Kenny Ortega

Kenny Ortega
Ortega in 2019
Born	Kenneth John Ortega (1950-04-18)April 18, 1950 Palo Alto, California,U.S.
Occupations	Filmmaker choreographer dancer actor touring manager
Years active	1970–present
Notable work	Newsies Hocus Pocus High School Musical Michael Jackson's This Is It Descendants Julie and the Phantoms
Awards	Hollywood Walk of Fame(2019) Disney Legends(2019) Grammys(2021)

Kenneth John Ortega(born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the filmsNewsies,Hocus Pocus,The Cheetah Girls 2,High School Musical,Michael Jackson's This Is It,Descendants,andJulie and the Phantoms.He also choreographed the filmsOne from the Heart,St. Elmo's Fire,Pretty in Pink,Ferris Bueller's Day Off,andDirty Dancing;and directed multiple concert tours forCher,Gloria Estefan,Miley Cyrus,andMichael Jackson.For his work, Ortega was honored with both a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameand aDisney Legend Awardin 2019.

Early life

Ortega was born inPalo Alto, California,the son of Madeline, a waitress, and Octavio "Tibby" Ortega, a factory worker. He also has a sister, Debra Ortega. Both of his parents were also born in Palo Alto,though his paternal grandparents were Spanish immigrants.He attendedSequoia High SchoolinRedwood City, California,where he was a cheerleader and in the drama group.

Career

Ortega began his career as an actor, appearing in a touring production ofOliver!andHairbefore venturing into choreography and directing. Ortega choreographedThe Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingoin the mid to late 1970s. Ortega was offered the leading role in a production ofJesus Christ Superstar,but turned the offer down to become a choreographer for the San Francisco-based bandThe Tubesafter being spotted on the dance floor in a club by members of the band. Ortega toured with the band for ten years, before being contracted byCherto choreograph a TV special and tour and byKISSon theirDynasty Tour.

In 1980, Ortega was hired as one of the choreographers on the filmXanadu,working withGene Kellywho mentored him into choreographing for film. During this time period, Ortega also served as choreographer for several ofJohn Hughes's films, includingPretty in PinkandFerris Bueller's Day Off,as well as the 1987 filmDirty Dancing.

Ortega would also choreograph several music videos, including "Material Girl"byMadonna,"She's a Beauty"by The Tubes,PhysicalbyOlivia Newton-Johnand "Mr. Roboto"byStyx.He also produced and choreographed the embarrassing "Rock Me Tonite"byBilly Squierwhich turned into a career-ending disaster for the artist.

He made his directorial debut in 1992 with theDisneymusicalNewsies,which was followed up byHocus Pocusin 1993. Both films underperformed at the box-office but have since gone on to attract considerable cult followings. Ortega also served as choreographer forTo Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmarin 1995.

AlongsideMichael Jackson,he created and designed Jackson'sDangerous World Tour(1992–1993),HIStory World Tour(1996–1997) andMichael Jackson & Friends(1999). He has also choreographed events ranging fromSuper Bowl XXX,the72nd Academy Awards,the1996 Summer Olympics(Atlanta) and the2002 Winter Olympics(Salt Lake City).

In 2006, Ortega directed and choreographed twoDisney Channel Original Movies,High School MusicalandThe Cheetah Girls 2.Ortega would return as director and choreographer forHigh School Musical 2in 2007 andHigh School Musical 3: Senior Yearin 2008.

In May 2009, Ortega began work directing and choreographing the scheduled 50-date Michael JacksonThis Is Itconcert residency atthe O2 Arena,billed as Jackson's final concerts in London. The engagement was subsequently cancelled due toJackson's sudden deathin June 2009.Ortega would serve as the director of the Michael Jackson Public Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which was broadcast live on several networks on July 7, 2009, reaching a television audience of 31 million in America and more than one billion worldwide.

At the end of the service, he introduced a rendition of Jackson's 1985 charity single "We Are the World"created for the This Is It concerts, featuring Jackson's backing singers on lead vocals with his dancers performing around them. Ortega directed the concert filmMichael Jackson's This Is It,which was put together from rehearsal footage recorded at theLos Angeles Forumand theStaples Center.The film was released on October 28 of the same year.

He was set to direct the 2011Footlooseremake, but dropped out in October 2009 due to differences withParamountover the budget and tone of the film.

Ortega was also hired to direct a film adaptation of theBroadway musicalIn the HeightsforUniversal,but the studio dropped the project in 2011 due to budgetary and casting issues.On August 9, 2011, it was announced that Ortega would direct a remake ofDirty Dancing,a project that was later postponed. The2017 TV remakewas filmed without Ortega's involvement.

On May 12, 2014, Ortega guest-judged on the18th season ofDancing with the Starsduring thesemifinals.

In 2015, Ortega directed and choreographedDescendantsfor the Disney Channel, a film based on the children of legendaryDisney Villains.He would return in the same capacity for its two sequels,Descendants 2in 2017 andDescendants 3in 2019.

In 2019, Ortega was honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameand was named aDisney Legendat the 2019D23 Expo.

That fall, he directed and served as executive producer of the Netflix Original seriesJulie and the Phantoms,which premiered on Netflix on September 10, 2020.

Personal life

Ortega is gay, and in a 2014 interview with anti-bullying organizationBystander Revolution,he said that "as a gay man having grown up in the 50s and 60s, I have to say, I'm very proud of the industry that I work in," referring to the acceptance of people with different sexual orientations in show business.

During the trialPeople v. Murrayregarding thedeath of Michael Jackson,Ortega was the trial's first witness.

In 2020, Ortega recalled being falsely arrested at the age of 21 after a chief of police planted narcotics in his hotel room, allegedly upset by his performance in a touring production ofHair.The charges were dropped after investigations were made, and Ortega recalled the arrest report identifying him as George Berger, the name of the character he played in the show.

Filmography and concerts

Film

Year	Title	Choreographer	Director	Producer	Rotten Tomatoes	Budget	Box office
1980	Xanadu	Yes	No	No	39%	$20 million	US$22.7 million
1982	One from the Heart	Yes	No	No	48%	$26 million	$0.6 million
1985	St. Elmo's Fire	Yes	No	No	47%	$10 million	$37.8 million
1986	Pretty in Pink	Yes	No	No	81%	$9 million	$40.4 million
1986	Ferris Bueller's Day Off	Yes	No	No	79%	$6 million	$70.1 million
1987	Dirty Dancing	Yes	No	No	72%	$5 million	$213.9 million
1988	Salsa	Yes	No	No	50%	$6 million	$8.8 million
1989	Shag	Yes	No	No	64%	$5 million	$6.9 million
1992	Newsies	Yes	Yes	No	30%	$15 million	$2.8 million
1993	Hocus Pocus	Yes	Yes	No	32%	$28 million	$39.5 million
1995	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	Yes	No	No	42%	—	$47.7 million
1998	Quest for Camelot	Yes	No	No	36%	$40 million	$22.5 million
2008	High School Musical 3: Senior Year	Yes	Yes	Executive	65%	$11 million	$252.9 million
2009	Michael Jackson's This Is It	Yes	Yes	Yes	81%	$60 million	$261.1 million
2017	A Change of Heart	No	Yes	No	—	—	—

Television

Year	Title	Choreographer	Director	Producer	Notes
1988	Dirty Dancing	No	Yes	No	2 episodes
1990	Hull High	Yes	Yes	Executive	2 episodes
1996	Second Noah	No	Yes	No	1 episode
1998–1999	Chicago Hope	No	Yes	No	2 episodes
2000	Resurrection Blvd.	No	Yes	No	1 episode
2001	Grounded for Life	No	Yes	No	1 episode
2001–2002	Ally McBeal	No	Yes	No	3 episodes
2002–2006	Gilmore Girls	No	Yes	No	11 episodes
2006	High School Musical	Yes	Yes	No	Television movie
2006	The Cheetah Girls 2	Yes	Yes	No	Television movie
2007	High School Musical 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Television movie
2011	Phineas and Ferb	No	No	No	1 Episode Cameo as Himself
2012	Bunheads	No	Yes	No	1 episode
2015	Descendants	Yes	Yes	Executive	Television movie
2016	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	No	Yes	No	1 episode
2016	The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again	Yes	Yes	No	Television movie
2017	Descendants 2	Yes	Yes	Executive	Television movie
2018	Andi Mack	No	Yes	No	1 episode
2019	Descendants 3	Yes	Yes	Executive	Television movie
2020	Julie and the Phantoms	Yes	Yes	Executive	Netflixseries

Concerts

Year	Title	Choreographer	Director	Producer	Notes
1989–1990	Cher'sHeart of Stone Tour	No	Yes	No
1991–1992	Gloria Estefan's Into The Light World Tour	Yes	No	No
1992–1993	Michael Jackson'sDangerous World Tour	No	Yes	No
1996–1997	Gloria Estefan'sEvolution World Tour	Yes	No	No
1996–1997	Michael Jackson'sHIStory World Tour	No	Yes	No
2003	Gloria Estefan'sLive & Unwrapped	Yes	Yes	No
2004	Gloria Estefan'sLive & Re-Wrapped Tour	Yes	No	No
2006	The Boy from Oz	Yes	Yes	No	Australian arena tour
2006–2007	High School Musical: The Concert	No	Yes	Yes
2007–2008	Hannah Montana&Miley Cyrus:Best of Both Worlds Tour	Yes	Yes	No
2009–2010 (cancelled)	Michael Jackson'sThis Is It	Yes	Yes	No

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work / nominee	Result	Ref.
2001	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Choreography	Grounded for Life	Nominated
2002		Outstanding Choreography(shared with Doug Jack andSarah Kawahara)	Opening Ceremony Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games	Won
		Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series(shared withBucky GuntsandRon de Moraes)		Won
2006	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	High School Musical	Won
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Choreography(shared withCharles KlapowandBonnie Story)	High School Musical	Won
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special	High School Musical	Nominated
2007	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	High School Musical 2	Nominated
	Helpmann Awards	Best Choreography in a Musical(shared withKelley Abbey)	The Boy from Oz	Won
2008	ALMA Award	Outstanding Director of a Made-for-TV Movie	High School Musical 2	Won
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Choreography(shared with Charles Klapow and Bonnie Story)	High School Musical 2	Nominated
2009	National Association of Latino Independent Producers	Outstanding Achievement Award	Kenny Ortega	Won
	Young Artist Award	Jackie Coogan Award – Contribution to Youth	High School Musical	Won
2015	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	Descendants	Won

External links

• Kenny Ortegaat theInternet Broadway Database
• Kenny OrtegaatIMDb
• Kenny OrgetaArchivedOctober 22, 2012, at theWayback Machineat MVDbase