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Professor George Pinney directs and teaches acting, movement, stage combat, and coordinates the musical theatre program in the Department of Theatre and Drama at Indiana University. He is also a member of the creative team of the new musical Blast!, which enjoyed a successful run at London's Apollo Hammersmith Theatre in 1999-2000, toured the U.S., and enjoyed a season's run on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre. With fellow choreographers Jim Moore and John Vanderkloff, George Pinney was nominated for the 2001 Tony Award for best choreography. Blast! is sponsored by the Cook Group and Star of Indiana.
In the 2000-2001 television season, PBS broadcast a prime-time special on the making of Blast!, and on September 8, 2001, for the dances that were broadcast on the PBS special, Pinney, Moore, and Vanderkloff won the Emmy for Outstanding Choreography at the Creative Arts portion of the 2001 Emmy Awards, given at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
To the production of Blast! George Pinney brings energy, discipline, and a well-developed sensibility about musical theatre. He brings these same qualities to his IU classes, to his directing projects, and to his movement coaching and choreography. Recognized by Indiana University as an outstanding educator—he is the recipient of the school's prestigious Friedrich Herman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching—Pinney is a member of FACET (Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching), an honorary state organization recognizing distinction in teaching. As a director/choreographer, Pinney has over 50 productions to his credit in regional and educational theatres.In addition to his work with Star of Indiana's Blast!, Pinney is the director/choreographer of the IU Broadway Cabaret. Before joining Indiana University, Pinney was Head of Performance Studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Blast! Links
- The Blast! Home Page, which includes production information, tour dates, and downloadable audio files.
- Blast! on PBS
- Blast! at the IU Auditorium