How Choreographer Taavon Gamble Makes SpeakEasy's 'The Prom' Sizzle

Taavon Gamble is a triple-threat actor-choreographer-director who has worked on stage, in film, and on television.

He's a resident actor at Trinity Rep in Providence, where he starred in "The Inheritance" and "Little Shop of Horrors," and is about to open "Sweeney Todd." He has also appeared in various productions on the Boston stage, including Lyric's "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and SpeakEasy's "The Scottsboro Boys," and taken his skills as choreographer from Trinity Rep ("A Christmas Carol") to White Plains Performing Arts Center in New York (for "Hair" and for the regional premiere of "The Color Purple"), re-created the original choreography for "Chicago" and "West Side Story" at Bigfork Summer Playhouse in Montana, and, most recently, lent his talents to SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston for "The Prom," where his choreography drew plaudits.

Taking on directing plus choreography, he's filled the stages with spectacle at the (sadly, now defunct) Arundel Barn Playhouse in Maine with "A Chorus Line," The Addams Family," and "All Shook Up," and staged the original choreography for "Pippin" at Jean's Playhouse in New Hampshire. Closer to The Hub, he'll be directing and choreographing "The Little Mermaid" this summer at the Reagle Music Theatre.

EDGE caught up with the busy multi-hyphenate to hear about his approach to choreographing "The Prom," his role as Anthony in Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," and directing "The Little Mermaid" at the Reagle this summer.

EDGE: When it comes to choreographing a show like 'The Prom,' which has been on Broadway and has adapted into a movie on Netflix, is there a temptation to do everything totally differently?

Taavon Gamble: It really just becomes, "What is the story that we personally are trying to tell with this production?" Part of what I love about SpeakEasy is they take a production and turn it into a homegrown production and speak to the community of Boston. A lot of that means taking a show like "The Prom," which on Broadway was a multi-million-dollar production [and asking], "How do we create this in a more intimate style, but also still fulfill expectations?" I home in onto the base storyline, and then build from there.

EDGE: Our reviewer noted the limited size of the performance space for 'The Prom,' and was amazed at what you accomplished. Did you come in with ideas that you had to revise? Or were you thinking from the start in terms of that tight space?

Taavon Gamble: I am so used to stages of different sizes and trying to make do. And I'm also familiar with that space, because that's the same space where "The Scottsboro Boys" was performed, so I came in with a general idea of, "Okay, what is the real estate that we're using? What is practical?" In our rehearsals, we're very good at mapping out exactly how much space we have. So, with my team, I was able to say, "How best can we utilize this space so that we keep it alive, keep it moving?" – because the tendency can be that you keep everything very still when you have limited space.

EDGE: You have to be able to put together your choreography with the music direction and the lighting design and the overall direction of the play. Is that a challenging process?

Taavon Gamble: There are naturally challenges that come up. The most exciting part is, not one element of production works on its own. It sounds so cliché, but everybody's working towards the same goal. I'm thinking about the lighting design; I'm thinking about the sound design; I'm thinking about the vocal line. I'm thinking about, "Okay, are the sopranos singing this?," and, "I don't think I can give them this choreography because they need to be able to sing this vocal line," and so I will adjust. I'm constantly thinking about all of the elements and how what I do impacts somebody else's work.

EDGE: You're also an actor and a director. Did you start with one or another of these skills and then expand, or had you always wanted to do it all?

Taavon Gamble: I always wanted to do it all. I was always someone who didn't feel like being put in a box. I knew that there's all of these things that I want to do, but I started off mainly as an actor, and that is what has served me the most. It's made me a better choreographer and a better director, because I know all of the things that an actor is experiencing, and how to talk to actors, and how to work with them.

EDGE: You're in Providence right now, doing tech for 'Sweeney Todd' – but not as choreographer. How are you involved in that production?

Taavon Gamble: I'm a resident here at Trinity Rep. I've been here for a few years. We're finishing our season this year with "Sweeney Todd," and I'm playing the role of Anthony Hope, the sailor in the show.

EDGE: 'Sweeney Todd' is a tale of revenge, but for Anthony and Johanna, Todd's daughter, it's a story of love.

Taavon Gamble: It's two people who, under strange circumstances have a chance meeting, and in classic musical theater [tradition] suddenly fall in love. For Anthony it's story of trying to save her from the situation she's in. The ending for them as a little open ended, but the hope is that they live happily ever after.

EDGE: Do you get to put on a London accent? Or are you playing an American sailor?

Taavon Gamble: It's kind of in-between. We didn't put too much focus on the on the accent part. We've been largely concentrating on the storytelling and, not to give too much away, but we have our own little concept that we start with and kind of flip through. That'll be exciting for audiences to see, how we have tried to put our stamp on the show, as we always do at Trinity with everything we do.

EDGE: I feel like "Sweeney Todd" has a gay following, but I'm not sure if that's because of Sondheim's songs, or the story of revenge after being wronged and taking back your power.

Taavon Gamble: Part of what I see about "Sweeney Todd" is it's about being misunderstood. I look at Sweeney Todd as [having] had things happen to him that he is trying to make right, and there are people around him who have taken advantage of him. It's through killing, but he is trying to right those wrongs, and also save Joanna. I definitely can see that correlation with the LGBT community.

EDGE: Anthony doesn't get to sing that much, does he?

Taavon Gamble: He actually sings a lot – more than I thought. There's the one big anthem song everyone knows, "Joanna," but it's done, like, four times through the show. Then there's quite a number of trios and quartets. The music for this is show has been unlike anything I've ever done. This is my third Sondheim show; I've done "Assassins," and I've done "The Frogs." This by far is the hardest, because musically it's so technical, and Stephen is so specific with everything. There'll be minor changes with one note, or a word switch that he'll put in that just blows your mind, and some of those lyrics are just so fast! I've never in my life had to work my mouth around the text and articulate with such diction. But it's been incredible. I know I've learned a lot as an artist and as a vocalist doing this, and it has taught me so much.

EDGE: You're also going to be directing and choreographing 'The Little Mermaid' at the Reagle Music Theater, where the equally amazing Rachel Bertone is directing and choreographing 'Oklahoma!' this summer. What a double bill!

Taavon Gamble: I've worked with Rachel a couple of times. I was in her production of "Showboat" at Reagle, and then I was in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" at the Lyric Stage. We've known each other for years, and we've always wanted to collaborate, and both of our schedules are always crazy. It happened that this summer worked out schedule-wise; I actually I will close "Sweeney Todd" on a Sunday, and then I will start rehearsals for "The Little Mermaid" on that Tuesday. So, it just kind of worked out.

"The Prom" continues through June 10 at https://www.trinityrep.com/show/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street/|Trinity Rep in Providence.