The Broadway-bound musical Kinky Boots hasn’t opened out of town yet, but the cast and crew will surely be celebrating with their director Jerry Mitchell tonight. The director and choreographer was named the winner of the 2013 “Mr. Abbott” Award, according to The Chicago Tribune.
This lifetime achievement award, named for the late George Abbott, is presented by the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and honors Mitchell’s career-long work as a choreographer and director.
Mitchell won a Tony in 2005 for his choreography of La Cage aux Folles. He has received Tony nominations for choreographing the Broadway productions of Hairspray (a musical he went on to direct at the Hollywood Bowl in 2010), Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Never Gonna Dance and The Full Monty. He made his Broadway directorial debut with Legally Blonde in 2007. He also served as served as the choreographer of Catch Me If You Can, Gypsy, Rocky Horror, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and as a production supervisor on Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Congrats, Jerry! Check out a preview of Mitchell’s Kinky Boots below.