Palos Park native choreographs new musical

By Kelly White

Children’s Theatre Company is thrilled to have Palos Park native Katie Spelman as choreographer for the highly-anticipated world premiere of “An American Tail the Musical.”

Showcasing from April 25 through June 18 at CTC’s UnitedHealth Group Stage, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, “An American Tail the Musical” will hold its opening night on Saturday, April 29, at 7 p.m.

“I think choreography is universal,” Spelman, chorographer of the world premiere musical “The Notebook,” said. “There’s an interesting little piece of film history that notes that a lot of people were opposed to adding sounds and words, because silent movies were universal and international, and adding language would limit who could consume films. I think about that a lot when I choreograph — everyone moves, everyone understands moving — so it’s about learning the way new actors move, and integrating that into the story. I like thinking about whether or not a number would make sense in terms of story if there were no words.”

A graduate of Mother McAuley High School, Spelman went on to attend Northwestern University, where she studied theater and film.

Spelman danced pretty recreationally growing up; however, when her mother took her to see her first performance, it was then when she really fell in love with dance, and began to dive in head first.

Her Palos Park roots definitely influenced her career in dance.

“We were only an hour away from Chicago, and my mom and dad would take me into the city all the time to see shows, so I grew up pretty surrounded by theater, music, and dance,” Spelman said. “It also meant I was able to train at a few different places into my teens, learning all sorts of different styles and having all sorts of amazing teachers.”

Spelman is joining an incredibly creative team at CTC’s An American Tail the Musical.

With a book and lyrics by Tony Award winning playwright Itamar Moses and music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler, the production will feature music supervision by Andrea Grody and will be directed by Taibi Magar, director of “We Are Proud to Present” at Guthrie Theatre; “We Live in Cairo” at A.R.T and much more.

“Katie knew Michael and Alan from Chicago,” Taibi Magar, director of “An American Tail the Musical,” said. “I was on the hunt for a collaborator and they suggested her. I met with her, and felt like I had found a real comrade! We were laughing and delighting in the story from day one.”

Taibi said Spelman’s personality has kept the atmosphere surrounding the creative team light and fun.

“Katie has the indispensable quality of constantly coming up with ideas and jokes! It’s a perfect fit for this American Tail! She is genuinely one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” Taibi said. “Her imaginative flow has made this process so fruitful.”

In “An American Tail the Musical,” an army of cats forces young Fievel Mousekewitz and his family to escape from Russia by boat. When a storm at sea separates them, Fievel arrives alone in the vast city of New York. In this riveting new musical based on the beloved animated film, the steadfastly optimistic Fievel makes his way as a new immigrant, encountering friends and foes.

It features 27 actors total, including understudies ranging from ages 10 to 18.

“’I’m really enjoying working with Taibi, Michael, Alan, Itamar, and Andrea; it’s an enormously talented group to be collaborating with, and we’re all from the generation who came up with ‘American Tail,’ so there’s a lot of conversation around making sure we keep the spirit of the piece alive,” Spelman said.

Tickets may be purchase online for “An American Tail the Musical” at childrenstheatre.org/AmericanTail or by calling the ticket office at 612-874-0400. Ticket prices for the performance start at $15.