Working with Dance Arrangers

In April 2010, Edie Cowan moderated an hour-long roundtable discussion with Broadway choreographers Kathleen Marshall and Jerry Mitchell and dance arrangers David Chase and Mark Hummel. They discuss the role of the dance arranger, who works with the choreographer to take what the composer has written and changes it to fit the choreographer's vision of each dance. Jerry Mitchell talks about choreographing a dance for "The Full Monty" before hearing the music and then having the arranger fit music to it, while some choreographers will have the dance arranger write something before choreographing anything. Other topics include period research, the involvement of the composer, and the role of estates in revivals. The nature of collaboration is at the heart of this lively discussion along with anecdotes from a dozen Broadway shows.