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00:00 Hi, Pete Hammond here for Contenders, and I've got an Emmy nominee here, a second year
00:07 in a row for Schmigadoon, a great show on Apple TV+.
00:13 He was nominated for its first season when it was set in the '50s, the world of '50s
00:18 musicals, last year for Best Choreography, and he's up again this year as the series
00:24 has moved into the '60s and '70s and all kinds of intrigue, and just an amazing job he's
00:32 done.
00:33 Please welcome Christopher Gattelli.
00:34 Hi, Christopher.
00:35 Hey, Pete.
00:36 How are you doing?
00:37 And thanks for having me.
00:40 Oh, absolutely.
00:41 Happy to have you here again.
00:43 And I got to tell you, I just love this season.
00:46 It was so inventive, the way the show moved around and moved into a different era of musicals
00:52 that we know, you know, the world of Bob Fosse and Hair and that kind of thing.
00:57 I imagine that having come out of the last season where you dealt with all those '50s
01:03 Oklahoma-style musicals, it was a lot of fun to go into this area.
01:08 Oh, for sure.
01:09 I mean, it was, the '50s had its pluses with the kind of long shots and the, you know,
01:14 the long takes and the, you know, the getting the full dancers' bodies in a lot of the shots
01:20 and whatnot.
01:21 But this season was a lot of fun in terms of like the style and just the physicality
01:26 and the style itself, but also the shots.
01:29 Like this season was a lot more edited and kind of nuanced in terms of just how we built
01:35 the numbers from just a camera's point of view.
01:38 Yeah, you come from the world of Broadway and musicals as a choreographer, as a dancer,
01:45 you know, as part of it on in every imaginable way.
01:49 And this must have really felt like a great assignment too, because you actually performed
01:54 in the Broadway show Fosse, on Bob Fosse.
01:57 So this is so much of this has got a Fosse influence to it.
02:02 That's got to have been really helpful.
02:04 Oh my gosh.
02:06 Yeah, to know most of these numbers, like the back of my hand was really helpful for
02:11 sure.
02:12 But, and that's why, to be honest, it was such a joy to like revisit all of that again.
02:18 I haven't performed since Fosse technically.
02:20 So to be able to go back and like, think back on all the numbers and his style and it just
02:26 was, it was such a, it was such a great time.
02:29 Well, I'm going to give people a taste of it right now with one of the outstanding musical
02:36 numbers here.
02:38 It's called Bells and Whistles and it's performed by the character's name is Bobbi Flanagan,
02:43 the actor's name, Jane Krakowski, everybody knows her, and this is a dynamic production
02:49 number with all kinds of gimmicks and tricks that I think you threw into it and had a lot
02:54 of fun with it.
02:55 So let's take a look at Schmigadoon.
02:57 Where's Bobbi?
02:58 I got to let her know the real killer has to be Kramp.
03:04 Sorry I'm late.
03:16 I hope there aren't any.
03:22 Objections.
03:23 Your honor, may I approach the bench?
03:26 I wish you would.
03:29 Watch this kid.
03:34 If it pleases the court and I know that I do, there's something that I simply must address.
03:54 I have heard a report and I swear it's not true about the secret to my great success.
04:02 So I am here to set the record straight.
04:07 There are just two methods that I use to help me litigate.
04:16 Bells and whistles, we'll get 'em all.
04:24 Although the purists, they may scoff.
04:30 All you need are bells and whistles to win the case.
04:36 Though other jurists may say you're a disgrace.
04:42 But I'm not a clown, I'm stuck clangin'.
04:48 One more joke and I'll let the hanger bells and whistles are all you need.
04:52 Plus a comprehensive knowledge of the law.
04:55 Like no courtroom I've ever been in.
04:58 I'm just kidding.
04:59 So approaching a number like that, of course, Cinco Paul, the great creator here and writer,
05:07 gives you so much to work with and all those songs, which are parodies in a way or not,
05:13 you know, and, and, and, but you throw so many fun things into it.
05:17 You're using comedy actually in these songs and humor in a great way.
05:21 Oh, thank you.
05:22 Yeah, this was, I remember the first time reading this when Cinco sent the new season and,
05:27 and, and I was paging through and I got to this number.
05:30 I hadn't even heard the song yet.
05:32 I just read it on the page and I was like, this is a gift.
05:35 This is, I was like, because there are moments in the script that,
05:39 that kind of talk about a little bit of, of like what ideas could be in there.
05:44 But then hearing the song then just took it to a whole other level.
05:48 And then, then collaborating with Jane took it like up 20 levels because Jane was like,
05:53 I am all in for this.
05:54 Let's go for it.
05:55 And originally I was like, love to say this about her.
05:58 Like originally that it was written that a trapeze just descends.
06:02 It lowers her to the floor and it goes up and she continues with the number.
06:06 And Jane said, well, if we're bringing a trapeze in, I, I want to use it.
06:09 So that's, and that's all Jane.
06:12 That's not a stunt person.
06:13 She does the back flip off it and she lands and she,
06:16 she went to take trapeze lessons up in Vancouver while,
06:19 while we were filming just so that she could make sure she was like, like she had it down.
06:24 So, so the whole, this whole number, I,
06:26 just the process of it alone was, was just so joyful and ridiculous.
06:31 They're so key into it just was, it was so much fun to put together.
06:35 I'm really interested too.
06:37 And how integral you are into all aspects of the production here.
06:42 You're working with the costume designers.
06:44 You're working with the production designers, the cinematographer, obviously Cinco.
06:49 It's all really merging together to make these things work.
06:53 You guys make it look so simple and it isn't.
06:56 Well, that's, I mean, we, that's to our entire team, the entire, you know,
07:00 the entire design team and the writing team.
07:02 I mean, they, you know, and to that point, for example, with the trapeze,
07:06 I mean, we had planned for it to come up and down.
07:09 And when Jane wanted to swing, we,
07:11 the production team just redesigned the whole set of the courtroom because it
07:16 wasn't built, the dimensions weren't built for it to pendulum.
07:20 Cause it had to have a certain, had to have a certain width to,
07:22 to do the pendulum.
07:24 So they went in and they restructured the walls and they re organized the,
07:28 the courtroom just so that it could match the dimension so that it would be
07:32 safe and still get to do all the stuff that she wanted to do.
07:35 But even that, like it was the team, everyone on the team,
07:38 I think is so excited to be a part of the show.
07:40 Like it's a true labor of love just because it's all of our favorite genres
07:44 of, you know, like we all love the musical so much.
07:47 And so as a, as a collective team,
07:49 it's just like bouncing off each other with all of these ideas is always such
07:53 a pleasure. And so it it's, it,
07:56 the additive of all of it is just what is what lands it into a place like,
08:01 like this number.
08:02 Yeah. And of course the subtitle of the whole season is Schmackog.
08:07 I have the hardest time saying that. Schmackog.
08:10 After Chicago, Bob Fosse show. And of course, cabaret.
08:14 And all of these numbers here, they, they presented,
08:18 I think different challenges to you.
08:20 There's one greatest title ever called everybody's got to get naked,
08:24 which is sort of an homage to hair and different shows like that with Keegan
08:29 Michael Key hilarious. Cause he's sort of very straight and not, you know,
08:33 somebody is going to dive into that,
08:35 but here is something where they're singing about, you know,
08:38 lose all your inhibitions right now.
08:40 Yeah. I mean, that was, and that's another, that's a funny one too,
08:44 in terms of funny, the way we all had to kind of figure it out,
08:48 because in theory, like you look at it and go, oh, that's hilarious.
08:51 Like you look at the 70s, like you said, hair, Oh, Calcutta, like, oh,
08:54 of course this is inevitable. But then it's kind of like, okay,
08:57 but how do you, how like with regards to the comedy,
09:00 how do you tease that joke out and like,
09:02 let it last and last and last to really want the audience to like see them
09:06 naked or at least think they see them naked. So it was, again,
09:10 all the departments coming through, like with a kaleidoscopic lens.
09:13 And like we were at that, that number was, it was,
09:16 literally just kind of like the dancers are going to go out into the street
09:20 and do these jetties just, just to like, keep lifting it and lifting it
09:23 and lifting it and give Twyla a little nod and like, you know,
09:26 can give her that homage. So even that kind of number was, was,
09:31 was a hoot. And again, everyone kind of chipping in. It was amazing.
09:35 Yeah. And there was another one called, I guess,
09:38 homage to Sondheim at the time, good enough to eat,
09:41 which is has a little bit of a little priest from Sweeney Todd.
09:47 And, but then a lot of other kind of influences from all over Broadway,
09:51 from Oliver to Annie to, you know,
09:53 all over the map in that number with the, you know,
09:56 you can't do better with them to get to work with Kristen Chenoweth and
10:00 Alan Cummings.
10:01 Without question. I mean, the two of them, I mean,
10:03 they've been friends forever and you can tell that chemistry on screen like
10:07 this quick and they're both geniuses and yeah.
10:11 Putting that number together was, yeah, it was like Sondheim and Annie and
10:14 Oliver, and then a little promises promises at the end. And it just,
10:18 I was like, this is like, I'll never work again after this number.
10:23 I got to it in the script and I was like, Oh no, what are we doing?
10:27 But, but again, it's finding the way to kind of, again,
10:30 tease the joke out and let,
10:32 let the audience like in on the joke and let them laugh about it.
10:35 And, you know, it was really, it was, the season was, he,
10:38 Cinco gave me a lot of really great material to work with this year.
10:41 It was last year as well.
10:43 Another one with Ariana DeBose that I loved over in Dunn,
10:48 which had a, had, had a bit of dream girls thrown into that.
10:52 And that had a different feel for you from the point of view of the
10:55 choreography in that particular number and the use of the camera and the way
10:59 that was done.
11:00 Yeah. Like that one, for example,
11:02 that wasn't as much like we wanted to drive comedy home.
11:05 That was truly just like an emotional, it was tying up a lot of stories.
11:09 And, and so I wanted to, there were a few little Easter eggs with the,
11:12 with the backup singers, but I didn't want it to,
11:15 I didn't want to play the comedy in that song because it wasn't about that,
11:19 but we did have a couple of homages to dream girls and certain poses and
11:23 things to, to acknowledge and, and make reference to, but, but yeah,
11:28 but that was just a stunning number and Ariana just knocked it out of the
11:31 park and it's beautiful and stunning. And so that was a, that was a,
11:35 I loved having this, this, this season,
11:38 I think there were like 16 numbers in all and I love the range of them that
11:43 Cinco gave me to play. Like it was,
11:45 whether it was like a patter song from Sondheim with kids running around
11:48 Kristen or, or like a fun, Annie Oliver,
11:51 acrobatic number for the kids or, you know,
11:55 Jane's kind of all out tour de force.
11:57 Like it was fun to not just deal like with one shade.
12:01 It was like all different colors of the coloring box this season,
12:04 which was really, really fun.
12:06 And it made them all feel fresh and, and an individual.
12:10 Yeah.
12:11 I'm trying to imagine where you go next with Schmigadoon where, where,
12:16 where it will go after this, or if it is, I don't know.
12:19 Are there plans to continue the series?
12:22 It's so good and so different.
12:25 I think, I think, and hope there are, I think, and, and I don't know where it
12:30 would head, but Cinco, you know,
12:32 even after the first season, I think he was like,
12:35 I'm just grateful that this happened. It was such a,
12:38 this was a true passion project for him. He really, this is like, right.
12:41 This was his like baby. And, but it was like, but if it happens, you know,
12:46 what would happen? He's like, Oh, he's like, you know, be given the conceit.
12:49 Like you really could go into any land.
12:51 Like they just have to cross something. And then, so it could be like,
12:55 this year went forward in time,
12:56 sixties and seventies and it could go further in time, but you could,
13:00 they could land in so many different places.
13:02 And that's kind of also the genius of that conceit.
13:05 Like it's going to be a surprise wherever they land. And it's not,
13:09 it doesn't have to be consecutive. And what was so again, genius was that.
13:13 You bring the same cast back,
13:14 but then they play all of these different characters like that alone.
13:17 That too was like such a great, I don't know.
13:23 I say, I think of it as a win for the show because you have such talented
13:26 performers and then you get them back and they not only get to play
13:30 something different, but it's like a whole new plot and storyline.
13:33 So they get to create a whole other character. And that,
13:36 I just think that's such a great, I don't know.
13:39 I just think it's to show off our cast,
13:41 who I think is phenomenal in that way is also just, just really unique.
13:46 I think, well, it's amazing. And whatever you get to do next.
13:50 And of course you go from Broadway,
13:52 Broadway to the big screen and you get to do all of that.
13:56 And I think that's just so great.
13:57 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
13:59 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:01 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:03 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:04 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:05 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:06 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:07 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:08 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:09 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:10 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:11 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:12 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:40 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:42 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:43 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:44 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:45 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:46 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:47 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:48 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:49 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:50 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:51 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:52 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:53 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:54 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.
14:55 And I think that's what we're all so grateful for.

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