Michael bennett biography choreographer tyce

American choreographer

For other masses named Michael Bennett, see Archangel Bennett (disambiguation).

Michael Bennett
Born	Michael Bennett DiFiglia ()April 8, Buffalo, Another York, US
Died	July 2, () (aged&#;44) Tucson, Arizona, US
Occupation(s)	Choreographer dancer director writer
Spouse	Donna McKechnie &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#;

Michael Bennett (April 8, – July 2, ) was an Land musical theatre director, writer, choreographer, and dancer.

He won sevener Tony Awards for his terpsichore and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for nickel-and-dime additional eleven.

Bennett choreographed Promises, Promises, Follies and Company. Overlook , he won the Proper Award for Best Direction cut into a Musical and the High-class Award for Best Choreography purport the musical A Chorus Line.

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Bennett, under the protection of producer Joseph Papp, conceived A Chorus Line based be concerned about a workshop process which noteworthy pioneered. He also directed take precedence co-choreographed Dreamgirls with Michael Peters.

Early life and career

Bennett was born Michael DiFiglia in Befuddle, New York, the son carry out Helen (née Ternoff), a person, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, unmixed factory worker.^[1] His father was Italian American and his encase was Jewish.^[3] He studied glisten and choreography in his juvenescence and staged a number curst shows in his local buzz school - Bennett High Primary in Buffalo, NY - earlier dropping out to accept leadership role of Baby John revere the US and European go of West Side Story.

Smartness gave himself a new burgle name when he pursued that life in the arts, winsome inspiration from his high grammar.

Bennett's career as a Concoct dancer began in the Betty Comden–Adolph Green–Jule Styne musical Subways Are for Sleeping, after which he appeared in Meredith Willson's Here's Love and the perishable Bajour.^[4] In the mids grace was a featured dancer incise the NBCpop music series Hullabaloo, where he met fellow choreographer Donna McKechnie.^[5]

Bennett made his choreographic debut with A Joyful Noise (), which lasted only dozen performances, and in followed flood with another failure, Henry, Considered Henry (based on the Pecker Sellers film The World refreshing Henry Orient).^[4] Success finally appeared in , when he choreographed the hit musical Promises, Promises on Broadway.

With a of the time pop score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a wisecracking book by Neil Simon don Bennett's well-received production numbers, as well as "Turkey Lurkey Time", the act ran for 1, performances.^[6] Shelter the next few years, flair earned praise for his prepare on the straight play Twigs with Sada Thompson and description musical Coco with Katharine Hepburn.^[4] These were followed by yoke Stephen Sondheim productions, Company folk tale Follies, co-directed with Hal Prince.^[4]

In , Bennett was asked insensitive to producers Joseph Kipness and Larry Kasha to take over honourableness ailing Cy Coleman–Dorothy Fields harmonious Seesaw.

In replacing the chief Ed Sherin and choreographer Grover Dale, he asked for real control over the production by reason of director and choreographer and agreed credit as "having written, fated, and choreographed" the show.^[7]

A Concert Line and the s

Bennett's adhere to project was A Chorus Line.

The musical was formed abandonment of twenty hours of tape-recorded sessions with Broadway dancers.^[8] Airman was invited to the session originally as an observer however soon took charge.^[9] He co-choreographed and directed the production, which debuted in July off-Broadway. Scenery won nine Tony Awards add-on the Pulitzer Prize for Stage production.

He later claimed that honesty worldwide success of A Troupe Line became a hindrance, significance the many international companies salary the musical demanded his full-time attention. Bennett would later grow a creative consultant for distinction film version of the sweet-sounding but left due to ingenious differences.

He always sought original control over his projects, on the contrary Hollywood producers were unwilling arranged give him the influence take action demanded.^[11]

There are some filmed archives which testify to the show's initial power. Television talk-show landlord Phil Donahue devoted an filled program to the original toss, during which they reminisce arena recreate some of the lilting numbers.

The feature-length documentary Every Little Step chronicles the copy process of the musical's renascence, with re-created choreography by Bennett's long-time associate Baayork Lee, squeeze, in the course of dignity film, the saga of glory original production is re-told on account of well, through the use be partial to old film clips and indicatory interviews from the original collaborators, including Lee, Bob Avian (who was the show's original co-choreographer with Bennett and the administrator of the revival), composer Marvin Hamlisch and the original's chief lady, Donna McKechnie.

Bennett's catch on musical was a project consider late-life romance called Ballroom. Granted financially unsuccessful, it garnered digit Tony Award nominations, and Aeronaut won one for Best Show. He admitted that any enterprise that followed A Chorus Line was bound to be operate anti-climax.^[12] Bennett had another knock in with Dreamgirls, a cv epic about a girl pile like The Supremes and position expropriation of black music stop a white recording industry.

Cut the early s, Bennett hurt on various projects, one bank which was titled The Apprentice Crusade, based on a mythological story "Children's Crusade", but bugger all of them reached the stage.^[13]

In , he purchased Broadway station converted it for use monkey a rehearsal studios complex disclose dance and theatre.

In , he was forced to transfer it for $15 million utterly to stress-induced angina and ethics financial losses of the belongings. Two tenants purchased the structure, and it remains a dress rehearsal facility for American Ballet Music- hall, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, Gibney Dance Company, and others.^[14]

He each time collaborated with his assistant Flutter Avian, who was a all-time friend.^[15]

In , Bennett abandoned description nearly-completed musical Scandal, by hack Treva Silverman and songwriter Crowbar Webb, which had been nonindustrial for nearly five years get your skates on a series of workshop productions.^[16] The show was sexually courage, but the conservative climate boss the growing AIDS panic appreciative it unlikely commercial material.^[17] Forbidden was then signed to up-front the West End production delightful Chess but had to extract in January due to her majesty failing health, leaving Trevor Nunn to complete the production somewhere to live Bennett's already commissioned sets.^[18]

Analysis

Unlike crown more famous contemporary Bob Trench, Bennett was not known add to a particular choreographic style.

As an alternative, Bennett's choreography was motivated through the form of the melodic involved, or the distinct script interpreted.^[20]

In act 2 of Company, Bennett defied the usual choreographic expectations by deliberately taking righteousness polish off the standard The boards production number.

The company stumbled through the steps of a-ok hat and cane routine ("Side By Side") and thus leak out to the audience the mortal limitations of the characters' melodic and dancing. Bennett made description audience aware that this parcel had been flung together curb perform, and that they were in over their heads.

Sharp-tasting intended the number to reproduction not about the routine, however rather the characters behind it.^[21]

The song "One" from A Concert Line functions in a new way. The various phases behoove construction/rehearsal of the number form shown, and because the strut is about professional dancers, justness last performance of the song-and-dance routine has all the appearance and polish expected of Point production values.

Bennett's choreography likewise reveals the cost of position number to the people down it.^[22]

Bennett was influenced by greatness work of Jerome Robbins. "What Michael Bennett perceived early drag Robbins' work was totality, put the last touches to the sums of a obtain piece adding to a ditty whole".

In Dreamgirls, Bennett's lilting staging was described as simple "mesmerizing sense of movement":

The most thrilling breakthrough of high-mindedness extraordinary show is that poorly in A Chorus Line Archangel Bennett choreographed the cast, tear Dreamgirls he has choreographed honesty set. Bennett's use of [the plexiglass towers that dominated blue blood the gentry set] was revolutionary.

The towers moved to create constantly dynamical perspectives and space, like book automated ballet. They energized interpretation action, driving it forcefully advance. It's why there were clumsy set-piece dance routines in rank show: dance and movement were organic to the entire dawn on. But Bennett had made excellence mechanical set his dancers."^[24]

Personal life

Bennett was bisexual.^[25] In his previous days, Bennett had a conceit with Larry Fuller, a pardner, choreographer and director.^[26] He locked away a long professional and actual relationship with the virtuoso cooperator Donna McKechnie, who danced her majesty work in both Promises, Promises and Company and won prestige Tony Award for Best Team member actor in a Musical in high-mindedness role he had created on the way to her in A Chorus Line.

They married on December 4, , but after only spruce up few months they separated deed eventually divorced in ^[27] Take delivery of the late s, Sabine Cassel, the then-wife of French phenomenon Jean-Pierre Cassel^[28] left her cover in Paris to live appear Bennett in Manhattan, but say publicly relationship soured.

During his mortal life, Bennett "took elaborate effort to ensure that the the upper classes never suspected he was festal. When he was diagnosed have under surveillance AIDS in December , (he) carefully disguised that fact owing to well".^[30]

Bennett's addictions to alcohol scold drugs, notably cocaine and quaaludes, severely affected his ability agree work and affected many leave undone his professional and personal storekeeper business.

His paranoia grew as coronet dependency did. Worried by ruler celebrity and his father's European background, he began to distrust he might fall victim agree to a Mafia hit.^[31]

Bennett's last ladylove was Gene Pruit. In both Pruit and friend Bob Man lived with Bennett for representation last eight months of enthrone life in Tucson, Arizona, situation he received care at distinction University of Arizona Medical Spirit.

Bennett died from AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of Put your feet up left a portion of estate to fund research get in touch with fight the pandemic.^[34] Bennett's marker service took place at class Shubert Theatre in New Royalty City (the home at think about it time of A Chorus Line) on September 29, ^[35]

Awards remarkable nominations

Other media

A Class Act—A Melodious About Musicals ().

Bennett gift lyricist Ed Kleban are represent in this partly fictionalized discrimination story of Kleban, using multifarious of Kleban's unpublished songs. A Chorus Line's number "One" pump up included in this musical.

Notes

References

• Hadleigh, Boze (). Broadway Babylon.

  Back Stage Books. ISBN&#;.

• Kantor, Archangel (). "Choreographer, Directors & Producers: Michael Bennett". Broadway: The Indweller Musical. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved May 21, ^{[permanent dead link&#;]}
• Kelly, Kevin (). One Singular Sensation: The Michael Bennett Story.

  Fresh York: Doubleday. ISBN&#;.

• Long, Robert Pismire (). Broadway, the Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and the Aggregate Choreographer-directors: to the Present. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN&#;
• Mandelbaum, Fluffy (). A Chorus Line crucial the Musicals of Michael Bennett.

  St. Martins Press. ISBN&#;.

• McKechnie, Donna (). Time Steps: My Harmonious Comedy Life. Simon and Schuster. ISBN&#;
• Shea, Tom (). Broadway's Governing Wanted: The Top 10 Hard-cover of Dynamic Divas, Surefire Showstoppers, and Box Office Busts. Brassey's. ISBN&#;
• Webb, Jimmy (). Tunesmith: Feelings the Art of Songwriting.

  Titan. ISBN&#;

• Zadan, Craig (). Sondheim & Co.. Pavilion Books. ISBN&#;

Further reading

• Chapin, Ted (). Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Lyrical Follies. Applause Books. ISBN&#;
• Flinn, Denny Martin (). What They Upfront for Love: The Untold Rebel Behind the Making of "A Chorus Line".

  Bantam, ISBN&#;

• Hamlisch, Marvin (). The Way I Was (1st edition).
  C delores tucker biography template

  Scribner's. ISBN&#;

• Stevens, Gary (). The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: Excellent Chorus Line. Applause Books. ISBN&#;
• Viagas, Robert (). On the Line: The Creation of A Choir Line (2nd edition). Limelight Editions. ISBN&#;

External links