Andy Blankenbuehler
Tony Award-Winning Dancer, Choreographer, & Director; Best Known for "Bandstand" and "Hamilton"
He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography five times, and has won three times.
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Full Bio
He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography five times, and has won three times: for Bandstand, Hamilton and In the Heights. Blankenbuehler’s other Broadway choreography work includes 9 to 5, Bring it On: The Musical, and the 2016 Cats revival.
As a performer, he has appeared on Broadway in many musicals, from Guys and Dolls to Fosse.
His Broadway work as a choreographer includes the musicals In the Heights and 9 to 5. He won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for his choreography for In the Heights. Other New York work includes choreography for the Broadway By The Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978 series, and the City Center Encores! productions of The Apple Tree and The Wiz. He is the director and choreographer of Bring It On: The Musical, written by Jeff Whitty, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Amanda Green, which premiered at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, in January 16, 2011. This production also performed at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles where Blankenbuehler won the 2011 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Choreography.
Additionally, Blankenbuehler choreographed the Frank Wildhorn world premiere production of Waiting for the Moon. The show featured 6 full-length dance sequences, including one that lasted over 10 minutes. He was nominated for a Barrymore Award for Choreographing the show.
Blankenbuehler has choreographed for Bette Midler and directed, choreographed and co-conceived the production Nights On Broadway at Caesars Palace.
He choreographed the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie. He is the choreographer for the musical Hamilton, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway. He received a special 2015 Drama Desk Award for Hamilton. The award was described: “For his inspired and heart-stopping choreography in Hamilton, which is indispensable to the musical’s storytelling. His body of work is versatile, yet a dynamic and fluid style is consistently evident. When it’s time to ‘take his shot,’ Blankenbuehler hits the bull’s-eye.” His choreography for Hamilton won the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 2016.
He is both directing and choreographing a new musical, Bandstand, which premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse (New Jersey) in October 2015. The music is by Richard Oberacker and book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Oberacker. He directed and choreographed a developmental lab of this musical in August and September 2014, then titled Bandstand: A Musical.
As of 2016, Blankenbuehler is choreographing the revival of the movie Dirty Dancing starring Abigail Breslin and Shane Harper. He is also choreographed the revival of the Broadway musical Cats with previews beginning July 14 and an August 2 opening.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
An Evening With Andy Blankenbuehler
Videos
Building Broadway: HAMILTON Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler
Hamilton Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler Performs Original Choreography at #Ham4Ham 8/3/15
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