I'm like, ‘How can I make this look as similar to the person next to me standing?’ Translating choreography has always been really easy for me. [When] I started doing [wheelchair dancing], I was the only one really doing it at the top studios here in LA, so I could kind of have free range and do what I wanted. There really is no right or wrong, but there are always ways to increase it and make it look better. Being able to do that for myself and then now translate it for Marissa was really great. 

What did the rehearsal process look like? 

The rehearsal process was really amazing. I got to learn a lot from the choreographer, Chris Scott, and his team. I've been on a lot of sets, and this set was different. It felt like family. I wasn't part of anything except for this, and going in, everyone was so warm, so welcoming. Everyone just went above and beyond, and they welcomed me with open arms. That is very rare to find, especially in the industry.

What steps were taken on this project to make the environment accessible and inclusive? 

For the parking, they put a sign up for my name, which made sure that I could open my door to get my wheelchair out. They made sure that there was a little tiny ramp to get into the studio. It was always out, and usually, you have to wait for someone to make it accessible. They put in a grab bar for us to be able to use the bathroom, which was amazing. And even on the set, [I felt] like I could get wherever I wanted. I didn't feel like I had to be sectioned off in an accessible area. 

They had an accessibility team that was there the whole time. That is so incredibly rare. I've worked on lots of different sets, and they just kind of throw you in there and [say], 'Well, we'll make it work.' To me, that's okay. But the fact that the Wicked team went above and beyond to make sure that I didn't have to think twice about where I went [or] make sure that I had an able body with me, was really cool. It felt like I was part of the team and I didn't have to ask permission to go certain places because I wasn't sure if I could physically get there. A lot of people don't think about what the sets are like or how the process is, accessibility wise. It's something I noticed from day one.

I know you can't talk a lot about the concert itself, but what was it like watching it come to life on stage?

I literally just got chills thinking about it. First of all, I had a moment where I was watching the rehearsal, and I kind of teared up because I couldn't believe I was watching Ariana and Cynthia and the entire Wicked team and Chris Scott do his thing. I felt so honored to be able to be in that room because I am a young girl from Monterey who had these hopes and dreams. It was a pinch-me moment. 

But for me, watching the actual show was jaw-dropping. They had twists in there that I didn't even know about. They did an incredible job making all of the audience members feel like we were there and we were living it with them. It's funny, it's sentimental, it's truly breathtaking. But I'll be honest, I didn't know Wicked before it came out. I love that I came into this watching it for the first time with a lot of people. It all was a surprise for me.

The portrayal of Nessarose has evolved recently, with Marissa Bode and Jenna Bainbridge becoming the first wheelchair users to play the character, and in the upcoming film, the character is said to fly rather than walk. What are your thoughts on this shift, and what do you think it means for the disabled community?

It's truly powerful. The disability community in entertainment is already not looked at enough. Because writers aren't writing roles for us, it's such a small pool of what the disabled community can get. The fact that Marissa is representing our community is truly incredible because it's showing the world that there are so many people with disabilities who have great talent.

I know a lot of people auditioned for that role, and I think it's so incredible that they did their due diligence. [Marissa] is breathtaking, incredibly talented, and just the sweetest person ever. I hope that more people in the industry really see that and take the time to think outside of the box. Starting with the writer's room on up, it's okay to change characters.

This is just my own personal opinion, but not all of us get injured and end up walking. There is life after injury, and I don't know if Wicked is the movie to show it, but I hope that more movies and more of the entertainment world show that you can live a successful, loving, beautiful life as a disabled person and not have to walk in order to achieve that. 

You’ve worked on some exciting projects recently, including Lady Gaga’s "Abracadabra" music video. What’s next for you after One Wonderful Night? 

For me, the entertainment world is just so ebb and flow. Something will come up, and you've got to be ready. I run a women's empowerment weekend for women and children with disabilities, and I'm really excited to broaden Rollettes Experience next year. That's always the thing that keeps me centered in who I am. If other things come up in the meantime, I just kind of pivot and then go back to the course. Being a disabled person and dancer in the entertainment world [means] the opportunities are few and far between so I'm always staying open and flexible. You never know what's going to come up. I hope that one day we can perform in the Macy's Day parade as disabled performers. The future is bright.

Photo Credit: NBC