Spencer Liff is one of Broadway’s leading choreographers.
Later this year he will choreograph the Broadway revival of Falsettos starring Christian Borle, Stephanie J Block and Andrew Rannells having recently choreographed the Broadway revivals of Spring Awakening and Hedwig And The Angry Inch.
Spencer has earned two Emmy Nominations for Outstanding Choreography for his work on the Fox TV series So You Think You Can Dance, where he has been a resident choreographer for the past 7 seasons.
His other recent TV credits include Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris (choreographer & co-producer), Dancing with the Stars, How I Met Your Mother, Parks and Recreation, Mike and Molly, 2 Broke Girls, Happyland, The Latin Grammy Awards and The Emmy Awards. His film credits include the upcoming feature film Speech & Debate adapted from the Roundabout Theater play written by Steven Karam.
As a performer, Spencer earned his Equity card at the age of 7 in the first National Tour of The Will Rogers Follies directed by Tommy Tune. He made his Broadway debut in Big-The Musical, followed by The Wedding Singer, Cry-baby, Equus, and 9 to 5. Spencer won the 2008 Fred Astaire Award as Best Male Dancer on Broadway for his role in Cry-baby for which he was also associate choreographer and dance captain.
Spencer can be seen in the NBC TV series SMASH whilst his film credits include Hairspray (Mikey), Across The Universe (Daniel), the recent remake of Footloose and the TV movie Gypsy with Bette Midler.
During my recent trip to New York, I sat down with Spencer; we spoke about the buzz around Falsettos’ return to Broadway, the pressure of staging a revival, his journey with Spring Awakening and his ridiculously busy schedule…
Everyone is so excited about Falsettos coming back to Broadway! How long has the show been on your radar?
I knew the show because I was a kid actor, and right after Falsettos was on Broadway I got to New York. I sang the songs as a kid, but had never seen a production and in my mind it wasn’t really a big dance show. I woke up to an email from James Lapine (co-writer/director) one morning in November… I was like ‘that’s weird’. I opened it, and he said he had seen Spring Awakening the previous night and would love to meet with me.
I knew the show because I was a kid actor, and right after Falsettos was on Broadway I got to New York. I sang the songs as a kid, but had never seen a production and in my mind it wasn’t really a big dance show. I woke up to an email from James Lapine (co-writer/director) one morning in November… I was like ‘that’s weird’. I opened it, and he said he had seen Spring Awakening the previous night and would love to meet with me.
