Let's Have a Look at... Andy Blankenbuehler
You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's Rye Bread, nor do you have to be named Rodriguez to choreograph Latin dance. Andy Blankenbuehler, hardly your average Spanish name is of Russian and Italian lineage, yet he has a hit on his hands choreographing a gritty new Latin dance show called "In The Heights."
"I don't even speak Spanish," he declared, laughing. "But I have paid my dues, been patient and taken a slow walk up the hill to this moment. I truly felt I wasn't ready until now to have a real hit." Andy still seemed a bit stunned at the enormous success of this eye-popping homage to New York City's Washington Heights, a densely populated Dominican barrio. He has spent many years as a chorus gypsy dancing in seven Broadway shows. Now his choreographic efforts have landed him two hits running simultaneously, "The Apple Tree," a revival at the Roundabout, and "In The Heights," which has reaped champion reviews. He has become (as is referred to in the biz') an overnight sensation.
Up past Columbia University near Broadway the "Heights," once home to a religious Jewish population, is now bursting with salsa music, bodegas, hair and nail parlors, and a community that sings and dances on the streets. All of this figures prominently in the romantic tale spun by the music and lyrics of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Choosing the show's dancing cast, who had to perform "never-still-a-minute" combinations, was Andy's task. They had to be special, because he knew he would have to rely heavily on them to explore with him the nitty-gritty of Latin dance. "I told the producers up front that I didn't know anything about Latin choreography," Andy admitted, "but I knew I could tell a story about the passion of a family. Besides I told them Jerry Robbins didn't know anything about Latin dance either and managed to make 'West Side Story,' a classic." On Andy's first day in New York he saw 'Jerome Robbins Broadway. "It changed my life as a person and as a choreographer."
And he could tell the story of people trapped in a blackout. Andy took that scene in the show as his greatest challenge. "The blackout is a metaphor for how people lose their way," he began. I understand what it feels like to have two hearts separated - the drama of losing another person which is the main theme in the show as the two protagonists, Kevin and Nina, separate then reconcile. "I am proud of that number which is not just your average, standard musical theater number," Andy said. "It was a real test of my imagination.
Telling a story in dance is something that Robbins, Jerry Mitchell, and Susan Stroman stress. First comes the story, then searching for the tools to carry out the ideas. For Andy the tools came in the form of research, watching countless videos, relying on his two assistants, Joey Dowling and Luis Salgado, taking long walks with his wife on the Heights streets, and working in Los Angeles to absorb the sights and sounds of rap and hip-hop out where it is in the air. "The show is a collaboration of free-style and intricate staging," Andy said. "Above all I wanted each performer to bring his own personality to the show. Personally, I never felt like a natural dancer or choreographer, but I am a good student, and I have a lot of imagination to enable me to piece steps together. I was like a sponge in every show I ever danced in, and I was fortunate to work with Stroman, Eliot Feld, Rob Marshall, and Ann Reinking in "Fosse." Each job offered me a learning experience. I owe a special debt to the late Chris Chadman who took me for my first show, 'Guys and Dolls,' and showed me in 'Runyonland' (the opening number) how each person on stage must have a story and a character."
When Andy was auditioning for dance jobs he would often go home from an audition feeling "I should have had that job." But he felt he never really had the opportunity to show them how well he could do. "Everyone blanks at an audition," he admitted. "So when I give my auditions I want it to be like a free class. I don't want to send people to therapy. At the end I always ask, 'O.K., who feels like they blew it?' If I see a show of hands we bring everyone out and run it again." He knows putting together a show, whether on Broadway or off, is a brutal business. Why make it worse?
Casting this show was not an easy task even though everyone knew it was good material. The producers had kept it under the radar, and no one knew about it. "It was not a big money job," Andy said, "but we were still trying to get talented people, the A-listers, to work for half a Broadway paycheck. I needed dancers who could do eight shows a week and not get tired. Also I was not connected to the community, maybe I know two or three Latin dancers...." His voice trailed off as he thought back on the four auditions he had to hold to get one dancer. Watching the show the eye goes directly to Seth Stewart, a bald, vibrant-eyed, down and dirty dancer and Asmeret Ghebremichael, full of blond curls and the most enticing pelvis in town. "It is a choreographer's dream when dancers like these two show up at your audition."
On the first night of previews Andy realized this would be a big event in his life. Then something happened to put everything in perspective...his baby son was born. Perhaps the magic of Lucca's arrival on the pivotal night cast a good luck charm over the show. Or perhaps it was just the right amalgamation of cast and some hard work that gave "In The Heights" the legs to make Andy Blankenbuehler's name one to contend with in the future.