Bristol stomp: 'Newsies' winning choreographer hails from Bucks

RED-HOT choreographer Christopher Gattelli, a Bucks County native who masterminded the mighty moves in "Newsies," surely knows the truth in the old expression, "From a little acorn, a mighty oak can grow."

Officially commencing its national tour at the Academy of Music on Tuesday (after a few warm-up performances in Waterbury, Conn.), "Newsies" is a classic underdog saga of hard-working newsboys circa 1899 who take on two ruthless titans of the publishing world - Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst - and win.

"And it's even more inspiring when you realize the story of their newsboys strike is true," Gattelli said in an interview.

And given how Gattelli's high-soaring, back-flipping, hard-stomping (and Tony-winning!) dance routinues are often the first thing that showgoers and reviewers mention about "Newsies," he's surely a rise-to-the-top role model, too.

As a kid dancer - inspired to hop, leap and twirl after watching his sister "having so much fun" - Gattelli took classes and performed in Center City with Waves, a modern-jazz dance-centric troupe that also fused elements of martial arts, gymnastics, ballet and classic tap.

All would contribute, someday, to the robust, "character driven" approach he'd take choreographing "Newsies."

At Bristol High School (class of '91), Gattelli scored only small parts, "specialty solos," in student productions of such shows as "South Pacific" and "The King and I," he noted with just a hint of irony.

He choreographed the 2008 hit Broadway revival of "South Pacific."

Come year's end, Gattelli will begin "morphing" Jerome Robbins' original dance steps for a new production of "The King and I," landing at Lincoln Center in March.

And when we caught up with him, the choreographer was just back from Chicago, where he's been working on a "beautiful" new musical, "Amazing Grace," about that beloved hymn's composer, John Newton.

The original 1992 film "Newsies" was a major nudge for a teenage Chris Gattelli.

"I remember . . . seeing all those boys dancing and thinking, 'Oh my God, there are thousands like me.' It wasn't like going to see just Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire dance in a movie. It wasn't like seeing Mikhail Baryshnikov do pirouettes and Greg Hines tap dancing in 'White Nights' - another influence on me. 'Newsies' was a film with tons of talented guys. That really inspired and pushed me. I thought, 'I could be one of them.' "

And he was for a while, hoofing in hits like "Cats," "How to Succeed in Business" and "Guys and Dolls."

In truth, the original Disney film that inspired the Broadway musical was a less-than-glorious success. The studio's go-to composer, Alan Menken, and lyricist Jack Feldman had written some very nice tunes, but the book (by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White) was hokey and the film's debuting director/choreographer Kenny Ortega threw in discordant notes (break-dancing newsboys) ill-suited for a turn-of-the-century saga.

"Still, the film became something of a cult success," Gattelli said. "Disney kept getting requests from regional theaters and student groups for the rights to put on stage productions - and a lot probably did unauthorized versions."

Finally, Tom Schumacher, who runs Disney's theatrical group, green-lit a stage production. New songs were added, and, said Gattelli, "Harvey Fierstein wrote a new book that ratchets up the dialogue, really brings it to life on the stage. And Jeff Calhoun did a great job with the direction and - as a choreographer himself - with watching my back!"

After a fall 2011 North Jersey tryout earned rave reviews, a "limited engagement" Broadway run was announced. It would become the highest grossing show for the 2011-12 season, helped in part by a large crop of repeat visitor fans who "treated the cast like they were rock stars," Gattelli said.

While the New York production closed in August after 1,005 performances, the touring production features fresh sets and costumes, and even a brand new song in the second act for the likeable character Crutchie, "who kind of got lost after the first act," Gattelli noted.

Only a couple of players are continuing their roles on the road. "It's amazing how many great talents we had to choose from for the tour," said the choreographer.

"Besides our show, TV talent contests like 'So You Think You Can Dance,' 'America's Got Talent' and 'Dancing with the Stars' have been a great inspiration for guys to get into this work. Our new singing/acting/dance ensemble is actually younger, on average, than we had in New York. We've got guys as young as 16, and an average age of 20-21."

Gattelli, now 41, has likewise adjusted his choreography for the new production, to showcase his cast's particular strengths.

"It's not like we've got one 'Billy Elliot' up there, played by a rotating crew of three boys. We've got almost 20 great guys doing eight shows a week. We want them to soar, but we also want them to be safe."

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