Anthony Van Laast is a choreographer, mainly for the stage, concerts, television and film. His works have appeared in the West End and on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Career

Anthony Van Laast was born 31 May 1951

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, UK."Anthony Van Laast – Holiday on Ice Mystery artistic director"
''Worthing Herald'', 14 November 2008 He received dance training at the

London School of Contemporary Dance London Contemporary Dance School (informally LCDS) is a contemporary dance school located in London, England and a part of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. It was founded by Robin Howard in 1966 to train new dancers for his company, Lond ...

, and both performed and choreographed with the Company.Biography
www.mamma-mia.com, accessed March 14, 2011 Among his prominent stage works as a choreographer are the musicals ''

Sister Act ''Sister Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It ...

'' (2011 on Broadway and 2009 West End), ''

Bombay Dreams ''Bombay Dreams'' is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two ...

'' (2004),'' Mamma Mia!'' (2001), ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'' (1993), '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1986, West End), and '' Song & Dance'' (1982, West End). He received a nomination for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

, Best Choreography, jointly with Farah Khan for ''Bombay Dreams''. For his work on the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'' (

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

) and for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

at the Barbican), he was nominated for the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

, Best Theatre Choreographer in 1994. His television and film work includes the concert ''Sarah Brightman: Symphony in Vienna'' (2008),

Beauty and the Beast (2017 film) ''Beauty and the Beast'' is a 2017 American Musical film, musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, the film is ...

, and ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

''. He co-directed and choreographed '' EFX'', the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

stage show at the MGM Grand starring

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

in 1995.Gerard, Jerem
"Review: EFX"
''Variety'' (subscription required), May 3, 1995 He has choreographed for ''

Holiday on Ice Holiday on Ice is an ice show currently owned by Medusa Music Group GmbH, a subsidiary of CTS EVENTIM, Europe's largest ticket distributor, with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany. History Holiday on Ice originated in the United States in Decem ...

'', including "Extravaganza" in 1997, "Hollywood" (2002), and he is the artistic director for "Mystery" (2009). Van Laast was awarded the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for Services to Dance and Choreography in 1999. In 1979 he worked with

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

in preparation for her:

The Tour of Life The Tour of Life (originally known as the "Lionheart Tour", and also officially referred to as the Kate Bush Tour and by outside sources as the "Kate Bush Show" and "Kate Bush: On Tour") was the first and only concert tour by English singer-song ...

Van Laast is a patron of the

Urdang Academy Urdang, previously known as The Urdang Academy, is a performing arts academy based in Islington, London. Founded as a ballet school by Leonie Urdang in 1970 and had been under the direction of CEO Solange Urdang from 2001 until August 2022, the ...

. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to Dance and Choreography.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Laast, Anthony English choreographers Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people)