Bill Deamer is one of UK theatre’s leading choreographers.
Bill won both the Olivier and Broadway World Awards for Best Choreographer in 2013 for Top Hat, which also won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. His latest show Miss Atomic Bomb, which he co-directed and choreographed, is currently coming to the end of its run at the St James Theatre.
His current productions also include The Glenn Miller Story (UK tour) and The Sound of Music (UK tour) as well as Cats (Palladium/international tour) for which Bill created additional tap choreography. He recently choreographed the West End revival of Evita at the Dominion Theatre and directed and choreographed the 85th Anniversary Sondheim Concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Bill’s screen credits include choreography for So You Think You Can Dance group and duet routines in the semi-final & final and Strictly Come Dancing specialist choreography; including Charleston routines, pro group routines, a guest star appearance from the Top Hat company & the Christmas special.
I recently spoke to Bill about the challenges of staging a new musical like Miss Atomic Bomb, why Top Hat was one of the highlights of his career and what he thinks is one of the greatest pieces of dance music ever written…
When did Miss Atomic Bomb first come onto your radar?
Well Top Hat was on its last tour and I went to the St James Theatre and said to my agent, “I love this space, I wouldn’t mind working here”. Then out of the blue this script for Miss Atomic Bomb arrived on my doorstep. I actually read it on the way to Tokyo to open Top Hat. My associate Kylie (Anne Cruikshanks) was in the seat next to me and asked “What do you keep laughing at?” I said, “This script is really funny – it’s really different!” I met the writers and they asked me to be co-director and choreographer and I agreed to do it as long as I could put my mark on it. It is a really good book with great music, but nobody had put it onstage before which is a challenge.
