Video: Lorin Latarro Unpacks Her 3-Broadway Show Year

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge

We're at the Museum of Broadway and my guest is one of Broadway's most sought after choreographers

This year alone, she's had three shows back to back. The Who's Tommy, the Heart of Rock and Roll, and opening on August 12th, Once Upon a Mattress

Please welcome Lauren Littaro. Broadway. Thank you. What a busy year you've had already

and your third show is getting ready to open on August 12th. Yes

Once Upon a Mattress. How excited are you? I'm so excited. The cast is extraordinary

So it's been, I mean, Sutton Foster on the first day of rehearsal, came up to me

and she said, I will do anything, anything you want me to do. You just tell me, I will do anything. I'm not embarrassed

I'll do anything you want. So we just really tried to push the envelope. So, of course, the show started oncores, but you have such a little time

to do anything there. Yes. So how is it changed? Like, when you knew you were coming to Broadway

with the show, like, what did you want to work on? Oh, there's a lot. I call it a little glow-up

I think that Shy is all new. We came up with a new idea for Shy

Because I think what I tried to do earlier was an homage to the original Shy, and I just wanted to do something new and fresh

And sensitivity has a big old idea behind it now. And, gosh, all kinds of it

Every number has had a little glow-up. So when you first knew you were doing it at Encour's

What attracted you to Mattress and say, yes, I want to do this? Mattress is, first of all, the score is extraordinary

And, you know, to get to hear these songs again, it has this bit of R&H in it and a bit of Mary

And I knew Mary. She was the head of the Juilliard board. So I had spent time with Mary Rogers, you know, was a lovely time in my life

And I know it's funny and it's fun. And I have a six-year-old and kids can come

And it's such a joy to see these families at the theater, you know. And what a great cast you have

some holdovers, which is incredible from the pop encores. Who are some of your new cast members

So, of course, we've satin and Michael Yuri, who can do no wrong. They are so funny

Ana Gassdier is one of the funniest people alive. Like, I can't sit through rehearsal

but she's so funny. And Brooks' man, because he is so clever and so smart

And he can dance like a dream. You know, Daniel Breaker, brilliant

So it's just been, we're so lucky. Audiences have fallen in love of the show

already. What is it about mattress that audiences love generation after generation

Well, I don't. First of all, half of America has done it in a high school. So people come

it's sort of like into the woods that way where they know every word and they, who played the wizard, who played this. So people love that. But I think the simplicity of the story

you hear the audience when she gets yelled up by the mother, the whole audience goes, oh, yeah

and they're all making noises this whole time. And I think there's something about the simplicity of a

fairy tale that you just grasp on and you hold it. hold on and you're with it the whole time

Yeah. Going back to Sutton, she can do no wrong. No wrong. I mean, from the second she comes over the wall, I mean, she's the audience in the palm of her hand

She's brilliant. Yeah. She's brilliant. And she knows and understands things about an audience none of the rest of us will ever understand

Yeah. One incredible collaboration you're having with your director. Lear. Lear de Bessonet

You worked, of course, on Into the Woods with her. Mm-hmm. And Oliver. Yeah. And public works with 200 people in the Deliquite Theater in the heat of August. Yes

So what, you know, combinations, you know, collaborations and that combination of two people is really special

What is it about your collaboration that works so well with you and Lear? Well, she's a very, very intelligent person and she's a great director

And we have the same sense of funny. So I think we can answer each other's sentences about what is funny

And also, you know, I love collaboration. So I'm never offended, you know, so she can say, I don't like that

And I'm like, that's cool. Let's do something else, you know. But we have a good time together

Yeah. Well, you had three shows this season so far, or this year so far

It started with The Who's Tommy. So thankful that you brought that back

Tommy is one of my favorite shows. Talk about working with Des McEnough, because you work with him

You danced for him first in a Broadway show, right? I did. I was in Guys and Dolls, and I covered Adelaide and went on for like a month because

Lauren Graham did a pilot. And I've worked with Des since as a choreographer, but, you know, Des is a brilliant man

and this is his baby. I mean, Tommy, for him, is one of the most important things he's ever done

So we had a great working relationship, and it's an intense show

I mean, it's a hard show, you know. And we really worked hard on making this thing something special

What makes him so brilliant and smart? I will tell you this about Des

If you take a picture of any moment on stage, of any one of his shows, that picture can be

be hung on a wall. He's so visual. He can close his eyes and go, this needs to happen here

this person comes in here, this person comes here, and that's it. So, like, a lot of the work

that sometimes I do as a choreographer, Des decides, and then I get to sort of fill in

or go, what about this, and try and convince him of another idea. But he's so visual

Yeah. And then there's Pete Townsend. Yeah, you know, just Pete Townsend

Yeah, like a rock deity, you know. It was wild, and he's a very nice man

and he was very generous with me, But, you know, I've worked with rock stars

I mean, I got lucky to be with Green Day and with Melissa Etheridge and Huey Lewis

but Pete Townsend, all of those people when they meet Pete Townsend, bow down to B

Downs. And, you know. Did you know him before, Tommy? Pete? Yeah, had you met him before at all

No, no. No. I met him once when we did like the, we did a concert at La Jolla before the pandemic

So what is it like being in the room with Pete when you like here we are going to collaborate It you Des and Pete And you like oh my God I sitting with Pete Townsend You know I just be my side I mean there no way I ever be as cool as Pete Townsend or anywhere in the even like the stratosphere of cool of Pete Townsend

So you just, there's no other version of it than being yourself. This is all I could do, you know

What's one of your favorite memories of working on Tommy? I think when we, we had, I mean, a couple of things. Like, we had this cool idea for fiddle about that I thought was really

dark and weird and Kubrick-esque. And I just think being with these dancers

give their blood, sweat and tears, for me, it was pretty extraordinary

They would do anything for us, and they believed in the show so deeply

And they gave a thousand percent every night on that stage. Okay, heart of rock and roll, of course

Huey Lewis, who we all fell in love with. I remember the first meet and greet

he was like, oh my gosh, you know, he is everything you wanted him to be. So what was it like getting to know, Huey

because you danced in your basement, right? Growing up, to be clear, I had a huge crush on Huey Lewis

So, like, I had posters of Huey Lewis on my wall, and I would kiss them good night

So it took me a minute to get over that. He's just a really nice guy

And, you know, if you haven't seen Greatest Night in Pop, have you seen it? Yeah. It's great

And who he is on that, that's who he is. And both shows will tour all over the world

so people will get a chance to see Tommy and Hard of Rock and Roll. I thought the heart of rock and roll was so clever and witty

And I mean, what you came up with. I mean, 80's dancing was obviously what you probably had in your head, right

Yeah, totally. Yeah, it's fun. But I mean, so one of the, there were so many highlights in that show, but dancing on the bubble wrap

how did you come up with the idea to do that? Gordon and I were just throwing ideas around and, you know, he was like, you could dance on cardboard

you could dance on bubble wrap. We could do anything, we could use scissors and I was like, bubble wrap. Yeah

So how long did it take you to, like, create that moment? How much pre-work do you do on a show

I do a lot. I mean, I probably spend a month of prep on a show

and sometimes with the director, sometimes not, but it's only ideas and some steps

And then I love to work with the dancers in a room and make sure that those dancers are feeling like it's organic

and it's theirs, and they'll always have ideas, and it's a collaborative process

But I always walk into a room with at least first ideas, and I'm always ready to throw them away and start again

No, because I love, is a lot of, A lot of your stuff, character-driven? Always

And then it's dance-driven with dancers. Yeah, I'm not, I like every show I do

I don't want it to look the same. I never want it to look the same. The steps always have to come out of these characters' heads

and ideas, and how they move is different on every show. You know, I know it's not always the way

And something, like, you see a Fossey show, and you're like, oh, it's always Bob Fossy

And that is very special. And yet, I'm not sure that, like, big deal

should move the same way as Sweet charity. I don't know. I don't know anymore. You know, it's an interesting question about

what do people move like or is a style more interesting. No, because I always am fascinated by

what unlocks a show for you as a choreographer. The people. Yeah, it's always about what this

person needs. I mean, that's how waitress got unlocked. It was like, what does she want? She doesn't

really want to bake. What is she avoiding by baking? And then we choreographed what she's

thinking about, not the baking. And that's how we unlock that show. And I think it's always the same

What's it like for you when you seriously, we all dream of coming to Broadway and working on Broadway

What was the first show you were talking? Well, let's, we're going to start this way because I know one of the

shows you got your, the first show you got your equity card in was something you danced in

which was swing, right? I didn't even have an equity card to swing. Okay, so we're going to go back

Let's go back to swing. So here you are. Did you, you started learning how to swing dance before swing

How did this happen? Tell us. Because I saw black and blue when I was 13 years old, 11 times

And I ended up, we were coming in from Jersey and we were getting the car

And one of the dancers was also getting her car. She lived in Jersey. And, you know, I was like, are you one of the dancers of black and blue

She said, yes. I said, you were amazing. And she said, why don't you come back and see the show and I'll take you backstage

Mm-hmm. And it changed my life. She said, the girls took me backstage. And I don't know if anybody remembers black and blue

Frankie Manning was one of the choreographers of it. He is sort of the man who invented swing dance

And the girls took me backstage. I could cry thinking about. They put eyelashes on me

They were so nice, these women. And that's it. I was hooked

And I just wanted to do that. I mean, I wanted to live inside a jeep joint, honestly

So then I started training with Frankie Manning. And I learned how swing dance

And I'm short, and I love to be thrown in the air. So he was like, great, you know

And then when I auditioned for Swing, I was on tour with Momix at the time

I came in an audition. I had no equity card. So I came into an open call. And they were like, who's this kid

And then, you know, it took like eight auditions. And then I got the job

Yeah. And that was my first job. But it was not equity. So Swing was Agma

Agma? Agva. Yeah, one of the kids. Agmo. Yeah. So the job. Variety artists

Yes, because it wasn't a story. So when the show closed, I still had no equity card

So then I went to the non-union call of Kiss Me Kate

And Vinnie Lyft, who was still alive, God rest of soul, was at that audition, at the open call

And I got a call back and I got Kiss Me Kate. And then I ended up doing Fossey first, and then by the time Kiss Me Kate came around

So I did Fossy for the summer and then jumped into Kiss Me Kate. That is crazy to have done a Broadway

show, not having your equity card, go we do another one like, but weren't you just on Broadway

I'm like, yeah, but I have no cards. Yeah, it was crazy. All right. Life-changing moments

You had a lot of them in your career and through your life Take me back to Juilliard There was a German choreographer Oh yes Tell me her name and what she meant you and how she sort of set you on your path

It was Pina Bouch. So our freshman year, Pina Bouch came. She went to Juilliard

Yeah. And she's like this German Medigliani. She's like the thinnest, you know, six foot five

and they let her smoke in the studio. And it was like September, it was 80 degrees

and she was in a black turtle, all black. And she just, she came in

and blew our minds. And when she took us to Bam, and this is Bam in the 90s

this is like, you know, it was like gunshot. And we went to see the right of spring

And this is before the internet really existed. So no, you couldn't Google Pina Bouch

and like watch what you were about to see. Nobody had any clue

We were 17, 18 years old. And we all just sat there sobbing, you know

and it just blew our minds open, like about what movement could be, what dance could be, what, you know

It was crazy. There's always someone who unlocks it for you, like you say, oh, it's like, oh, it's like

wow, opens a whole new world for you. Yeah. Okay, so after Twyletharp, no, we're going to go into Twyletharp next

Moving out. Moving out was another biggie for me. But you had worked with her company first or no

Yeah, we did a short stint at Juilliard. There was a summer event that I worked with her with, yes

Okay, so she was also a director choreographer. Yes. So I'm not sure

You probably worked with some of that before, but she was a real big one. So what was it like

What did you learn from Twyla? Because I used to interview Twyla a lot. I liked Twyla a lot

When I was the first interviews, I was like, oh my God, I'm going to get to torture. She scared me to death

She's scary. Yeah, no, she's- But we got along really well. Us too. She saw that she can, that I wasn't

I don't cry. Yeah. So she was like, oh, yeah. So I mean, the first day I met her

she said, Lauren, you're a good actress. Act like you're a good dancer

I mean, she's, you know, she's tough, but in a loving way. She never really truly means

it, or maybe she did. But she was amazing. I mean, I can't, I learned so many things from her

I mean, one of the things I learned from her is like, she would ask people in auditions what color the eyes of their partner were

and if you didn't know the answer, cut. So, you know, I mean, she's about connection

and she's about storytelling, and she's extraordinarily smart. And dancing that stuff, you just felt invincible

I mean, it was sort of probably, I think I stayed in the show almost three years, which usually I never did that

Like, after nine months, I was sort of trying to get out of the show. But it's so satisfying

Yeah. You know, going back to Twyla Tharp, she is like a faucie

There's a style to her. There is. Is it a vocabulary you learn

Yes. Well, it's a way of doing moves. I mean, there's always style and there's always technique

So you could do an arabesque, and then you could do an arabesque that Twyla is interested in

You know, I think that, but ultimately what Twyla was interested in from moving out that really spoke to me was absolute abandon

Like, you would sort of, the show would start and swing was like this too

Fosse was like this too. And you would sort of be in a trance and then the show would be over

I mean, it was sort of, you kicked into what I call sixth gear. And it's like, you know, when people talk about being in the flow, it's that feeling that moving out gave us dancers

And you would just, nothing ever hurt until after the show, you know, because you were sort of in this trans

it was almost like a drug. And there's such abandon in her work that I love it

And I don't, I never emulate her work, but that feeling of abandonment, I think you saw a lot in Tommy

you know, where the kids lose themselves to the point that they're almost speaking in tongues

No, because I'm sure Cheetah used to say this. You know, you take away the best of somebody you work with

you incorporate it in yourself when you work, work with these people and only makes you better at what you do

I'm sure it made you a better dancer. And I'm sure you use what you learned from them as a choreographer and a director

Absolutely. Now, you also direct, because you just directed Kat McVie and David Foster's

Yeah, they did show with Carlisle. They do a show around the world. I did that with them

And Candace Bush-Channel, and I've got a couple other directing projects coming up that

I'm developing. And I do like it very much. And I think when I'm directing, I'd like to collaborate with a choreographer

I think there's something really special about having two brains on a project back and forth with each other that I like very much

No, because I know that some people want a directed choreograph. And I think they're very hard hats to wear together

Yes. You know, when you're one person. Yes. Especially when you're used to working with someone else and you want that other creative energy in the room

Yes. I think when you're choreographing, to be a great choreographer, you ultimately have to have a big idea that is the same as the director's big idea

Or at some point you decide it's in the same milieu. you, but then you are working inside bars of music. And within three seconds, think about how many

dance moves happen within three seconds. And I don't want that to get generalized. I want it to

still have that really specific juice inside each bar of music, the specificity. And I'm not

sure as a director you have time to do that. I think there are certain projects that I would do

both on, but I would welcome a collaboration on certain projects. See, that's why everything you do

looks different. And I mean that the best way. Right. But you know, you're working with somebody else and you sort of, you know, your creative

juices don't dry up. And I know they do dry up for people that you see it. But yours don't

And I think, you know, all your shows, I know when you choreographed something, but like you say

it's all character driven, everything else, and it's all spectacular to watch. Oh, it's very sweet. Thank you. Now, you had a life-changing telephone call from Michael Mayer

Yes. Yes. I adore Michael. So tell me about that phone call

I was choreographing a lot for like, it used to be called Gypsy the Year

Now it's the Red Buckets and there was Easterbonnet and there was Broadway Bears and anything I could do

I'd be choreographing, assisting. So he was like watching some of my work apparently which I didn know And I was in Guys and Dolls for Des at the time And I got a call in the back of the cab and he said it Michael Mayer And I said you have the wrong number

And he said, no, no, I know who you are. I've been watching your work. And you need to stop performing

And you need to start choreographing full time, honey. He was like, it's time. You know, and I was, you know, and it's, at the time, I was still really enjoying performing

So it was a, not a struggle, but I was really teetering on the brink of

of retiring as a performer and really choreographing full time. And he said, we want you to do, well, first he said he wants you to do Spring Awakening

which I couldn't do, which was to associate for Bill T. Jones

And then he called me back and said, Hello, American Idiot. So, yeah

That's wild. Yeah. You've always had that rock vibe in you, haven't you

I don't know. I mean, my husband is like, do they know you're a total music theater nerd

Like that you play like romance romance in the car. You know, but I think I have two older brothers growing up with them who were total rock and roll guys

So I think it came from them. And then I think with American Idiot, I just think I learned how to like how to hang with it's like part of why rock and roll and Broadway work well is because they're not interested in the literal

Like they're interested in the metaphor. They're interested in the feeling. They're interested in like what what the vibe is

And in a way, dance is the same in a way. Like, you can't really dance like that this is my mother-in-law

You sort of understand that it's the mother-in-law by how the person is reacting to the person, right

And you can make the relationship happen, but you're never really saying like

this is the mother-in-law. And rock and roll is the same way

You're never like, the lyrics half the time don't make sense. It's the feeling the lyrics give you

That makes sense. I want to go back to the beginning for a second. What was the defining moment for you when you said

I want to be a dancer and try to make a living at this? I got, I don't even know

In first grade, in my first grade, Mrs. Quinn's classroom, I won a dance contest

And I think from what I was like, this is fun. I always was a dancer

I never stopped. I mean, I don't know. I think it, like, all little girls say they want to be a ballerina

for at least one day of their lives, and I just never stopped saying it. But we went and saw the Nutcracker

I think I was like in third grade and someone pointed out Juilliard

and I was like what is that and the answer was that's essentially the fame school

which is actually not LaGuardia is absolutely the fame school but that's in my head

that's a big fame school and fame you know at the time

if you haven't seen fame everybody's got to go watch it I mean the dancing on fame was like

I haven't seen anything like it since I mean honestly Debbie Allen in fame

It's so extraordinary. And I just was like, I'm going there. That's what I'm doing

And I just made the decision. In fact, I bought a T-shirt in third grade, a Juilliard T-shirt

And I don't know. And then I don't know how I got in. It was sheer luck because I wasn't good enough

I just, I don't know. I hopped a bus. Is that a scary audition, Juilliard

Oh, it's just like flash dance. Like, it's just like everybody's there at a table and there's a box of tissues

And, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Wow, what you got in. I don't know how, yeah

I want to talk to you about motherhood. This is one of my last questions. How do you juggle motherhood at a career

Because you're with your daughter every day, in between everything else you're doing here in town

Talk about that. It's wonderful. One helps the other out. I mean, I've always wanted to be a mother

Not everybody wants that. That's totally cool, but I wanted it. And so I never feel like it's work because I love it so, so, so dearly

so dearly. And then I come to work and I never feel like it's work because I love it so, so

so dearly. This is still, I still feel like that they're greater. I mean, I just love it. I was

with Lonnie Price this morning working on a new show and I just turned to him. I'm like

this is fun, you know. And I love it. I love diving in. So, and she's made me more creative

I mean, having a kid is just playtime all the time, you know. So for me, it's just

I'm very happy, you know. So can you tell us anything about what you're working on now or is it all secretive or

No, I mean, I think I can. I'm working, I'm, I'm, I'm working, I'm developing a show based on the book called This Is All I Got with Kirsten Grennich, who's an extraordinary writer and Crystal Monet Hall, who's an extraordinary songwriter, who you all know very soon

And it's about a homeless woman in New York City. It's a true story. My friend Lauren Sandler is a journalist

I read the book over the pandemic and it's not modeling. not sad. This woman, it's a, it's based on a true story that we've fictionalized, but

it's fun, but it's real, and it's very cool, and we're working very, very hard on it. So that's

one thing I'm doing. So finally, you've had such an incredible year. You've had three shows this

year alone, and you're about to open mattress. Tell me what mattress means to you and just

what this whole year, have you been able to put into perspective of what it's meant to you

I mean, it's, you know, the highs are high and the lows are low, but I think for me

every show that I'm so proud of the work that we did on Tommy and Hard of Rock and Roll

and I hope everybody comes to Mattress. It is such a joy fest. I mean, you will be laughing

until you're crying and you fall in love with her. And it means a lot to me that families are

coming to the theater because they're our future. And if those kids come to the theater

like I went to see Annie and fall in love or I went to see black and blue and fall in love

then we have the next generation of people coming to see theater and the next generation of people

making theater. Yeah. Well, like I said, I've seen, you do all your Broadway shows that you performed in and I've watched you escalate up the ladder

to be one of the best choreographers and directors we have in the business. Everybody go see Once Upon a Mattress

Thank you