John Command, now directing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, at the Jungle Theater, was the go-to guy for television sitcom dance scenes a few years back— a favorite of actors for his fun, inventive style. Command knows just where the top is, and how to get there without going over it.
In the 1980s and ’90s, he staged dance scenes for The Golden Girls, Purple Rain, and Perfect Strangers, to name a few. In fact, his rap dance for Balki in Perfect Strangers remains a cult favorite. Check it out:
Command also danced in Michael Jackson’s iconic Thriller video, as one of the “undead” roaming the streets. See if you can tell which one is him (we can’t) or just enjoy one of the first, and still greatest, videos of all time:
Finally, for a glimpse of the man himself, here he is accepting a tribute at the closing of The Music Man, one of myriad musicals he’s directed at the Bloomington Civic Theatre in the past couple of decades:
