Casey Nicholaw

Currently: Making his choreography debut on Broadway with Spamalot, for which he received his first Tony Award nomination.

Hometown: San Diego, California.

Gypsy Feet: The oldest of three, Nicholaw got his show biz start "in the San Diego Junior Theater at 13 years old." Jump-cut 20 years, Nicholaw debuted on Broadway in the dance corps of Crazy For You. The gypsy life followed: Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Victor/Victoria, Steel Pier, Scarlet Pimpernel, Saturday Night Fever, Seussical and Thoroughly Modern Millie. "After performing in the ensemble for eight original shows," Nicholaw says, "I wanted to be creative in a different way. Who knew that doing all those shows was going to be my training as a choreographer?"

Master Dance Classes: Having worked with the best in the business, were any especially inspiring when it came to staging Spamalot? "I never think, "Oh, I'm gonna do this number like that person," he laughs. Still, each choreographer left their mark. Susan Stroman? "I learned so much from her. Organization, for one thing. And she's just so good at building a number. Plus she treats people really well-makes you want to do well for her." Kathleen Marshall? "Same thing. Love her organization. She has everything thought out, and it's great." Rob Marshall? "He has such great back stories. You would walk in [to rehearsal] and there would be a wall with tons of visuals for every number. Again, comes from storytelling-he was always so supportive of me because he really goes for 'character' [acting] in numbers." Tommy Tune? "Oh, man! His eye! His vision! He's someone who just soooo has concepts for everything." Rob Ashford? "He and I were friends in Crazy for You. And when we were doing that show, we'd be lying on our Styrofoam rollers in the dressing room, warming up, both going-"Boy, I wanna choreograph. We gotta get our reels together.""

Jerry & Jerry: When Spamalot was first announced a couple of years ago, Jerry Mitchell was slated to choreograph. "Then his schedule got too busy," Nicholaw reports, "and he recommended me. Which was great. At the time I was choreographing Bye Bye Birdie at Encores!, and Mike Nichols called Jerry Zaks. And Jerry raved about it and said, "Hire him!" So I met with Mike. We had an hour conversation-and after not really having ever seen my work-offered me the job!"

Nichols & Nicolaw: "We were coming from the same place," Nicholaw says of gaining Nichols's confidence, "both wanting things to be truthful. I think the comedy thing just really sold him. I mean, we laughed a lot. And we talked about how the comedy was important in this show: To not dance for too long. Our thing in pre-production was that you just had to keep changing the channels. Because after a few [musical bars of] eighths, you have to go to a different idea. That's what Monty Python does: They don't ever hang somewhere for way too long. [Laughs.]

Black Knight Nut: A Python fan since childhood, Nicholaw says, "I totally watched everything again," in preparation for Spamalot. Noting their clever use of props in the films, Nicholaw says they weren't the genesis of his musical staging, but rather an extension of his objective: Storytelling. "I like to work from a comedy point of view. Obviously. A lot of times when you're digging to be creative about something it becomes more than the steps-and that sort of leads you to props. It happens organically. I never go out and go, "Oh, I'm gonna do a number that has props."

Man At Work: Crediting his success with Spamalot to the show's "great" creative team-including his dance arranger Glen Kelly and choreography associate Darlene Wilson-Nicholaw says his mind is always working. "I'm choreographing every time I'm driving the car. In the shower! At 3 in the morning!" When they decided to add the popular film song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" into Spamalot a week before previews, Nicholaw went into overtime: "I was literally in my kitchen choreographing it -- with my video camera in the hallway. I had this little cane that I was using it as an umbrella. And overnight, I came up with that number."

Finding His Grail: Set to choreograph The Drowsy Chaperone at the Ahmanson this fall-"a musical about a musical theater fanatic,"-Nicholaw says that "performing's not even an option for me any more. I feel so much more in my skin doing this. Of course, who's not to say that when I'm 60 years old I might do some great character thing in some show, but right now I'm so happy taking care of other people and giving them work. Giving that respect and creating that atmosphere, I thrive on it.