NAME: Chadman, Christopher

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
c. 1948, Bronx, New York

DEATH DATE/LOCATION:
30 April 1995, New York, age 47

  • identification & bio
  • key contact
  • human repositories
  • video documentation
  • photographic documentation
    		•
  • movement notation
  • production materials
  • oral history
  • personal papers
  • immediate needs
    		•
  • other relevant information
  • overview of works
  • bibliography
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    IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
    Christopher Chadman was a Broadway choreographer and dancer who, at the end of a long career in the theater, was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards. He won the Fred Astaire Award in recognition of his choreography for the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. Born in New York, Chadman was a student at the High School of Performing Arts and made his Broadway debut in 1968 in Darling of the Day. While working as Bob Fosse's assistant on the musicals Pippin (1972) and Chicago (1975), he was encouraged by Fosse to choreograph on his own. Thus he is credited with the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" number in Fosse's Dancin' (1978), a show in which he also danced and served as dance captain. The following year, Chadman served as sole choreographer and director for the cabaret revue Dancing in the Dark. With Billy Wilson, he choreographed the 1983 Broadway musical Merlin, but found his greatest success in 1992 with the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Gertrude and Sidney Brown, parents, and Dr. Harvey Brown, brother, all of Los Angeles

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    None identified.

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library includes numerous performance and choreography videotapes, many of them gifts of Jose Muniz designated as the Christopher Chadman Collection.

    [Jazz dance classes taught by Christopher Chadman] (n.d.)—compilation of excerpts from jazz classes taught by Chadman; at Broadway Dance Center, New York City; VHS (49 min.); call number MGZIA 4-3719.

    [Jazz dance classes taught by Christopher Chadman] (n.d.)—compilation of excerpts from jazz classes taught by Chadman; at Broadway Dance Center, New York City; VHS (13 min.); call number MGZIA 4-3714.

    [Choreography by Christopher Chadman] (197-?)—compilation video, including studio rehearsal; ¾ in (17 min); call number MGZIC 9-6154.

    Sixty Years of Dance and Hair (1978)—compilation of television footage on hair, including performance by Christopher Chadman and Monica Tiller of the new Agree disco dance, created especially for this television program by Peter Gennaro; ¾ in. (30 min.); call number MGZIC 9-6184.

    [Choreography by Christopher Chadman] (198-?)—compilation video, including portion of Radio City Music hall stage show by Peter Allen and the Rockettes, 1981 or 1982; ¾ in.. (42 min.); call number MGZIC 9-6167.

    [Choreography by Christopher Chadman] (1981-88)—compilation of television commercials choreographed by christopher Chadman; two ¾ in. videocassettes; call number MGZIC 9-6180.

    [Rockettes] (1982)—excerpts from two television programs, including a sequence with Peter Allen from a Televenutre production aired 19 September 1982 on WNEW/TV; VHS (21 min.); call number MGZIA 4-159.

    DIFFA Presents a Demand Performance (1993)—the third of three cassettes includes Christopher Chadman's "Something to Dance About" featuring Tommy Tune; music by Irving Berlin; performed by Tune, Wayne Cilento, Charlotte d'Amboise, Savion Glover, Donna McKechnie, and others; performance dedicated to the memory of Christopher Gillis; ¾ in., three tapes (third tape 46 minutes); call number MGZIC 9-4078.

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    None identified.

    MOVEMENT NOTATION
    (location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
    None identified.

    PRODUCTION MATERIALS
    (scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
    None identified.

    ORAL HISTORY:
    None identified.

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library holds a clippings file, call number MGZR.

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    Search for executor.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    Greenberg's work is better documented than most downtown choreographers, owing to his participation in a documentation initiative sponsored by the New York Public Library Dance Collection.

    LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
    This following information is adapted from Billman (see below):

    Chicago (1975)—assistant to Bob Fosse

    Dancin' (1977)—assistant to Bob Fosse

    Dancing in the Dark (1979)—nightclub show

    Merlin (1983)—co-choreographed with Billy Wilson; Broadway debut for Chadman

    The Flamingo Kid (1984)—choreographed and appeared in this Fox film

    The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)—choreographed film

    Big Deal (1986)—associate choreographer with Bob Fosse

    Chita (1986)—choreographed nightclub show with Ron Field, Alan Johnson, Lisa Mordente

    Peter Allen and the Rockettes (n.d.)—choreographed and directed stage show at Radio City Music Hall)

    Scenes From a Mall (1991)—choreographed Touchstone film

    Guys and Dolls (1992)—choreographed Broadway revival

    Fiorello! (1994)—choreographed concert revival at New York's City Center

    A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1994)—choreographed Broadway revival

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Billman, Larry. 1997. Film Choreographers and Dance Directors: An Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia, with a History and Filmographies, 1893 through 1995. Jefferson, N.Carolina: McFarland & Co.: 258-59.
    • Dance Magazine. 1995. "Obituaries: Christopher Chadman" (September): 44, 46.
    • Dunning, Jennifer. 1995. "Christopher Chadman." New York Times (3 May): D21.
    • Klein, Alvin. 1992. [Review of Guys and Dolls.] New York Times (31 May): 8.
    • _______. 1992. "Theater." New York Times (27 December): 15.
    • Newman, Barbara. 1993. "Another Opening." The Dancing Times (July): 980-981.
    • Ostlere, Hilary. 1992. [Profile of Chadman.] Dance Magazine (September): 38-40, 44.
         		 
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