Interview: CHOREOGRAPHERS ELLENORE SCOTT & AYODELE CASEL GIVE FUNNY GIRL'S SAGA FLAIR, FUN & FINESSE
by Valerie-Jean Miller - May 28, 2024
VJM: Thank you both for giving of your time to answer my questions. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of two Choreographers being hired for the same Broadway show, not even a revival, that I can think of. How did that come about for both of you? Ellenore Scott: Funny Girl was my Broadway debut as a choreographer. I was so happy when I got a call from Michael Mayer (the director) asking me to work on this revival with him. He knew I was NOT a tap dancer and was aware of the multiple tap routines in the show and asked if I would be down to share the billing with Ayodele Casel. Ayo is an extraordinary artist so I was thrilled to be by her side as she made her Broadway debut as well. Michael first met me initially at Head Over Heels on Broadway where I was an associate choreographer to Spencer Liff. In 2019, he asked if I would choreograph the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors and we opened the show October 17th, 2019. I have loved working with Michael and feel as though he keeps his people close and I’m grateful he thought of me for this historic revival. Ayodele Casel: I met Michael Mayer in 2016 when he directed a New York City Center Encores! show I performed in. Later that fall he invited me to perform that piece in a Broadway for Hillary fundraiser he was also directing. We'd kept in touch over the years and in 2019, after seeing a show I’d premiered at The Joyce Theater, he asked if I would be interested in providing the Tap choreography for a revival he was working on. Like Ellenore shared, Michael wanted to work with us both to deliver the full choreographic vision of the show. I believe it was a very progressive vision on his part and I’m really thankful that I was able to make my Broadway debut with this team.
BWW Review: Mark Morris' PEPPERLAND at BAM Brings Camp and Playfulness to The Beatles' Iconic Album
by Cindy Sibilsky - May 13, 2019
Well before The Met Gala's kitschy theme for 2019 inspired the likes of Lady Gaga, Jordan Roth and countess celebrities to strut their most outrageous stuff down the pink carpet, Mark Morris has been the reigning King of Camp in choreography, celebrating this gleeful genre in company classics such as The Hard Nut. This spring he elevated the playful style integrated with expressive movement in Pepperland, an exuberant homage to the 1960s counterculture and The Beatles' seminal 1967 concept album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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