Jerry Mitchell

For the past four decades, Jerry has created some of the most iconic musicals to play Broadway, the West End, Toronto, Australia, Korea, Japan and Germany, including the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Kinky Boots, for which his direction was nominated and his choreography was awarded the Tony. This was his second Tony for choreography, having won previously for La Cage Aux Folles. With over 50 productions on stages throughout the world to his credit, Jerry has also received the George Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, joining many of his mentors as recipient. Starting as a dancer for Agnes de Mille on Broadway in Brigadoon, Jerry thereafter appeared in Woman Of The Year, Barnum, On Your Toes and A Chorus Line and became the associate to Michael Bennett, Bob Avian and Jerome Robbins on such of their shows as Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Scandal, Chess and Jerry’s first show on the West End, Follies. Also on the West End, Jerry has been nominated four times for Best Choreography, with three of those productions winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical-Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde and Hairspray, the latter of which he choreographed with his longtime mentor and collaborator, Director Jack O’Brien.

His Broadway debut as Choreographer of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown was followed by The Full Monty (Tony nomination), The Rocky Horror Show, Hairspray (Tony nomination and the NBC live television broadcast which followed), Gypsy (starring Bernadette Peters), Never Gonna Dance (Tony nomination), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nomination), La Cage Aux Folles (Tony Award), Imaginary Friends, Legally Blonde (Tony nomination), Catch Me If You Can. He also directed the Gloria Estefan musical, On Your Feet and directed and choreographed both Kinky Boots and most recently, Pretty Woman. Choreography for Off-Broadway includes Hedwig & The Angry Inch and Jeffrey. For film, Jerry created memorable dance sequences for Scent Of A Woman, The Object Of My Affection, In And Out and Drop Dead Gorgeous, among others. Currently Jerry is developing a new musical based on a book entitled Becoming Nancy. And most importantly, more than 30 years ago Jerry conceived and created Broadway Bares, a comedy burlesque show performed annually for the charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which has raised over $26,000,000 to date and led to satellite organizations with similar achievements, including San Francisco Bares, West End Bares and Italy Bares, helping to care for those afflicted with and affected by AIDS, for which he was awarded his third Tony in 2023. He continues to serve as Executive Producer of Broadway Bares and is especially proud of the celebration of life that these shows have given to the world.