What is it like to bring one of your heroes to life on stage? That’s what Robert Creighton experiences eight times a week as the star of Cagney, the off-Broadway musical currently playing at the Westside Theatre. Creighton conceived and co-wrote the show, which tells the story of James Cagney, from his humble beginnings on New York’s Lower East Side to his reluctant start on the vaudeville stage to his rise to Hollywood stardom, where he became known as the quintessential “tough guy.” But dance was also a major part of his life, and the show is full of infectiously energetic tap numbers, expertly performed by the six-person cast. Creighton talked to DM about dance’s role in the show, his love of tap, and how to play an icon.
Robert Creighton and the cast of Cagney. PC Carol Rosegg.
What first drew you to Cagney’s story?
My obsession with Cagney started over 20 years ago. I was in acting school, and a teacher said “You remind me of Jimmy Cagney.” I started watching his films and just thought he was so mesmerizing. And I, too, felt this connection like, “Wow, I do kinda look like him and move like him.” And then I started reading about his life. I had this fire lit in me that this needs to be a story and it needs to be a musical. He became famous as a tough guy, playing mostly gangsters, but inside he was a song and dance man.
How do you approach the role of Cagney? What is it like playing a real person?
Cagney won an Oscar for playing George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy, which was a bio pic. And he said, “I don’t believe in imitation, because then you can only do what they did. You take their essence and then you play it for real.” So I take Cagney’s advice on how to play a biographical character. When he danced, he moved his hands in certain iconic ways. He always sort of had his index finger pointed out, and he was very forward and up on his toes a bit. I do bring that element to it, but I just sort of let that wash over me and then play it as me.
What was it like working with Joshua Bergasse on the choreography?
He did the choreography starting with our second production, so he’s been with us since 2010. He really uses the strengths of his dancers—he doesn’t just dictate every single step. And we had to pepper in the iconic Cagney moves throughout. The people who are real fans of Cagney would be unsatisfied if we didn’t have some of that in the show.
Creighton and Jeremy Benton. PC Carol Rosegg
Where does your love for tap come from?
My parents loved old movies, so I was really into Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. My neighbors used to keep a hat and cane out, and I’d go over after church on Sunday and make up dance routines for them. I never really had any formal training growing up, although I danced a lot. When I moved to New York, I went nuts on tap dancing. I was in acting school, but on the side I would take tap class all the time. Then when I finished school, I would go to probably four or five classes a week. That’s when I really advanced to a different level.
Do you have a favorite dance number in the show?
I really love the tap duet with Jeremy Benton, who plays Bob Hope. Two-thirds of it we do a capella, so it’s just pure sound. And Jeremy is an amazing tap dancer—it’s like playing tennis with someone who’s better than you; it elevates your game. We literally sound like one person while we’re dancing and it brings me such joy to go for that perfection every time. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t.
Picture a group of dancers who can do it all. Place them in an unlikely musical about America's first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton—think city streets pulsing with revolution, battlefields and ballrooms, political intrigue and scandal—and watch them go. In one moment, their hands look almost Fosse-like; in another, they're soldiers in full battle regalia, all whirling physicality and sharp movements; in still another, they sweep across the floor in formal gowns, the style aptly reminiscent of an 18th-century courtship dance.
This is the world of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical, where cabinet meetings are rap battles, bullets are personified through movement and an ensemble of triple threats weaves seamlessly through it all, tracing and shaping our understanding of the action. Since it first exploded onto the off-Broadway scene with a sold-out run at New York's Public Theater, the show has taken the nation by storm. Big names—from Stephen Sondheim to Busta Rhymes to President Obama himself—have flocked to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in droves. The show has attracted a following from people all over the country, many of whom never would have thought of attending a theater performance otherwise. Those who can't get their hands on a highly coveted ticket experience it through watching the free #Ham4Ham shows the cast puts on outside the theater during lottery drawings, listening to the Grammy-winning soundtrack on repeat and following the cast on Twitter.
Dance has made waves in a fair number of musicals recently, from Christopher Wheeldon's balletic An American in Paris to Joshua Bergasse's fresh take on On the Town. Choreography often thrives in revivals or more traditional shows. But Hamilton—and its movement—feels different: It's at the forefront of something game-changing, and truly of-the-moment.
This isn't the first time dance has been integral to a landmark show. Agnes de Mille's dream ballet for Oklahoma! in 1943, often considered the first major instance of dance moving the plot forward in a musical, revealed the inner workings of the main character's psyche. Jerome Robbins, in shows like West Side Story, made the movement an essential tool for understanding who the characters were. In Michael Bennett's A Chorus Line, which pulled back the curtain on show business, dance—and the struggles of dancers trying to make it on Broadway—was the story. And in the same way that Hamilton, which is sung-through, feels saturated with words, it's also chock-full of movement. Like an engine that propels the action forward, the ensemble moves almost nonstop through the nearly three-hour show, embodying the emotional arc of the plot and staying in constant dialogue with the music.
Emmy Raver-Lampman, Seth Stewart and Carleigh Bettiol
“Hamilton ends up being sort of like a ballet in many respects," says choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler of movement's weight in the show. The choreography, though, is a mash-up of styles, incorporating everything from jazz to hip hop to swing to jitterbug. To Blankenbuehler, each movement onstage is a piece of choreography—even those as simple as a person standing still on a turntable as it rotates them around. And every one of those moments furthers the story in some way, placing a huge responsibility on the dancers. “We're all greatly involved in giving the experience its detail," says ensemble member and Hamilton understudy Jon Rua. “We're translating it. We become a medium for you to take in what's going on."
Blankenbuehler's process was about finding the right way to build movement from the show's action. “I think there's a challenge to throw away the idea of steps, because steps are based on an idea that has already happened," he says. “Hamilton was really from the ground up brand-new." There are recognizable shapes sprinkled throughout: turns, kicks, isolations. But as quickly as you think you've noticed a specific step, it's blended with something else. He emphasizes that the score allowed him to make the movement feel so fresh and contemporary—and to draw from so many rhythmically driven styles. The music, which tells much of Hamilton's story through rap, also incorporates elements of jazz, British pop and classic Broadway show tunes, and references a melting pot of artists, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to The Notorious B.I.G. “Just the fact that I'm imitating Lin's music makes the imitation really current," Blankenbuehler says. “Lin doesn't write stagnant music. Even when he writes a slow song, it moves."
But what's making Hamilton resonate with so many people? After all, hip hop has been brought to Broadway before with mixed success—including by Blankenbuehler and Miranda, who worked together on the Tony-winning In the Heights and the shorter-lived Bring It On: The Musical. With Hamilton, it's the way hip hop makes this particular world recognizable, and speaks to our current moment in history. And it's the visual, in addition to the music, that lets audiences see a story they can relate to. “Social dance reflects how people are feeling at the time," Blankenbuehler says. “Hip hop gives a sense of expression to humongous groups of people who are struggling with social injustices." By using hip hop, the show filters the action through a lens that feels directly relevant to the anxieties our own culture is facing. “Our history is repeating itself," Blankenbuehler says. “We have things that are important to fight for. We are demanding for our voice to be heard—that's happening more than ever."
Sasha Hutchings, Voltaire Wade-Green and Ariana DeBose
By making contemporary movement essential to such an influential musical, Hamilton may also help give it a definitive place on the Broadway stage. Along with inspiring future artists, which it's sure to do, Blankenbuehler points out that the show has helped people to “believe that real stories can be told in new ways. Important stories can be told through dance, important stories can be told through rap." If a new generation of theatergoers grows up with this in mind, the revolution is really just beginning.
Student choreographers and musicians get collaborative.
You might think only professional dancers and choreographers get to perform with a full orchestra, or commission scores for their compositions. But some college programs offer opportunities to work directly with music students, giving dance majors a chance to learn from artists outside their department. “We are moving into an era where the lines between disciplines are blurred,” says Cathy Young, director of the dance division at The Boston Conservatory. “Learning how to collaborate is an invaluable experience in preparing for success as a 21st-century artist.”
A doctoral student from the Jacobs School of Music accompanies IU dancers. Photo Jeremy Hogan, Courtesy IU.
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
Degrees offered: BFA and minor in dance through the department of theater, drama and contemporary dance
No. of majors: 50–60 total
Collaborative coursework: In a required course called Choreographic Projects, dancers work with artists in various departments, including composers from the Jacobs School of Music. Student musicians also accompany many dance concerts and musicals on campus, and are often involved in the annual concert produced by senior dance majors.
Music for dancers: All majors take music theory, and some study voice.
Additional opportunities: Each year, a group of student composers and dancers spend eight months collaborating on short original works, which they present at a local theater. A student-run dance group and choreography lab also offers chances to work with musicians on independent projects.
Stephens College
Columbia, MO
Degree offered: Three-year BFA in dance
No. of majors: 15–20 total
Collaborative coursework: Each year, Stephens choreographers collaborate with composers from University of Missouri’s Mizzou New Music Initiative to create original works. The process culminates in a student-produced performance accompanied by the New Music Initiative orchestra. This is the capstone project for the dance major.
Music for dancers: Dancers are required to earn three credits in music through music theory, piano or voice lessons, or music history.
Additional opportunities: Stephens recently expanded its interdisciplinary offerings by introducing a dance-for-camera course during the summer.
TBC dancers in Francesca Harper’s Maladjusted Pride. Photo by Jim Coleman, Courtesy TBC.
The Boston Conservatory
Boston, MA
Degree offered: BFA in contemporary dance performance
No. of majors: 130 total
Collaborative coursework: In the school’s Junior Composition course (required for majors who choose the composition-and-improvisation emphasis), student choreographers create an original work with a composer from the music division or Berklee College of Music, which is merging with TBC. Many of the school’s dance performances are accompanied live by music division students—sometimes a full orchestra.
Music for dancers: Dance majors are required to take courses in Western music, time and rhythm, and voice. They can take additional music courses at Berklee.
Additional opportunities: Dance students have choreographed for music videos, participated in improv jams with music students and been part of the informal student-run performances that take place regularly at Berklee.
College programs dive into outreach.
Oberlin College Dance Diaspora students performing at a street fair. Photo by Adenike Sharpley, Courtesy Oberlin.
College is a time to explore not only your own dance journey, but how the form fits into the outside world. Through outreach programs, students venture off campus and bring dance to their local communities, while honing their skills in teaching and performing. “Interacting with students through Q&As gave us time to share and reflect on our experience at Hunter College,” says Kristina Dobosz, an alum who participated in the school’s lecture-demonstration program that works in New York City high schools. “The ‘real world’ and our dance lives in the department crossed.”
Oberlin College
Oberlin, OH
Degree offered: BA and minor in dance
No. of majors: 12–18 total
Outreach opps: Dance Diaspora, a by-audition group, explores African dance and culture. Oberlin also runs Girls and Boys in Motion, a mentorship program that partners with local schools and a Boys & Girls Club.
The details: Dance Diaspora students perform in community centers, churches, prisons and schools; lead youth summer camps in Cleveland and Oberlin; and travel internationally to work with performance groups in the communities they visit. Past destinations include Cuba, Puerto Rico and Nigeria. For Girls and Boys in Motion, Oberlin student mentors teach after-school movement-based workshops to elementary- and middle-school students.
Related coursework: Dance Diaspora students are encouraged to take jazz, blues, West African, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Haitian dance. They also perform in two on-campus shows each year. Girls and Boys in Motion mentors take a course on community engagement through dance and a training course taught by student leaders.
Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr, PA
Degree offered: BA and minor in dance
No. of majors: 2–4 per class
Outreach opps: Bryn Mawr has a Dance Outreach Project, open to all students, and offers a course on teaching the arts in educational and community settings.
The details: The ensemble performs an original work each year for over 1,000 students in Philadelphia schools. The performance connects to the schools’ curriculum, and is often used as a teaching tool. As part of the arts education course, students are placed in schools or communities where they assist and teach arts programs four to six hours per week.
Related coursework: In the Dance Outreach Project’s classroom component, students learn the history of arts education and education approaches.
A Hunter College lecture/demonstration. Photo by Maura Donohue, Courtesy Hunter.
Hunter College
New York, NY
Degree offered: BA and minor in dance
No. of majors: 50–60 total
Outreach opps: All dance majors are required to participate in Hunter’s lecture/demonstration program for one semester. It gives New York City high school students an idea of what it’s like to study dance in college, and teaches them about different dance forms.
The details: Hunter students visit six high schools over the course of the semester. They perform two student-choreographed works, plus ballet, hip-hop, West African and folk pieces choreographed by faculty members.
Related coursework: Students are required to take two levels of contemporary dance and one level of ballet technique before participating, and it’s recommended that they also take hip-hop and West African dance.
