Spencer Liff is the choreographic brawn behind such wonders as the Broadway revivals of “Falsettos,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” He also gained acclaim (and two Emmy nominations) for choreographing reality TV sensation “So You Think You Can Dance?” But even now, his work on the new Go-Go’s musical “Head Over Heels” at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre had the dancer-turned-choreographer mining new depths of his choreographic visions for onstage movement. He says it’s his most personal—and unprecedented—work yet. Liff spoke with Backstage about helping actors find the story within their movement, why “Head Over Heels” is breaking new choreographic ground, and his one urgent piece of advice for dancers looking to transition into choreography.
How did you become involved with “Head Over Heels”?
It was one of those very fate-like moments. I read the script five years ago. I got five pages into it and called my manager and said, “This show could change my life.” I immediately saw who these people were and what the world was and how it could move. It was going to Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but then I got offered “Hedwig,” which was my first Broadway show, with [director] Michael Mayer. I remember thinking it was so odd to feel that strongly about a project and then not do it. A few years later, my phone rings and it’s Michael Mayer and he said it’s “Head Over Heels,” and I stopped in my tracks because had I not done “Hedwig,” I wouldn’t know Michael. And if I had done “Head Over Heels” to begin with I would have been part of the [original] creative team that they had moved on from.
From a movement standpoint, what can audiences expect from this show?
It’s definitely the most contemporary piece of the puzzle. I wanted to do my own piece [with the movement] and I also really wanted to pull from queer culture. I went to [New York City dance club] Limelight as a teenager, and that style is something that is unbelievably unique and interesting and has never been seen on a Broadway stage. I took inspiration from all sorts of street style dancing and I molded that into what feels like a Broadway show. It was taking that and trying to tell a story, as well, because dancing must always forward a plot in a musical. Before this, all my projects have been actor-driven. This one was a choreographer’s dream because there were no rules.
How do you begin to work with actors who are not necessarily dancers to find movement?
For an actor to understand movement, it always has to come from a character or story-driven place. You can never just expect them to find ‘five-six-seven-eight’ in a way that a dancer would. I never give movement to an actor without including them in the process. I’ll give them options and ask, “Which one of these suits you well?” Even a look has to mean something. A head looking one way can change the entire point of a song. Then, you just have to have a very good eye and ask for their trust and tell them, “I will never let you go on a stage and look silly or look like you’re not comfortable in your body.” I am a budding director myself now and have worked in the room with some genius directors. I watch very closely how they talk with actors to get text out of them, and I approach it the same way.
Given your diverse track record, how do you begin to hone the movement vocabulary for a show?
It usually starts from one image. When I started on [“Head Over Heels”], I researched a lot of Renaissance paintings and took the shapes of sculptures and paintings that I saw and began to make those shapes in the architecture of how these people move onstage. If you have one good image or one good idea for one moment of a show, I swear you can branch off from that. Everything is a picture in my head until I can get in a room with an associate and begin to make it.
What has your journey from dancer to Broadway choreographer entailed?
I was doing “The Wedding Singer” when I was 19, and I loved how [choreographer] Rob Ashford worked. He had a new show, “Cry Baby,” coming up and he needed a new assistant. He knew I was right for it as a dancer and he asked if I’d dance in it and I said, “I will—but I want to assist you, as well.” I learned everything I needed to know about choreography from him. And then I bounced around. I did pre-production [for] or assisted everybody at one point or another; Sergio [Trujillo], Warren Carlyle, and you see how their processes are different, and you decide for yourself: What do I want in my bag of tricks? How do I want to go about this?
What is your best advice for someone who wants to get into choreography?
It’s a hard one; if you want to be choreographing, you have to start as early as possible. I think a lot of dancers make the mistake of [not feeling] done with their dance career, and by the time they get around to starting the process of choreography, they’re in their 30s and there are other people who have beat them to it. I pulled the plug early. It was hard for me to stop dancing because I loved being onstage, but I knew the long-term goal, and I knew what I wanted my life to be. I retired and I made it clear-cut: “Producers, you cannot see me as a performer anymore, I want you to see me as a choreographer.” I went to any regional theater that would have me and I started choreographing for tiny, no-money shows. Then I got the jobs on the cruise ships. I just basically knew I was going to start at the bottom again and made the choices of what I would do based on what I would get out of every job.
Has breaking into choreography changed since you initially did it?
It is a different game now because it’s so much easier to put your stuff out there with YouTube. There are all these younger choreographers who build their own careers. YouTube was not, 10 years ago, what it is now, so I did not go that route. It’s just all about believing in yourself wholeheartedly and going all in. There’s no halfway. That would be my advice in general, as frustrating as it is. Everybody’s got their different path, but I do know that as tough as it is to be a performer, think about how much harder it is to get the choreographer job. There are 20 dancers for every show, and there’s one choreographer. If you’re having a tough time dealing with rejection as a dancer, maybe going that next step is not for you. There are, like, 10 working Broadway choreographers. I am on my fourth Broadway show, and I still feel very much on the outside of that circle. It takes a lot of consistent, good work. It’s not doing one great show and then going away for a few years. But to do something you’re passionate about and to be around people who care as much as you do about producing good work, it’s the greatest gift.
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