The Canadian Cooperman brothers are trained dancers, but they also used their martial arts skills to choreograph a key scene in the Tony-nominated musical The Outsiders.
Rick and Jeff Cooperman's Broadway debut is nominated for Best Choreography at Sunday's 77th Tony Awards.
The series, based on the 1967 S. E. Hinton classic novel and the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film, is a strong contender with 12 nominations in total, including best director and best musical.
“The Outsiders” is a coming-of-age drama about a war between two gangs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Cooperman brothers were faced with the challenge of portraying realistic violence onstage.
Both brothers hold third-degree black belts in Kenpo, an American style of karate, and used their knowledge to orchestrate the climactic brawl between the feuding Greasers and Sox.
“The only time we really experience violence in our lives is on television and in the movies, and the tools those media use to make violence seem graphic and shocking are different from the tools theater-makers use,” Rick Cooperman said in an interview in New York.
“I think studying martial arts really gives us a vocabulary that allows us to redistribute real power on stage, rather than some kind of false power game.”
The Cooperman brothers grew up in the Toronto area and trained in dance in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and have worked together professionally for 13 years, primarily on major projects such as A24's “Dicks: The Musical,” starring Nathan Lane and Megan Thee Stallion. The duo has also worked in television, directed music videos for artists such as Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, and choreographed productions in Russia and China.
“I think what draws us to large-scale productions like Broadway musicals and feature films is that, at the end of the day, they're the product of hundreds of people working together,” Cooperman said.
The brothers discovered their passion for choreography during their time in college, and were particularly interested in how the art form could benefit storytelling in dance and theater, he said.
“Working with collaborators who are like brothers and practicing an ego-free approach to art-making is a microcosm of the artistic environment I want to create when leading a large-scale production,” he said.
Working in a stage musical can “feel a little isolating” because of the different skill sets required for the production, but that wasn't the case with “The Outsiders,” Cooperman added.
“(It was) a really unifying experience and I think that's why the show is so special,” he said, expressing his excitement about the opportunity to bring the show to Toronto.
The Cooperman brothers will be competing in the Tony Award category against choreographers from “Water for Elephants,” “Hell's Kitchen,” “Here Lies Love” and “Illinois.”
Meanwhile, fellow Canadian nominee Rachel McAdams is competing for best actress in a play for her Broadway debut, “Mary Jane,” which is also nominated for best play.
The Tony Awards ceremony, hosted in New York City by actress Ariana DeBose, will air Sunday night on CBS.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2024.
Alex Gouge, The Canadian Press
