Mr. Esse choreographed A Bed and A Chair: A New York Love Affair
starring Bernadette Peters and Norm Lewis. This was a special
collaboration with New York City Center Encores! and Jazz at Lincoln
Center, highlighting the genius of Stephen Sondheim's music, newly
orchestrated by Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis. Recently he
choreographed The Most Happy Fella at Goodspeed Opera House for
their 50th Anniversary Season and earlier this year Mr. Esse was the guest
choreographer at the Shaw Festival Canada where he choreographed
Guys and Dolls. He also recently choreographed the critically acclaimed
Carousel for Goodspeed, which was taped and archived for The New York
Public Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (Connecticut Critics
Circle Nomination and Broadway World.com named him Best
Choreographer of The Year for this work) and he is currently
choreographing their upcoming 2014 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Parker
choreographed Arena Stage's critically and nationally acclaimed
productions of Oklahoma! (Helen Hayes Award and The New Yorker’s
Best Performers of 2010), The Music Man (Helen Hayes Nomination), and
is currently represented with their production of Smokey Joe's Cafe. Mr.
Esse choreographed the World Premier of Katie Couric’s The Brand New
Kid for The Kennedy Center and US National Tour; Buddy, The Buddy
Holly Story at Flat Rock Playhouse; The Mystery Of Irma Vep, The Light in
the Piazza, and the World Premier of A Christmas Carol 1941 for Arena
Stage.
Mr. Esse was Associate Choreographer on Broadway: Tony Nominated -
Finian’s Rainbow and A Tale Of Two Cities; Off-Broadway: Rated P for
Parenthood; US National Tour: 101 Dalmatians The Musical. Regionally:
Associate Director/Choreographer for the World Premier of Lucky Guy,
Goodspeed Opera House; Associate Choreographer on the pre-Broadway
run of Follies, The Kennedy Center. Also, Associate or Assistant
Choreographer for New York City Center’s, Encores! Series: Girl Crazy,
Finian’s Rainbow, On The Town, Juno and Stairway to Paradise. Assistant
Choreographer for Mame, The Kennedy Center; Dancing In The Dark, The
Old Globe; Pirates of Penzance, Goodspeed Opera House; Pirates!, Paper
Mill Playhouse; Mack And Mabel, Shaw Festival Canada; Babes And
Arms, Goodspeed Opera House; South Pacific, Camelot, Damn Yankees,
Arena Stage. Feature Film: Assistant Choreographer: Deception starring
Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor. As a Featured Performer, Mr. Esse
danced in the Tony Award Winning - Fosse on Broadway with Ben Vereen,
Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking, which was taped for PBS Great
Performances.
Mr. Esse is proud to have been mentored by his friends and colleagues
Baayork Lee, Ben Vereen, Ann Reinking and Gwen Verdon and has been
trained in the Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse Legacies, which he
continues to pass on to future generations. His passion for teaching future
generations and sharing his love of Musical Theater and Dance has been
widely praised. Mr. Esse Directed and Choreographed Finian’s Rainbow
for Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music in Washington,
DC and has been on faculty at New York University’s Tisch School of the
Arts and The Cap 21 Musical Theatre Conservatory and Theater Company
in NYC. He is also Co-Creator and Developer of Arena Stage’s Musical
Theater Academy in Washington, DC where he also serves as the
Resident Choreographer and Dance Teacher for the International
Program. He has also taught classes for the 2010 and 2011 Music
Direction Intensive at Goodspeed Opera House; The Marktoberdorf
Summer Intensive Workshop for Professional European Actors in
Marktoberdorf, Germany; Lamar University College of Fine Arts’ Dance
Department in Beaumont, TX; Catholic University’s Department of Drama
in Washington, DC; American University’s Musical Theater in Washington,
DC; The Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, NY;
The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX; The
award winning Met 2 Educational Theater in Los Angeles, CA; Learning on
Location in New York City; The Amy Murphy New York City Intensive in
New York City; Wright Way National Master Class Intensive in St. Louis,
Las Vegas, and New York City; The Shubert Organization in New York
City; as well as many local schools, training programs and companies in
New York City; Houston, TX; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; San Francisco;
New York; Connecticut; Virginia, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina,
Georgia , Tennessee, Colorado and California.
Mr. Esse received his BFA from New York University and the Tisch School
of the Arts.
