Tag: Ann Reinking

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Broadway Icon Ann Reinking Passes Away At 71

Ann Reinking in ‘All That Jazz’ (screen capture)
Tony Award-winning actress/dancer/choreographer Ann Reinking (Chicago, Fosse, Pippin, Sweet Charity, Over Here!) passed away Saturday night at the age of 71. From Variety:

She is perhaps best known for playing Roxie Hart in 1977’s “Chicago,” replacing Gwen Verdon. She reprised the part when she returned for the 1996 revival of the famed production.

“The hope is that in rediscovering ‘Chicago,’ audiences will rediscover what theater was,” Reinking told The New York Times at the time of the show’s revival. “It was sophisticated, complicated, adult.”

Her work on the later “Chicago” ultimately earned her a Tony Award for best choreography.

Reinking was also the co-creator, co-director and co-choreographer for “Fosse,” a musical meant to showcase Fosse’s choreography. She created the project alongside Richard Maltby Jr. and Chet Walker. The musical was Reinking’s final bow on Broadway, as she served as a replacement ensemble member in 2001.

The Broadway revival of Chicago the Musical was an unexpected and thrilling part of my career on Broadway. I had moved to Los Angeles to be with my husband Michael in 1996, thinking perhaps my dancing career was behind me. And then, on a whim, I went to an open call for replacements for Chicago the Musical in early 1998. Over 300 dancers attended that call, and at the end of the day, I was one of ten left standing. Three days later, Ann and director Walter Bobbie were coming through LA and the ten of us were called back to show what we had to offer.

Four months later, I got a call asking me to join the national touring company that was playing in Los Angeles, and ultimately I was hired about a dozen times over the next 15 years to go into the Broadway and touring companies. Sometimes, it would be for a year, sometimes for a month as a temporary replacement. And I know that was because of Ann. She trusted me over and over again to be a part of her thrilling choreography. Imagine not only meeting one of your heroes but working with them. And learning from them. And dancing right alongside them.

Ann Reinking as Roxie Hart in the Broadway revival of Chicago (photo: Max Vadukul)
One of my most memorable times with Ann was during brushup rehearsals for the Broadway company’s second anniversary. I vividly remember, and I’ve quoted her often, her saying that dance represents tradition – and that it’s our responsibility as dancers to pass steps and style on to the next generation. The last time I saw Ann was during her run in FOSSE in the early 2000s. We chatted backstage in her dressing room after the performance. She was, of course, brilliant. As we parted ways leaving the Broadhurst Theater, she asked in passing, “So, you’re in NYC for a while?” I said, “Yes.” Of course, the next day, the casting folks called – per Ann’s request – and asked if I was available to go back into Chicago.
With Ann Reinking in 1998 celebrating the 2nd anniversary of CHICAGO on Broadway
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Annie.  For the inspiration, for the laughs, for the insight, and for your genius. RIP Ann Reinking. By the way, just to underscore how lucky I’ve been in my theater career, I’ve danced with all three of these great stars. Color me grateful.

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Friday Flashback: Ann Reinking, Donna McKechnie & Chita Rivera perform “Let Me Entertain You”

From the 1987 TV special “Broadway Sings: The Music of Jule Styne” – Tony Award winners Ann Reinking, Donna McKechnie and Chita Rivera, perform “Let Me Entertain You” from Gypsy.

I’ve been a fan of all three practically my whole life. It still amazes me I worked with all three.

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Broadway: CHICAGO the Musical Welcomes Back Four Original Stars

On Sunday evening, November 23, a Broadway show near and dear to my heart will reach a huge milestone.

On that date, the current company of Broadway’s record-breaking hit musical CHICAGO will welcome back its four original stars — Tony Award winners Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton and Joel Grey.

That evening, CHICAGO will surpass the run of iconic Broadway blockbuster “Cats” with a record-breaking 7,486 performances, making it the second longest-running show in Broadway history.

Only one show — “The Phantom of the Opera” — will have run longer than CHICAGO.

Reinking, Neuwirth, Naughton and Grey — who originated the acclaimed roles of Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, Billy Flynn and Amos Hart, respectively — will each make cameo appearances at various points in the milestone performance.

As regular readers of The Randy Report know, I was fortunate to be one of the earliest replacements in the Broadway revival of CHICAGO back in 1998. I performed in the Broadway company at the Shubert Theatre, and toured with the show in the US and internationally with five other companies.

My run with the show – off and on – stretched from August 1998 to July 2013, when I was asked to come back and be a part of the show at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition, I’ve been able to explore the brilliant material as a choreographer, staging the show four times. CHICAGO has been a gift that keeps giving.

The revival of CHICAGO first began in May 1996 with a weekend presentation as part of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.

At the time, that brief four-performance engagement of CHICAGO — helmed by director Walter Bobbie and choreographer Ann Reinking — was the top-grossing production in the history of Encores!.

Produced by Barry & Fran Weissler, CHICAGO opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on November 14, 1996. It transferred to the Shubert Theatre in February 1997, and subsequently transferred to the Ambassador Theatre in January of 2003.

CHICAGO received six 1997 Tony Awards for Best Musical Revival, Best Direction of a Musical (Walter Bobbie), Best Choreography (Ann Reinking), Best Lighting Design (Ken Billington), Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neuwirth) and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (James Naughton).

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.

Congratulations CHICAGO!

With Ann Reinking celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of CHICAGO revival on Broadway
With the National company of CHICAGO in Las Vegas 1999

Back in CHICAGO blacks one more time – Hollywood Bowl 2013.
I had just turned 50 years old. Giving a little CHICAGO ‘attitude.’

(via press release)