Larry Fuller
Encyclopedia
Larry Fuller is an American
choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor
.
Fuller began his career as a dancer/actor, appearing on Broadway
in Carousel
, The Music Man
, Kean
, Bravo Giovanni
, and Funny Girl. When Barbra Streisand
headed to London
for the West End
production of the latter, Fuller was tapped to choreograph it, then repeated the task for the American
tour. Additional touring productions Fuller has directed and choreographed include I Do! I Do!
, Kismet
, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
.
In Europe
, Fuller has directed and choreographed productions of West Side Story in Vienna
and Nuremberg
, created Jazz and the Dancing Americans for the Opera House Ballet in Graz
, and directed the European premieres of Leonard Bernstein
's Candide
and On the Town and George Gershwin
's Girl Crazy
. He also directed and choreographed the mid-1980s hit Dave Clark multi-media musical Time
in London
. In 1997 he directed and choreographed JFK: A Musical Drama
in Dublin, Ireland.
Television
audiences have seen Fuller's choreography on the Ed Sullivan Show, and he has staged and choreographed both the Tony
and Emmy Awards telecasts twice.
Fuller's Broadway credits as a choreographer include On the Twentieth Century
, Merrily We Roll Along
, and A Doll's Life
. He has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Choreography twice, for his work in Sweeney Todd
and Evita, which also garnered him a Tony nod. He choreographed the original West End production of the latter and directed and choreographed the 2004 US national tour as well.
Fuller was involved in a relationship with fellow choreographer/director Michael Bennett
for many years. The 1996 documentary
On Your Toes . . . The Making Of - Choreographer Larry Fuller documents the making of the musical production "On Your Toes" with the Stuttgart Ballet Company in 1990.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Fuller began his career as a dancer/actor, appearing on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
, The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
, Kean
Kean (musical)
Kean is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest.Using material by Jean-Paul Sartre and Alexandre Dumas, père as its source, it centers on the adventures of Edmund Kean, considered the greatest Shakespearean actor of the 18th century, focusing...
, Bravo Giovanni
Bravo Giovanni
Bravo Giovanni is a musical with a book by A. J. Russell, lyrics by Ronny Graham, and music by Milton Schafer. It is based upon the novel, "The Crime of Giovanni Venturi", by Howard Shaw ....
, and Funny Girl. When Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
headed to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of the latter, Fuller was tapped to choreograph it, then repeated the task for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
tour. Additional touring productions Fuller has directed and choreographed include I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
, Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1929 by John L. Balderston. It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated...
.
In Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Fuller has directed and choreographed productions of West Side Story in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, created Jazz and the Dancing Americans for the Opera House Ballet in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
, and directed the European premieres of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
and On the Town and George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Girl Crazy
Girl Crazy
Girl Crazy is a 1930 musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in this musical production....
. He also directed and choreographed the mid-1980s hit Dave Clark multi-media musical Time
Time (musical)
Time is a musical with a book and lyrics by Dave Clark and David Soames, music by Jeff Daniels, and additional songs by David Pomeranz.Derived from the 1970s musical The Time Lord by Soames and Daniels, it focuses on contemporary rock musician Chris Wilder, who has been transported with his backup...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1997 he directed and choreographed JFK: A Musical Drama
JFK: A Musical Drama
JFK: A Musical Drama is a musical with music by Will Holt, and book and lyrics by Will Holt and Tom Sawyer. Based loosely on the life of John F. Kennedy. It premiered at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on April 24th, 1997 and New York in 1998....
in Dublin, Ireland.
Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
audiences have seen Fuller's choreography on the Ed Sullivan Show, and he has staged and choreographed both the Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and Emmy Awards telecasts twice.
Fuller's Broadway credits as a choreographer include On the Twentieth Century
On the Twentieth Century
On the Twentieth Century is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Part operetta, part farce, part screwball comedy, the story involves the behind-the-scenes relationship of a temperamental actress and a director.-Background:Comden and Green based...
, Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
, and A Doll's Life
A Doll's Life
A Doll's Life is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Larry Grossman. It is among the most notorious flops in Broadway theatre history.The musical is set at a rehearsal of Ibsen's A Doll's House in 1982....
. He has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Choreography twice, for his work in Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
and Evita, which also garnered him a Tony nod. He choreographed the original West End production of the latter and directed and choreographed the 2004 US national tour as well.
Fuller was involved in a relationship with fellow choreographer/director Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett was an American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven....
for many years. The 1996 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
On Your Toes . . . The Making Of - Choreographer Larry Fuller documents the making of the musical production "On Your Toes" with the Stuttgart Ballet Company in 1990.