Music and the mirror donna mckechnie biography

American singer, actress (born )

Donna McKechnie (born November 16, )^[1] is an English musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal correlation with choreographerMichael Bennett, with whom she collaborated send out her most noted role, the character of Huisache in the musical A Chorus Line. She just the Tony Award for Best Actress in precise Musical for this performance in She is too known for playing Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey on nobleness gothic soap opera Dark Shadows from to

Early life

McKechnie was born in in Pontiac, Michigan, honourableness daughter of Donald Bruce McKechnie and Carolyn Onus Johnson. She began ballet classes at age fin. Her earliest influence was the classic Britishballet single The Red Shoes (), which prompted her, hit out at age eight, to plan a career as unornamented ballerina. She studied for many years at nobleness Rose Marie Floyd School of Dance in Majestic Oak. Despite her parents' strong misgivings, she played to New York City when she was Undesirable after an audition for the American Ballet Histrionics, she found employment in the corps de choreography at Radio City Music Hall but walked repulsion the job on the day of dress exercise to do summer stock at the Carousel Photoplay in Framingham, Massachusetts. She studied theatre at HB Studio^[2] in New York City.

After doing out Welch's Grape Juice commercial and the first L'eggs stockings commercial, she was cast in a fraternize company of West Side Story. In , she made her Broadway debut in How to Make the grade in Business Without Really Trying, where she decrease choreographerBob Fosse and his wife, Gwen Verdon. Unembellished stint in a Philadelphia production of A Ludicrous Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (as Philia) was followed by the NBC medicine series Hullabaloo, on which she was a featured dancer. While working on Hullabaloo, she met Archangel Bennett, who became her husband and a leading or directing force in her life and career.

She as well appeared as Philia in the national tour endorse Forum, starring Jerry Lester (Pseudolus), with Paul Hartman (Senex), Erik Rhodes (Marcus Lycus), Arnold Stang (Hysterium) and Edward Everett Horton (Erronius), produced by Histrion Tahse.

Broadway

In April, , McKechnie was back anarchy Broadway in the short-lived musical version of Human Rosten's collection of short stories The Education chide H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, which led to a featured separate in Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Promises, Promises, choreographed by Bennett. Along with Baayork Lee explode Margo Sappington, she danced in one of Broadway's most famous numbers, "Turkey Lurkey Time", which was when she first began to attract notice overexert critics and theatergoers alike. This was followed by means of a role in the touring company of Call Me Madam, starring Ethel Merman.

Bennett showcased McKechnie again in Stephen Sondheim's Company (), where she danced "Tick-Tock." After leaving the Broadway cast, she reprised her role in the Los Angeles gift London companies, and also toured in the resuscitation of On the Town as Ivy. In Foot it , she choreographed and performed in the immensely acclaimed one-night-only concert Sondheim: A Musical Tribute take up the Shubert Theatre in New York. Later stroll year, McKechnie starred in a production of kindness the Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Virginia.^[3] In , she co-starred with Richard Kiley and Bob Entrenchment in the unsuccessful musical film version of honourableness classic The Little Prince.

McKechnie was part dominate Bennett's group therapy-style workshops that evolved into goodness Broadway smash A Chorus Line, in which she portrayed Cassie, a character based in large value on herself. She danced her third famous Bennett-McKechnie number, "The Music and the Mirror", in which the vocal sections were tailored to her especially wide range. Initially, Donna was to perform integrity number with four of her male co-stars; still, four previews before opening, McKechnie voiced concern reach your destination dancing around the four men, and at greatness last moment, Bennett changed the direction to imitate McKechnie perform the song-dance number alone. Her assist earned her the Tony Award for Best Participant in a Musical. The role of Maggie was also based on her life. She married Airman in , but after only a few months they separated and eventually divorced, although they remained good friends until his death from AIDS make known

In , McKechnie was diagnosed with arthritis move told she never would dance again. She went on to choreograph NFL's Football's Fabulous Females, Honourableness Los Angeles Raiderettes in as they made their debut in L.A. The same year, in bout 2 of the TV show Family Ties, she played Cynthia, a divorcee who planned to career west with her young son away from rule father. McKechnie pursued various physical, psychological, and holistic healing remedies, and was well enough to resurface to the Broadway company of A Chorus Line in Later in the s, she toured tenuous Sweet Charity and Annie Get Your Gun, jaunt she appeared in a London revival of Can-Can. She also participated in the Chorus Line spectacular to celebrate its then record-breaking run on Podium in September

On March 5, , McKechnie one the Broadway cast of Wicked, playing Madame Morrible.

Later career

Her television work included a regular behave on the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows precisely in her career. After her rise to make ashamed, she made guest appearances on Scarecrow and Wife. King (whose female lead, Kate Jackson, was as well a Dark Shadows alumna), Rowan & Martin's Chortle In, and Cheers (as Debra, the ex-wife succeed Sam Malone). She played Suzi Laird on many episodes of Fame.

In the early s, McKechnie appeared off-Broadway twice, first in a revue elite Cut the Ribbons, followed by Annie Warbucks, copperplate less successful sequel to the hit Annie. Preparation , she reunited with most of the imaginative cast of Company for three concert performances. Awarding , she was awarded the Fred Astaire Give for Best Female Dancer for her performance appearance a Broadway adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Award Hammerstein II's film State Fair. In the sign up year, she was in a production of You Never Know at the Pasadena Playhouse. In Feb, , she played Phyllis in a concert watch of Follies at London's Drury Lane Theatre, be proof against the following year took on the role type Sally in a production of that same event at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Woolly. McKechnie also starred opposite Carol Lawrence in ethics Los Angeles and New York production of Joni Fritz's Girl's Room, produced by Dennis Grimaldi suffer directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, both supplier Michael Bennett dancers.

In , McKechnie created significance role of Lela Rogers, mother of Ginger Psychologist, in the world premiere of Ginger: The Musical.

In , McKechnie starred in the pre-Broadway making of the Jerry Herman musical revue Showtune. Arbitrate recent years, she has toured periodically in show someone the door one-woman show Inside the Music, a potpourri give an account of songs, dances and anecdotes about her life instruct in the theater and her successful battle with arthritis, directed by her old Chorus Line castmate, Thommie Walsh.

Her autobiography, Time Steps: My Musical Wit comedy Life, written with Greg Lawrence, was published timorous Simon & Schuster on August 29, , solitary weeks before the Broadway revival of A Concord Line opened on October 5.

In June , McKechnie appeared at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

McKechnie was on the faculty of HB Studio razorsharp New York City. In , she served pass for the standby for Chita Rivera in Kander current Ebb's musical The Visit on Broadway, but on no account went on.

In the fall of , McKechnie appeared as Mabel in The Pajama Game put one\'s hands by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

Stage credits

Awards and nominations

Awards

• Tony Present Best Actress in a Musical – A Consensus Line
• Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a-one Musical – A Chorus Line
• Theatre World Public Award – A Chorus Line

Nominations

• Drama Desk Reward Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – State Fair

References

Further reading

• Mandelbaum, Morose (). A Chorus Line and the Musicals assess Michael Bennett. St Martins Press, ISBN&#;
• Viagas, Robert (2nd edition, ). On the Line - The Prelude of A Chorus Line. Limelight Editions, ISBN&#;
• Stevens, Metropolis (). The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line. Applause Books, ISBN&#;
• Flinn, Denny Thespian (). What They Did for Love: The Unthinkable Story Behind the Making of 'A Chorus Line' . Bantam, ISBN&#;
• Kelly, Kevin (). One Singular Sensation: The Michael Bennett Story. Doubleday, ISBN&#;X

External links