birth_place imagesize birth_date yearsactive article_title name occupation
pittsburgh , pennsylvania , u.s. 180px 1960 1982 -- present jeff calhoun -lrb- choreographer -rrb-
 jeff calhoun theatre director , choreographer , producer , dancer
jeff calhoun -lrb- choreographer -rrb-

jeff calhoun -lrb- born 1960 -rrb- is an american director , choreographer , producer and dancer .
as a student at richland high school , now pine-richland high school -lrb- gibsonia , pa ; north of pittsburgh -rrb- , calhoun was interested in both athletics and performance , playing football and studying tap dance .
he danced in the ensemble at the kenley players in ohio in the late 1970s where he met tommy tune .
tune later hired calhoun to perform in the first national tour of `` the best little whorehouse in texas '' .
calhoun made his broadway debut in the stage adaptation of `` seven brides for seven brothers '' -lrb- 1982 -rrb- .
he also starred opposite twiggy in `` my one and only '' -lrb- 1983 -rrb- .
calhoun 's collaboration with tommy tune resulted in the 1991 tony award for best choreography for `` the will rogers follies '' .
his broadway directing debut was `` tommy tune tonight ! ''
-lrb- 1992 -rrb- .
calhoun began his association with deaf west theatre in 2000 when he directed and choreographed a world premiere adaptation of `` oliver ! '' .
calhoun continued his work with deaf west theater with `` big river '' the following season .
`` big river '' subsequently played roundabout theatre company 's america airlines theatre in 2003 on broadway and garnered the 2004 tony award for excellence in theater .
calhoun also directed the world premiere of the first original american sign language musical , `` sleeping beauty wakes '' , at the kirk douglas theater in 2007 .
in 2009 , he directed and choreographed the deaf west theatre & center theater group production of `` pippin '' at the mark taper forum , which included new and revised material from composer stephen schwartz .
calhoun directed both the world premiere and international productions of `` disney 's high school musical : on stage '' and `` disney 's high school musical 2 : on stage '' .
he also provided choreography for '' -lrb- the bitter suite -rrb- '' , `` downtown '' , `` happy together '' and `` weekend warriors '' .
calhoun 's additional broadway credits include the first broadway revival of `` grease '' -lrb- 1994 -rrb- , `` annie get your gun '' -lrb- 1999 -rrb- , `` bells are ringing '' -lrb- 2001 -rrb- , `` brooklyn the musical '' -lrb- 2004 -rrb- , and `` grey gardens '' -lrb- 2006 -rrb- .
off-broadway he appeared in `` one more song/one more dance '' -lrb- 1983 -rrb- with ann reinking , choreographed `` bouncers '' -lrb- 1987 -rrb- and `` comic potential '' -lrb- 2000 -rrb- , and directed `` holy cross sucks ! ''
-lrb- 2005 -rrb- .
his regional theater credits include the first national tour of `` irving berlin 's white christmas '' presented by theater of the stars -lrb- 2008 -rrb- , `` shenandoah '' at the ford 's theater -lrb- 2006 -rrb- and `` himself and nora '' , a musical based on james joyce and nora barnacle , which he choreographed and co-directed -lrb- with joseph hardy -rrb- for the old globe theatre in 2005 .
calhoun is an associate artist at ford 's theater , washington , dc where he directed both the 2008 presidential gala presentation of frank wildhorn 's `` the civil war '' , and a new production of that same work as part of the ford 's theater 2009 reopening season .
calhoun recently directed and choreographed the broadway musical `` bonnie & clyde '' , a collaboration with composer frank wildhorn , lyricist don black and librettist ivan menchell .
the showed opened at the gerald schoenfeld theatre on december 1 , 2011 and closed on december 30th .
`` bonnie & clyde '' had its world premiere at la jolla playhouse in 2009 and had another out-of-town tryout at the asolo repertory theatre in sarasota , florida , in 2010 .
calhoun also directed and choreographed the national tour of dolly parton 's `` 9 to 5 : the musical '' , which began performances in september 2010 in nashville , tennessee .
calhoun 's most recent success is disney 's `` newsies '' .
after a critically acclaimed run at the paper mill playhouse in millburn , new jersey in fall 2011 , disney theatrical productions announced that the show would transfer to broadway for a strictly limited engagement .
`` newsies , '' which opened at the nederlander theatre on march 29 , 2012 , is now an open-ended run .
the new musical boasts 8 tony award nominations , including best musical and best director of a musical for calhoun .
next on calhoun 's plate is the first revival of jekyll & hyde -lrb- musical -rrb- .
the much-anticipated production , starring constantine maroulis and deborah cox , will play a 25 week national tour before landing on broadway in spring 2013 .
calhoun is also set to direct the uk tour of `` 9 to 5 '' in fall 2012 .
