Christopher Gattelli

Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer and director whose career began as a Broadway ensemble dancer in the 1990s. Born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, he performed in the 1992 revival of *Guys and Dolls*, as a replacement in *Cats* and *How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying*, and later in *Fosse*. This onstage experience grounded his understanding of how choreography must sustain character across the demands of eight performances a week.

Gattelli's early choreographic work developed off Broadway and in regional productions. *Bat Boy: The Musical* and *Altar Boyz* established his ability to shape movement around a production's particular tone. By the mid-2000s, he was choreographing Broadway titles including *High Fidelity*, *Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me*, and *The Ritz*. The 2008 Lincoln Center Theater revivals of *South Pacific* and *Sunday in the Park with George* expanded his profile; his work on *South Pacific* brought his first Tony nomination and demonstrated a capacity to support historically situated material without imposing contemporary spectacle.

Gattelli's breakthrough came with the choreography for Disney's *Newsies* in 2012. The production demanded that the newsboys' collective action read as both narrative and physical event. Leaps, turns, tumbling, percussive accents, and inventive interaction with newspapers transformed the ensemble into a visible laboring community. He won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for the choreography.

He subsequently moved between distinct theatrical worlds: *The King and I*, *SpongeBob SquarePants*, *My Fair Lady*, *The Cher Show*, and film projects including *Hail, Caesar!* and *Wonka*. His 2018 work earned Tony nominations for both *SpongeBob SquarePants* and *My Fair Lady*. In 2024, Gattelli expanded into Broadway direction and choreography with *Death Becomes Her*, which earned 2025 Tony nominations for both direction and choreography. His 2026 Broadway production *Schmigadoon!*, which he directed and choreographed, received Tony nominations for both roles and a Drama Desk Award for choreography.