Andrew Palermo is a director, choreographer and creator of new works for the stage. 

Nickel Mines, (co-author/director/choreographer), interprets the events surrounding the 2006 Lancaster, PA Amish schoolhouse shooting. Initially developed at University of California, Irvine, Nickel Mines went onto an award-winning Off-Broadway production with New York Musical Festival and received its commercial premiere at ACT of Connecticut.

Andrew made his Broadway choreographic debut with Allegiance, starring Lea Salonga, Telly Leung and George Takei. In the following season, Andrew choreographed for Laura Benanti in the Broadway premiere of Steve Martin’s play, Meteor Shower.

International work includes a commissioned evening-length work by the US State Department and Moscow State Ballet Theatre ‘Gzhel’. Let Go has played The Kremlin, Moscow’s Pushkin Theatre and is now a part of the touring repertoire of the 65-member dance company.

Other stage direction and/or choreography credits include Sweet Smell Of Success (Jazz at Lincoln Center), The Other Josh Cohen (Papermill and Soho Playhouse), Midnight At The Never Get (The York, Provincetown Inn, NYMF), Kristin Chenoweth at Carnegie Hall, The Frank Loesser Songbook/New York Philharmonic (Lincoln Center), Iolanthe, The Mikado, Babes In Toyland, Of Thee, I Sing, Let Em Eat Cake (Carnegie Hall), Ace (The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Miss Julie (Geffen Playhouse), Lyrics and Lyricists (92nd St. Y), Bright Lights, Big City (Prince Music Theater), Vices (Theatre Aspen), The Aluminum Show (international tour), For The Record/Paul Thomas Anderson (Rockwell, LA), 125th Teachers College Gala (The Apollo Theatre), Aida (Music Theater Wichita), Man of La Mancha (Sacramento Music Circus), A Catholic Girl’s Guide To Sex (Theatre 68 Arts) and numerous university productions.

Andrew has choreographed multi-million dollar industrials for Toyota, episodes of Comedy Central’s Stella, promos for Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union, commercials for Showtime Network and G-Shock watches and a chapter of award winning/NY Times Critic’s Pick, Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns for Master Voices. 

Along with childhood friend Taye Diggs, Andrew was the Co-Founding Artistic Director of dre.dance, a contemporary dance company.  With performances around New York City and North America, dre.dance received multiple commissions, residencies, grants and rave reviews for its powerful and compelling works.  

One such work, beyond.words, which focuses on the autism spectrum, led Palermo to be a leader in the field of movement therapy. Andrew’s movement workshop for children on the spectrum, Creatively Able, has been taught to students and caregivers around the US and abroad, has been the subject of research studies at UCI (with published findings) and has been featured by Upworthy Presents in a video that has garnered six million views.

Performing highlights include original Broadway companies of Wicked and Annie Get Your Gun (‘Tommy Keeler’, Bernadette Peters revival), as well as How To Succeed…(Matthew Broderick revival), national/international tours of West Side Story, Michael John LaChiusa’s Little Fish (2nd Stage) and numerous regional and concert productions.

Andrew is a Professor of Music Theatre at UC Irvine, a proud alumnus of University of Cincinnati-CCM, dog dad to rescues Steve and Henry and fiancé to KP.