Brief Encounter With … Javier de Frutos

Olivier
Award-winning choreographer Javier de Frutos joins Timothy
Sheader, artistic director at Regent’s
Park, and designer Jon Bausor, in bringing this story of three very
different families in America at the turn of the 20th
century. The cast includes Rosalie
Craig as Mother, Rolan Bell as Coalhouse Walker, Jr and John
Marquez as Tateh.

De Frutos has choreographed for acclaimed ballet and contemporary dance companies internationally, but also enjoys a varied career working across musical theatre, film, television and music videos. In 2007 he won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Rufus Norris‘s production of Cabaret, a show he and Norris are reviving this autumn.

Whatsonstage.com
talked to the Venezuela-born choreographer about Ragtime – which
runs in repertoire until 8 September – and why he never expected to
find himself working in musical theatre.

How have you approached Ragtime?

I
never think of shows as revivals, but try to tackle them with the
knowledge of what has been done before, as if this is the very first
time that we’re seeing it. I like to know who these people are. If I
know who they are, I know how they will walk on stage, how they will
get up and sing and how they will break into dance. So it’s not the
feeling of the choreographer walked in during the lunch hour and then
leaving – I like to work creatively with the rest of the creative
team to know that we all understand and believe in the story that is
going to be told. And you know, what a story!

What
attracted you to the show?

One
of my favourite plays is The Crucible – which Tim
has directed here actually – and there’s something quite
extraordinary about the political stuff, saying, “we cannot do a
play about the McCarthy era, but we will do a play which will echo
the present moment”. There is something about Ragtime – especially in the times that we’re living in – the sense that
racism is still alive but that we’re also seeing racism and human
relationships in a very different manner than we did before.

You
choreograph work across so many different genres – what is it you
enjoy about working on musicals?

I have no idea how I ended up doing musicals to be honest. I’ve
been lucky that I’ve been allowed to do it my way and because I
always felt that I was never really competing with any other
choreographer in the musical industry. I just kind of felt that, if
they want what I do, then it’s me who they’re going to call. I don’t
think they would ever call me for Singing in the Rain,
but for Cabaret it felt absolutely right and I
guess that it feels right for Ragtime.

This
year you’re reviving Cabaret – how much will the show
evolve in this new production?

A
lot. The show always evolves depending on the star, so now with Will
Young on board as the Emcee … I’ve already spoken to Will about what he wants out
of the show and how far he’s willing to go and how much he’s trusting
Rufus and I, so it feels like it’s going to evolve again. I think
we’re going to have fun. We’re not thinking of it as a revival, we’re
just thinking that we’re going to do something different.

What
inspired you to pursue a career in dance?

I
didn’t. I actually wanted to be involved in theatre. About 30
years ago I happened to be in New York and there was an Off Broadway
production of Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill
directed by Tommy Tune, the famous choreographer. That production
was so absolutely special. There was no dance in it but there was an
incredible amount of fluidity and it struck me that it had
been directed by a choreographer. I felt attracted to explore the
choreographic part as far as I could to bring my career back to
theatre at some point. So it was because of theatre that I ended up
doing dance.