Every theatre producer wants their show to be a hit. But when that show is a musical that costs several million pounds to stage, the ambition becomes an imperative. It's at this point that a canny producer thinks about hiring Jerry Mitchell, a choreographer and director who seems to have the Midas touch. Of the nine Broadway shows he has worked on over the last decade, six have been long-running hits, six have earned him a Tony nomination for best choreographer (he won in 2005 for La Cage aux Folles), and three have transferred from New York to the West End. Hairspray, which Mitchell choreographed, is still doing steady business in London two years after opening; Legally Blonde, his first show as director, opens in the UK next month and is tipped to do the same.
Mitchell began dancing and performing at the age of eight, in the community theatre at Paw Paw, Michigan; he choreographed his first shows there at 14. "When I think back to what I did to Fiddler on the Roof . . ." he says. "It must have been horrible." He spent almost 20 years working on Broadway before getting an opportunity to take charge of a show. Apart from dancing, he assisted choreographer–directors such as Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett; unusually, he also choreographed for films, including Scent of a Woman and One True Thing. "I'd meet these big stars, like Al Pacino and Meryl Streep, and I'd make them look like they were dancing on the beat." But it wasn't until he initiated and choreographed an off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies in 1998 – winning a rave review from the New York Times – that producers started to take notice.
Surprisingly, Mitchell doesn't think dance is essential to a good musical. "It's a wonderful element, but it's so powerful, it can take the focus away from something important. It has to be used in the right way." Still, he thinks there are a few key ingredients shared by all the best musicals – including his own favourites, West Side Story, A Chorus Line and Billy Elliot. Here's his guide to the top six.
1 Don't let the audience think about their laundry
Musicals are primarily a commercial art, but they still need credible, engaging stories that connect with an audience. Otherwise, Mitchell says, "after about a minute and a half of dancing, I start to think about my laundry".
Impressive dance moves are not enough. The choreographer treads a fine line between narrative, dance and song. What action there is needs to happen quickly, because the audience wants to get to the next song – and then that song has to further the story. Side-plots and sub-plots are a distraction. "Every gesture is important," says Mitchell. "Musicals are like poetry in that way."
These days, more and more musicals are based on films – Legally Blonde, for one. But few of the great musicals were original ideas: My Fair Lady grew from a play; Guys and Dolls is based on short stories by Damon Runyon. Now, Mitchell points out, we're in a digital age – and films rule. "Why would a producer read a book when they can watch a DVD in an evening?"
2 Give them a glimmer of hope
Whether your musical is a comedy or a tragedy, it needs a happy ending. Mitchell thinks West Side Story has the perfect narrative arc: "Two gangs are at war, a young man dies – but it ends with Maria saying, 'We're going to clean up this mess, and we're going to do it together.' I can't get really passionate about a musical unless there is hope at the end."
3 Make them want to get up and dance
Sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many producers skimp on this bit: music is vital. "The score has to make me want to get up and dance," says Mitchell. "And I love a good melody: if I walk out of the theatre and can't sing one of the songs, then it's probably not my musical."
The climate in which Mitchell is working is very different from that which existed in the pre-1950 golden age, when composers like Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers ruled the Great White Way, as a section of Broadway is known. Today's musicals are as likely to be constructed from pre-existing pop songs. Does Mitchell have a problem with that? No. "Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys are very entertaining shows," he says – adding that they work because "the songs are wrapped around very, very good stories" (see above).
4 Put a larger-than-life character centre stage
Mitchell says he jumped at the chance to stage Legally Blonde because a) he loved the film; and b) "the character of Elle Woods [played by Reese Witherspoon on screen] is larger than life. She's a heroine I could easily see singing and dancing about what she is thinking and feeling." And, he points out, she has an appealing vulnerability: she's a beautiful, rich girl who is not happy and wants to stand on her own two feet.
The best musicals are dominated by huge personalities: Guys and Dolls, Showboat, Wicked – in which we discover the backstory to the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. It's not impossible to translate smaller personalities to a musical, but it is much, much harder.
5 Fall in love with every member of your cast
It's the golden rule: choose the right actors. These need to be people your audience will be rooting for, for at least two and a half hours. Mitchell says: "It's important to me that I fall in love with every single person in my cast – because if I don't like them, how is the audience going to like them?" Nobody wants to pay good money to sit in a dark theatre hating someone.
6. Grow your own creative family - and then listen
Your source material is one thing; the actual production is another. How a creative team work together behind the scenes can make or break a musical. "Collaboration is the uninvited guest in every production," says Mitchell. That means being able to listen, argue and fight your corner. The directors and choreographers who have most inspired Mitchell – Harold Prince, Susan Stroman and Matthew Bourne – have a regular team of collaborators, with whom they have developed "a very short form of language. It allows their work to get done more completely, and more quickly."
Mitchell says he has this relationship – "a very intimate, honest collaboration" – with director Jack O'Brien. They have worked together on five shows, including Hairspray, and next year will open Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, in London and New York.
His own experiences directing Legally Blonde have allowed Mitchell to feel the fear. It's an irony that the more confident you are, the more you can admit failure. As he says: "I feel more comfortable saying, "This is terrible! Help me!"