ABOUT PHIL
Phil Colgan is a performer, choreographer, and dance educator born and raised in NYC. Phil won a pre-show on-stage dance contest at the Broadway revival of Grease in 1997 (pictured below) and hasn’t shut up about it since.
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Phil eventually enrolled in NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a program that allows students to form their own concentration by picking from the various schools and courses NYU has to offer, where he created a concentration he titled Entertainment Production and Performance. His studies focused on anticipating the creative conversations needed to be a director/choreographer, practical performance training utilizing the arts resources at NYU and the many studios around NYC, all the while attending every open call and audition starting at age 18 in order to test where his training was leading.
Upon college graduation, Phil worked regionally at some fantastic theaters across the country such as Paper Mill Playhouse (in the world premiere of A Bronx Tale the Musical), Maine State Music Theater, The Fulton, Ogunquit Playhouse, Gateway Playhouse, and Finger Lakes MTF. In 2017, Phil opened the national tour of Hamilton as a swing and dance captain. In 2021, Phil made his Broadway debut in Hamilton, reopening the Broadway company after the pandemic shut-down as a Universal Swing, performing in the male ensemble across the show’s five North American companies. Other performance favorites include the premiere of Andy Blankenbuehler’s Only Gold at MCC (Dance Captain), the opening number of The 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, symphony and opera performances, industrial performances for iLuminate: Artist of Light, and features in special events like Broadway Bares.
Phil was born in Staten Island, NY to his Cuban mother, Ana, and his Puerto Rican and Irish/Italian father, Philip. Following everything his older sister, Erica, did, Phil started dancing at the age of 7, attending dance competitions and conventions, while also obsessing over the one musical his school did every year (while dutifully re-choreographing selections from the show in his basement because he thought he could do better).
As a creative, Phil was the Associate Choreographer to Susan Stroman for New York, New York on Broadway (Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Choreography; Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Chita Rivera nominations). Other choreography credits include the LGBTQ+ reimagining of The Wizard of Oz at Geva Theater Center, starring RuPaul's Drag Race finalist Rosé, Grease at The Rev (formerly Finger Lakes MTF), Catch Me If You Can at NYU; in the music videos for “Ready to Be Loved (Dance Version)”, “I’m a Star (Dance Version)”, “Train Ride” by Jack Scott, and “Not Forgiving You” by Josh Breckenridge. Favorite showcases/events: DanceBreak 2020, TSQ Project, and Jay Armstrong Johnson's I Put a Spell on You (BC/EFA). He’s also worked as an associate to creatives Al Blackstone & Richard J. Hinds. Phil was named a finalist for The 2017 Capezio Award for Choreographic Excellence and was awarded an Emerging Theater Artist Grant from The Theater Hall of Fame in May 2023.
Phil continues to share his passion for dance while teaching for various dance studios and conventions across the country, and is a faculty member at Steps on Broadway & Broadway Dance Center in NYC.