Jeff Whiting (born March 27, 1972) is an American theater director, choreographer,[1] performer and entrepreneur.[2] He has been involved in theatrical productions, concerts, operas and special events around the world. Whiting is also known for developing "Stage Write," anapp that allows creation, duplication and editing of floorplan charts to facilitate stage choreography.[3]
Whiting was born inDenver,Colorado, the son of David L. Whiting and Bette Whiting (née Snelson). He was the third of five siblings. He grew up inSalt Lake City,Utah. At the age of 10, he was introduced to theater, dance, acting and singing, under Xan S. Johnson's tutoring at TheUniversity of Utah's Children's Theater program. In 1996 he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Dance Theater fromBrigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Whiting began his performing career after graduation. He made his first professional appearance in 1996 asQuasimodo in Disney'sThe Hunchback of Notre Dame atDisney/MGM Studios inOrlando,Florida. In 1997, Whiting moved to New York City and performed in numerous regional theatrical productions.
With a desire to create new works for the theater, Whiting began to find work as a director and choreographer.[4] He was hired as an assistant director for the national tours ofHairspray andThe Producers, which is how he was introduced toSusan Stroman. In 2007, Stroman invited him to be assistant choreographer on the Broadway production ofYoung Frankenstein, marking Whiting's firstBroadway credit.[5] He went on to collaborate with Stroman on several other projects. He was assistant director and choreographer onHappiness atLincoln Center[6] and was associate director/choreographer onThe Scottsboro Boys, which received 12Tony nominations.[7] He was alsoDiane Paulus' associate director on the Broadway revival ofHair, which won the Tony Award for best musical revival.[8] In 2013, Jeff was the Associate Director forBig Fish. In 2014, Jeff was the Associate Director forBullets Over Broadway.
In addition to his work on Broadway, Whiting has directed numerous concerts and events. His work includes a series of concerts atCarnegie Hall withJames Taylor (starring James Taylor,Bette Midler,Sting,Steve Martin andTony Bennett)[9] and "A Tribute to Susan Stroman" (co-hosted byMatthew Broderick andNathan Lane and produced by The Vineyard Theatre).[10] Opera credits includeWe Open In Paris atGlimmerglass Opera.
Whiting directed and choreographed the World Premiere production of Chasing Rainbows: Road to Oz, highlighting the life ofJudy Garland, atFlatrock Playhouse in 2015.
Whiting delivered aTEDTalk on February 7, 2016 titled "Rising Beyond Limits with Open Jar Thinking" at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He has also directed and choreographed numerous events and shows forThe Walt Disney Company in the USA, Brazil, Mexico and India.
In 2012, Whiting released a software application for directors, choreographers and stage managers called Stage Write. According to members of the Broadway community, theapp has revolutionized the task of documenting staging and choreography.[11][12] It was lauded by theSociety of Stage Directors and Choreographers as "the new standard in documentation" for directors and choreographers.[13] The app is already in use on numerous Broadway productions, concert tours, television shows and films in production around the globe. Apple featured StageWrite as part of their 'Life on iPad' campaign as was selected from over 140,000 apps to be featured.[14] Apple also featured the app during the 2013 Apple Keynote[15] and was mentioned by Apple CEO, Tim Cook, by saying "Honestly, we could never have imagined all of the ways that people are using the iPad. Today we celebrate some of our customers creativity and genius of using their iPads…"[16]
In 2003, Whiting founded The Open Jar Institute, which allows young actors to train one-on-one with Broadway professionals. The institute provides workshops and masterclasses with professionals for students from around the world.