Joe Layton

Joe Layton

director, dancer, choreographer

born- May 03, 1931     died- May 5, 1994

I have so many cast recordings to choose from that the choice for which one to review next becomes nearly impossible. So I have decided to play a little "Six Degrees of Makin' S#!t Up."  Each blog will be connected to the one before it somehow. The common thread may change from post to post. Maybe a common actor or the same director or composer. Or I may find a really random connection that makes sense to no one but me. But I will let you know what the connection is and may even give some background information on the subject.

My first connection is going to be to follow the career of one specific person. When I was doing research for the Drat! The Cat! post I noticed that the director had a long career that included a lot of less well-known shows that I like so my first set of posts will revolve around the career of director and choreographer Joe Layton.

Joe Layton was born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York on May 3, 1931. He started his Broadway career while still in high school in the chorus of the original production of OKLAHOMA! at the age of 16. although he appeared in other shows in the following years(High Button Shoes, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Wonderful Town), his primary interest was in choreography and musical staging. His first experiences in choreography came in the Army Special Services unit and after his discharge in 1954 he worked for several years with the Ballet Ho de George Reich in France before returning to the US to make his TV debut as a dancer in the CBS production of Cinderella with Julie Andrews.
His first major choreography job came with the 1959 Broadway revival of On the Town and the Off-Broadway production of Once Upon a Mattress. His work was very well received and the New York Herald Tribune called him "pretty much the wonder boy of 1959." After Mattress, Layton choreographed The Sound of Music. The next several shows(Greenwillow, Tenderloin, Sail Away and No Strings) were all praised for their choreography, in fact No Strings won him the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 1962, but the shows themselves did not do incredibly well.  His next show, George M! is probably the most well-remembered of his directorial outings. This biographical musical about George M. Cohan earned Layton his second Tony Award for choreography and a Best Actor Tony for Joel Gray. Layton went on to direct 6 more shows including Dear World and Barnum.  He also directed the five-hour epic Scarlett, the musical adaptation  of Gone with the Wind in 1972.  In addition to his stage credits, Layton also choreographed several movies(Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie, For the Boys) and staged many concerts and performances for stars like Barbra Streisand(Color Me Barbra); Olivia Newton-John; Diana Ross; Harry Connick, Jr.; Cher; Dolly Parton; and Willie Nelson.  In 1990 he became the Creative Director of the creative entertainment division of Radio City Music Hall Productions.  At his death in 1994, he was working on the Cy Coleman musical The Life.

My next several posts will follow the career of Joe Layton.  The shows I will look at are Sherry!, Tenderlion, No Strings, George M!, Dear World, Two by Two, and Barnum. 

As always, thank you for joining me for "Makin' S#!t Up."  I hope you enjoyed in and will continue to come back.