# Sergio Trujillo
**Sergio Trujillo** (born 1963 in Cali, Colombia) is a Colombian-born theater director and choreographer working mainly on Broadway, and the first Latino recipient of the [Tony Award for Best Choreography](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-award-for-best-choreography), which he won in 2019 for *Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations*.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) He also received the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for *Memphis*, and in 2025 he made his Broadway directorial debut with *Real Women Have Curves: The Musical*.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/64347542e2979e1ac13a002bb47a38c6)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963, Cali, Colombia; raised in Toronto[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) • [1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) |
| Tony Award | Best Choreography, 2019, *Ain't Too Proud*; earlier nominated in 2016 for *On Your Feet!*[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) |
| Olivier Award | Best Theatre Choreographer, 2015, *Memphis*[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) |
| Broadway choreography | *Jersey Boys*, *Memphis*, *Next to Normal*, *The Addams Family*, *On Your Feet!*, *Summer*, *A Bronx Tale*, *Ain't Too Proud*, *Days of Wine and Roses*, and others[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) |
| Directing | Broadway directorial debut, *Real Women Have Curves: The Musical* (April 27, 2025, James Earl Jones Theatre)[3](https://apnews.com/article/64347542e2979e1ac13a002bb47a38c6) |
| Production company | Co-founded Truworthy Productions with Jack Noseworthy in 2017 to develop Latin musicals[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) |
| Film and TV | Choreographer for the 2025 film musical *Kiss of the Spider Woman* and Clint Eastwood's *Jersey Boys* film; two-time Emmy nominee[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) |
## Early life and training
Trujillo was born in Cali, Colombia, and raised in Toronto.[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) • [1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) He took a bachelor's degree in science at the [University of Toronto](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-toronto) and did not begin his dancing career until he was 19, a late age for a dancer.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [4](https://playbill.com/article/the-ubiquitous-choreographer-sergio-trujillo-com-167282) Forbes Colombia gives a fuller account of this detour: he entered university to study biochemistry and trained as a chiropractor before committing to dance, and left for the United States with 400 dollars, where he met Michael Peters, the choreographer of [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson), who gave his career its push.[5](https://forbes.co/creativos-forbes/creativos-forbes-2023-sergio-trujillo)
His performing career ran through Broadway ensembles. IBDB credits him as a replacement performer in *Jerome Robbins' Broadway* (1989) and the 1992 revival of *Guys and Dolls*, and as an original cast member of *Fosse* (1999) and of *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1994), where he played Aurora's Man and prisoners.[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
## Broadway choreography
His first Broadway choreography credit was *All Shook Up* in 2005, listed by IBDB as additional choreography under Ken Roberson; he then created the movement for *Jersey Boys*, which ran on Broadway from November 2005 to January 2017.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708) A run of high-profile shows followed: *Memphis* (2009), *Next to Normal* (musical staging, 2009), *Guys and Dolls* (2009 revival), *The Addams Family* (2010), *Leap of Faith* (2012), *Hands on a Hardbody* (musical staging, 2013), *On Your Feet!* (2015), *A Bronx Tale* (2016), *Summer: The Donna Summer Musical* (2018), *Ain't Too Proud* (2019), and *Days of Wine and Roses* (co-choreographed with Karla Puno Garcia, 2024).[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
At one point four of his productions, *Next to Normal*, *The Addams Family*, *Memphis*, and *Jersey Boys*, were running on Broadway at the same time. Playbill noted that the previous comparable overlap had been [Susan Stroman](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-stroman)'s *Contact*, *The Music Man*, *The Producers*, and *Thou Shalt Not* in fall 2001.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [4](https://playbill.com/article/the-ubiquitous-choreographer-sergio-trujillo-com-167282)
**Ain't Too Proud.** The Temptations musical, directed by Des McAnuff, reached Broadway in 2019 after tryouts including a Kennedy Center run, and Trujillo's choreography drew notice in reviews; The Washington Post praised his "suave choreography" as part of what lifted the show above the standard pop anthology musical.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/the-temptations-are-now-a-broadway-musical-theyre-going-to-make-you-love-them-again/2019/03/21/58132f74-4be2-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html) He described his approach as taking the group's movement as inspiration while creating his own trademark choreography, with each number adapted to its era the way the show's clothing changes.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2018/06/13/behind-the-choreography-of-the-temptations-musical-aint-too-proud/) The work won him the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography, making him the first Latino recipient of that award.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
## Director
In 2025 Trujillo moved into directing on Broadway with *Real Women Have Curves: The Musical*, which he also choreographed. Based on Josefina López's play and the 2002 HBO film, the show opened April 27, 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre and follows Ana Garcia, a young Mexican American woman in East Los Angeles balancing her ambitions against her family's garment factory.[3](https://apnews.com/article/64347542e2979e1ac13a002bb47a38c6) He told WABC that he had waited for the right project to make his directorial debut after two decades as a Broadway choreographer.[8](https://abc7ny.com/post/broadways-real-women-have-curves-tells-story-director-choreographer-sergio-trujillo-finds-relevant-personal/16579031/) The musical was one of the few Broadway shows since *In the Heights* and *On Your Feet!* with a predominantly Latino cast, and Trujillo, the son of a seamstress, said that directing and choreographing it was in honor of his mother.[3](https://apnews.com/article/64347542e2979e1ac13a002bb47a38c6)
His other directing credits include *Arrabal* at American Repertory Theater, which won him an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Direction; *The Harder They Come* at [The Public Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-public-theater), co-directed with Tony Taccone; [Cirque du Soleil](https://www.edgepedia.org/cirque-du-soleil)'s *Paramour*; *Flashdance: The Musical* on national tour; and the Broadway concert of [Gloria Estefan](https://www.edgepedia.org/gloria-estefan) & Miami Sound Machine.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) Upcoming Broadway engagements listed by IBDB include directing and choreographing a *Damn Yankees* revival beginning April 20, 2027.[2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
## Awards and recognition
In addition to the Tony and Olivier, Trujillo has won Outer Critics Circle Awards for *Memphis* and *On Your Feet!*, a Chita Rivera Award for *Summer: The Donna Summer Musical*, an Ovation Award for *Empire: A New Musical*, three NAACP Awards, and nominations including Drama Desk nods for *Jersey Boys*, *Memphis*, *Leap of Faith*, *Hands on a Hardbody*, and *Real Women Have Curves*, and a Lucille Lortel nomination for *Saved*.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [9](https://sergiotrujillo.com/press) • [2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
He is a two-time Emmy Award nominee for *Christmas in Rockefeller Center* and *Annie Live!* on NBC, and choreographed the 2021 and 2024 [Tony Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-awards) broadcasts and The Kennedy Center Honors.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) Colombia has recognized him as well: President [Juan Manuel Santos](https://www.edgepedia.org/juan-manuel-santos) named him one of the Top 100 Colombians in the world, and Forbes has named him three times among its Top 50 Creative Colombian Artists.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) One Colombian account differs on the Tony record: Forbes Colombia described him in 2023 as the first Colombian to receive a Tony Award, dating it to 2022, while his own biography and IBDB place the win in 2019 and state the first-Latino distinction.[5](https://forbes.co/creativos-forbes/creativos-forbes-2023-sergio-trujillo) • [1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) • [2](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
## Latin musicals and Truworthy Productions
In 2017 Trujillo co-founded Truworthy Productions with his husband, the actor Jack Noseworthy, to develop Latin musicals that spotlight Hispanic culture in America.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) Announced projects include *Casa de las Flores*, inspired by Manolo Caro's Netflix series with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by [Bob Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-martin), and *Like Water for Chocolate*, based on [Laura Esquivel](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-esquivel)'s novel, with music by [Stephen Flaherty](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-flaherty), lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and collaboration from the Latin Grammy winners La Santa Cecilia.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) He has said that creating a musical telling a story of Latin culture is the most important thing he wants to do in his role as director and choreographer.[10](https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/arte-y-teatro/entrevista-con-sergio-trujillo-nominado-al-premio-tony-de-mejor-coreografia-372680)
His work has also traveled widely: Disney's *Tarzan* has run in Europe for more than 15 years, *Jersey Boys* plays worldwide, *The Addams Family* has had productions in Latin America, and *Memphis* was filmed and streamed on Netflix.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio)
## Personal life
Trujillo has shared his life with Jack Noseworthy since 1990; they married in 2011 and welcomed their son in March 2018.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio) He lives in New York City and was the first choreographer invited to serve as a voting member of the American Theatre Wing's Advisory Committee for the Tony Awards; he serves on the advisory boards of Ballet Hispánico, R.Evolución Latina, and New York Theatre Barn, and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.[1](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio)
## References
1. [Sergio Trujillo, official biography](https://sergiotrujillo.com/bio)
2. [Sergio Trujillo, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sergio-trujillo-62708)
3. [Broadway welcomes 'Real Women Have Curves: The Musical', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/64347542e2979e1ac13a002bb47a38c6)
4. [The Ubiquitous Choreographer: Sergio Trujillo, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/the-ubiquitous-choreographer-sergio-trujillo-com-167282)
5. [Creativos Forbes 2023: Sergio Trujillo, Forbes Colombia](https://forbes.co/creativos-forbes/creativos-forbes-2023-sergio-trujillo)
6. ['Ain't Too Proud' review, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/the-temptations-are-now-a-broadway-musical-theyre-going-to-make-you-love-them-again/2019/03/21/58132f74-4be2-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html)
7. [A look inside the choreography of 'Ain't Too Proud', The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2018/06/13/behind-the-choreography-of-the-temptations-musical-aint-too-proud/)
8. ['Real Women Have Curves' tells a personal story for Sergio Trujillo, ABC7 New York](https://abc7ny.com/post/broadways-real-women-have-curves-tells-story-director-choreographer-sergio-trujillo-finds-relevant-personal/16579031/)
9. [Awards, Sergio Trujillo official site press page](https://sergiotrujillo.com/press)
10. [Entrevista con Sergio Trujillo, El Tiempo](https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/arte-y-teatro/entrevista-con-sergio-trujillo-nominado-al-premio-tony-de-mejor-coreografia-372680)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Dance and ballet › Dance forms beyond ballet › Non-ballet choreographers and choreography*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license