RIP ANN REINKING

RIP. It's still 2020. I hope nobody had her on their 2021 list.

Damn, I really liked her.

It would be shocking, but I'm not seeing confirmation. Where's your link, OP?

The Wikipedia biography is now having a little editing war over whether she's alive or dead.

Has Phil Collins been notified?

I hope it’s not true. I took a ballet class with her and she was super nice.

I think Gavin McInnes is just fucking with the gays.

Her Wikipedia page has been updated saying she died , but whoever did it didn't bother to mention it in the actual article. And the date of death "source" link is to her Internet Broadway Database page -- which shows her still alive.

Who? Speak English.

Geez I sure hope not. She made great mufflers that were guaranteed for the life of the car!

The Wikipedia page also states her "years active" as 1962-present.

She was dead to me when she did this rendition of "Against All Odds".

Bob Fosse was STRAIGHT??????????

So she can no longer reink?

That truly does sadden me. I just watched Movie Movie over the weekend.

Watching Margaret Qualley play her in Fosse/Verdon was the beginning of the end.

What a hoofer.

There was a nice New Yorker piece last year on Reinking and Fosse's relationship

Variety confirms it after getting confirmation from two sources close to Ann Reinking

Fuck. Thanks, R19

Her son has Marfan's, right?

[quote]Bob Fosse was STRAIGHT??????????

He was well known as a huge pussy hound but it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out he was bi.

Meanwhile, i adored Ann since I first saw her as Gwen's replacement in the original production of Chicago and will be so sad if she is truly gone. Loved her.

RIP

Confirmed.

Yes, R21.

[quote] The Wikipedia page also states her "years active" as 1962-present.

Well she’s actively decomposing.

What?! How sad.

Her family released a statement saying she was visiting her brother in Washington state, went to sleep, and never woke up. Probably the best way to go, albeit shocking news to loved ones.

She died on Saturday. I got a message earlier today from a mutual friend.

Here she is from Goodtime Charley, where she played Joan of Arc.

Ann will always be, now and evermore, the Queen of the Oscars.

Broadway WILL NOT dim the lights for her

Gee I wonder why?

The must see moments are at 1:45; 4:00 and 4:24.

Was she on any television shows?

Her performance in Chicago at Encores was mesmerizing. Jessica Rabbit come to life.

Annie's once again riding Bob Fosse's huge cock in heaven.

Wow, R28. If true, I agree that's the best way to go (and how my father went back in 1976).

St. Peter to God: we got Annie!

R28, Pulmonary embolism?

R33 she shows up in an old Ellery Queen episode, she appears around the 3 minute mark.

This is really sad to me - I always defended her on here. Beautiful, amazing dancer, and not a bad actress at all. She suddenly stopped working in movies which was always odd to me - I don’t think her Oscar performance could have done THAT much damage (I mean, when I performing at the Oscars ever a good move).

71 is a little young to hear the “died in your sleep thing.” My guess is she was battling something and they’re keeping it private (for whatever reason, I’m private about a lot of things but I’m just not someone who thinks a cause of death is a “private matter” - unless it’s very sordid).

She married well and she had a child with health challenges.

This was Annie a year and a half ago and she definitely looks not well.

And that's showbiz, kid.

I first remember her in the George C. Scott "Movie, Movie" as the femme fatale in the segment about a promising boxer. She did a musical number looking like Dietrich in "Blonde Venus".

R44, that was just on TV this past weekend.

She was truly dazzling on the stage. Tremendous presence to go along with the talent.

According to the NYT and the Daily Mail, Reinking is dead. According to Wikipedia, Reinking is still kicking.

She was way overrated, her looks were overrated, her dancing was overrated and her singing was definitely overrated.

I loved her. Damn.

R48 is overrated.

Fosse really loved her too. I once overheard him proclaim "She's the top!"

Whomever Fosse was with was the top...

Her singing was not overrated. She never even cut an album of her own, did she?

Ooh. R50 WINGED me.

Whatever. Shall. I do.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^

Wait a minute.... Ann Reinking was a top?

Oh no, this is sad news, I always liked her. Despite what some crabass DLers said, she was fantastic.

R53, since when do you need to release your own record for your singing to be overrated. But Reinking's singing wasn't overrated, it was a well known joke. It was her dancing that was overrated. She danced like a treadless tank. No grace or lightness. When you're built like a bull, you'll dance like one. She did well with the hips and legs but since she had no neck, broad shoulders, short torso and no waist, she was incredibly stiff.

Saying Reinking's singing is overrated is like saying Carol Channing's singing was overrated or Elaine Stritch's. All three were musical comedy stars. They could put over a song, not every song, but most of the ones they were given. Annie should never have been given "Against All Odds."

[Quote] since when do you need to release your own record for your singing to be overrated.

Because singing in a musical doesn't mean that your singing is rated, much less overrated.

Micki will be missed.

Annie with DL fave Don Correia.

R42 I mean it could just be the way she aged but I’m inclined to agree. Something in her speech too and it looks like she can’t move her neck?

R57 has analyzed it well. Reinking was tall and had long legs. She could throw them around impressively.

But watch her body. She dances like she's in a body cast. And she always did.

Bye bye life, bye bye happiness...

Hopefully in heaven, Bob won't be so generous with his cock.

Was she well liked in the Broadway circle? Like did she hang with Chita, Rita, Bernadette, Bebe, et al?

With so few stars left in New York, you're stuck with Ann Reinking

Interview after release of "Annie". Gets better as it proceeds, she is quite cheerful and articulate. RIP

Just like Glenn Close singing "With one look I'll be may", Ann Reinking delivered a bizarre reading of her line in "All that Jazz".

She said, "I gotta pay", which kinda makes sense given that she has just shot her lover, but isn't the line actually supposed to be "I gotta pee"?

One of the last of the good ol’ broads.

Ann Reinking was a great big Broadway star. Loved her.

RIP

But "I gotta pee!" is spoken, not sung. Why would she feel she needed to modify the vowel sound in something spoken?

Oh, that's right, she didn't. I saw her at least a dozen times in Chicago over the years, beginning when she replaced Gwen in the original production. She always said "pee" not "pay."

I’d eat Gary chryst’s ass.

R71, she says what sounds like "pay" on the cast recording.

Ann was friends with my modern dance teacher and would guest lead our little youth dance group on occasion, when in Seattle for a visit. My child memory remembers her as being funny, having the best voice (it reminded me of a younger Suzanne Pleshette) and I wanted my legs to be as long as hers when I grew up.

It was always fun being taught by Ms. Ann.

[quote] she says what sounds like "pay" on the cast recording.

Girls, girls, you're both wrong. She said Pei-Wei.

Don't why I still bat an eye at how nasty some of the bitches on these threads can be.

Ann Reinking was a great inspiration to a lot of people and made the world a happier place. That's more than can be said for many of us.

Don't know why*

R74–where did you take class? Jo Emery, Dorothy Fisher or Gwen Barker, maybe? Maybe we crossed paths.

Against all the odds.

She never really seemed to get caught up by the Gays, perhaps being with Fosse and her horrendous performance on the Oscars weren’t enough tragedy for us to embrace her?

Well the “In Memmoria” section of the Oscars is going to be awkward this year in a “do they or don’t they” kinda of situation, which they will fuck up no matter which direction they choose to go in.

R78, It was a small dance studio in Ravenna for kids 3 - 12. I attended until I was about 8, then moved onto another dance studio in the N. Seattle/Edmonds area, but I did study for a year at Ballet Bellevue.

Going from Ravenna to Seattle for dance education represents quite a commitment. Are you still involved in dance either professionally or in an amateur manner?

R83 I am referring to the Ravenna neighborhood in Seattle, not the beautiful city in Italy. I don’t know if it was really a commitment as much as my mom wanting to keep me busy and I was a decent enough dancer. Unfortunately, a nagging foot injury forced me to quit in high school. I still dance for fun though - pre-covid, mainly barre and tango.

^^^r74/r82^^^

Ann didn't have the high ridin' bitch quality or the wounded sparrow quality to ensnare the gay audience.

I wish I could dance as "stiffly" as Annie.

I hadn't seen it in some time, r45. Actually I was only watching for the second Movie but made sure I caught Ann's number in the first one.

[quote] went to sleep, and never woke up.

Didn’t she remember to set the alarm?

From watching Ann's numbers, it always occurs to me that her face doesn't really draw in the viewer. She's not expressionless. She's no stranger to smiles. But she doesn't enchant or twinkle with her face, like, say, Gwen Verdon.

They'll always be compared to Gwen (or Chita for that matter), r90....

Chita and Bernadette have posted condolences on twitter. Bebe worshipped Annie who was a very kind human indeed. PS her hubby is gorgeous.

I saw her photo in the NYT last night, and before I even read the headline, my stomach dropped.

Beyond the loss of the artist herself, it's dreadful to watch as something wonderful — a unique dance style, 1970s New York — slips further and further into the past. I have the same feeling every time a Balanchine dancer dies. Suzanne Farrell, for example, was Balanchine's last muse. She's 75, and when she goes, she will take an entire world with her.

In so many ways, Ann is irreplaceable.

Does Vicki Frederick have an online presence?

Has Donna McKechnie commented? She and Ann had beef over the CHICAGO revival.

I never got to see Ann on Broadway. I did see "Chicago" in 2001 after she had left and a year later saw a very disappointing all female revue, "The Look of Love", which featured Ann's choreography to Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs. It featured performers from "Chicago" (who were later in the Christine Applegate "Sweet Charity") and some rather bizarre sexual references that made no sense. It didn't get good reviews, but being a part of the Roundabout line-up, that didn't matter being not for profit and mostly subscription audiences. I would have loved to have seen her once. I have only seen Bebe once ("Hey Look Me Over" at Encores), but the promotional video I have of them in "Chicago" together (about 90 minutes of edited footage) is very good.

Good post r93. Ann was part of a very interesting and creative era that is getting further and further into history.

[quote] Has Donna McKechnie commented? She and Ann had beef over the CHICAGO revival.

On what grounds, other than the fact that Ann could land a man who actually liked women?

Everything Old Is New Again from All That Jazz. This is just pure joy.

Vicki Frederick is on FB. She was also a very unique dancer and more curvy than most. Her Music in the Mirror where she whipped her hair out of its ponytail is legendary. I saw her in Annie’s Dancin track on tour and she was fantastic.

The alleged Donna beef happened when Donna was asked to audition for Chicago and when she showed up Ann wasn’t there (after she was told she would be). Donna was offended and I think she left. Ann said there was a misunderstanding.

Has chanteuse and eternal DL fave Alyson Reed sent her condolences?

R87, that somewhat proves the point. Her dancing was all in the legs, something she admitted. I don't know if it was a result of the broken back she suffered in Over Here, but she had no fluidity in her upper body. she always was outfitted in costumes with a V neck to draw away from the fact that she had no neck. In al her dances, she throws in those shoulder shakes because it was all she could do but she always looked tight doing them.

But yes, she had something unique.

Annie also did that alleged voice coach method of saying "Meh", not "Me" in "Sweet Charity". You can really hear it on "I'm a Brass Band." That's Meh.

This ain't a v-neck, honey.

With Tommy Tune. (I wish they'd dumped the trolley in the first ten seconds).

I would say it gives the illusion of one, r105.

R84: would you mind saying which place in Edmonds? That’s where I studied.

Miss Debbie's Tots.

Miss Vicki...

R108, small world! Olympic Ballet perhaps? I studied primarily at Dance Jaclynn (another smaller studio) but did some sessions at OB and when I got a bit older, supplemented at Dance Spectrum.

[quote] and her singing is definitely overrated.

Ann was NEVER praised for her singing; this makes your entire post full of crap, r48.

She didn't die. Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley died. Get it str8!

Back then she sounded pretty good...

Did she ever publicly say she had Marfan Syndrome as well? It’s a hereditary condition and you can have very mild to severe presentations of it. Some cases it’s so mild that people get diagnosed in adulthood when they begin to experience symptoms affecting joints and connective tissues. Her physique is consistent with mild Marfan Syndrome but I suppose we’ll never know for sure.

I only knew of Reinking from Annie and All That Jazz. I’ve been watching videos of her dancing and she did look stiff in the upper body. I have a background in ballet, and one thing that jumps out at me is the lack of epaulement which gives the dance a sense of connectivity in movements between upper and lower body.

r105, are you fucking blind? It's a V-neck under lace but the effect is to make her look like she's got a neck. she was also the only Cassie to go for the V-neck instead of the scoop.

C'mon now. It does not counteract her short neck.

Nor does the outfit here.

R115 what would mild symptoms look like? Long legs and a short waist? That’s a hell of a lot of tall women.

It’s her very square jaw (which got much jowlier as she aged, since she didn’t have a face lift) that I think makes her look like she has no neck. If she had a narrower /more oval or heart shaped face, I think her neck would appear more normal length .

Troye Sivan has the condition, I believe. And his torso is quite long.

She absolutely had a facelift. Two, probably.

Annie knew her body. In a Google search, almost every outfit has either a V Neck or a jacket or print that gives her vertical height in the torso. Even in the publicity photo for Micki and Maude. But there, the shoulders make her look like a linebacker.

R121 ok you can definitely tell in that last picture. But it’s a terrible one! It’s like you can see the mask like ness and wrinkles at the same time. I guess she went to a sunbelt doctor.

R122 I remember that movie and they made a lot of references to her being “big boned.”

I never noticed Ann had a short neck until you guys pointed it out.

I never noticed Teresa Giudice had no forehead until you guys pointed it.

I never noticed Matt Damon had womanly hips until you guys pointed it out.

Why don't I notice these things?

Because you're all about the eyes.

Annie with Sylvia Miles.

How many husbands did Ann have?

I saw a Cassie in a turtleneck. No really. It was winter and a few of the other dancers added sweaters and long sleeved sweatshirts to their costumes.

If Ann had a thing about her torso, would she consent to have such a high waisted skirt?

I love the image on the left. I'd never seen it in color before now.

I don't think she cared about her shoulders either, as this is not a jacket for someone who is sensitive about that.

Areeta, areeta, aretta!

R132 things that cannot be done on Tik Tok.

What a beautiful dancer she was. Seemed like a very kind woman, too.

Ann and son?

She was amazing in the Broadway revival of Chicago.

From the photos posted here I thought she was very tall. She was 5'7" which isn't short, but it isn't really tall either.

I thought Dusty Springfield was tall. She was tiny, she just favored long dresses.

I thought she and Nemetz were both much better than Gwen and Chita in the original Chicago. The show got meaner, snarkier, faster and funnier.

And then it closed.

I've posted this before and was always shot down for daring to suggest it.

Reinking and Nemetz in the original Fosse Chicago. There was also more dancing when they took over. Roxie became a huge production number with confetti streaming down and jazz hands coming out of the stage floor and wings.

Was Fosse not interested in London? You would think CHICAGO would have transferred there with at least Chita recreating her role.

Shame, shame, shame, r126!

R119 with Marfan Syndrome it isn’t just height. In mild cases usually you can’t immediately tell by just looking at the person unless you know what to focus on. I remember a 13 year-old patient that I had years ago who was lanky but not abnormally so. But what struck me was her very long fingers and toes. Anyway she was seen by us because she developed some symptoms that were later found to be related to her mild Marfan Syndrome. It affects connective tissues like muscles so often with growth and aging, people with MS can start to have noticeable or worsening symptoms. With MS you only need one copy of the gene from one parent in order to have the condition. That’s why some have mild instead of severe cases. Now I feel like searching for photos of Ann’s hands and feet.

Agree about Ann and Lenora. Dare I say I also saw Lenora go on for Gwen and thought she was better than Gwen and Liza. Should have been a star. But I’ve heard from friends that she’s very insecure but an absolute doll.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

😂

Sorry, laugh to tears face is meant for R124.

[quote]Her family released a statement saying she was visiting her brother in Washington state, went to sleep, and never woke up

Weirdly, that is exactly how Verdon died. Verdon was visiting her daughter (whose husband had been killed the week prior) in Vermont. One night, she went to sleep, and never woke up.

R147. Wow! Never knew that. God bless Chita. She’s all we’ve got left.

Ahem r 148!

Well. All the odds were against her.

[quote] Was Fosse not interested in London? You would think CHICAGO would have transferred there with at least Chita recreating her role.

The London production of Fosse's "Pippin," a reproduction of the Broadway staging, flopped big in the West End, so his "Chicago" didn't attempt London. Instead, a production of "Chicago" that originated in Sheffield transferred to London's Cambridge Theatre in 1979 and ran about 600 performances. The original Roxie was Antonia Ellis; she was replaced by Elizabeth Seal of "Irma La Douce" fame.

It wasn't until the Broadway revival of "Chicago" went to London in 1997 that the West End finally got a semblance of Fosse's "Chicago." Opening with Ruthie Henshall and Ute Lemper in the leads, It was a huge hit. And Chita eventually played Roxie (rather than her original role of Velma) in the West End production.

R126 [quote] Annie with Sylvia Miles.

Was that a joke? That photo has Ann with none other than Miss Ginger Rogers.

Antonia was also a Fastrada replacement on Broadway.

R126, that's Fred Astaire.

They were just being mean to Ginge, r152. And speaking of Roxie...

I like the mamas family version of “everything old is new again”

This looks like a college production. Ben Cross was no vocalist. And Jenny Logan has zero presence. I love Antonia Ellis' face. She's a big highlight of "The Boyfriend." She should have had a stream of delicious "bitch" parts in her future.

R143 Here's her page on WikiFeet for your examination

I saw Antonia Ellis in that replacement cast of Pippin. I thought it was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen in my live despite no nudity. Of course I was new to Manhattan from rural North Carolina and went around with a constant hard on.

I posted this in the Theatre Gossip thread:

Ann was one of the many joys of Over Here!, the first musical I saw on Broadway. I bought my ticket at the Times Square TKTS booth half price and it was front row mezzanine dead center. God, I loved New York in the 70s.

Exactly who dropped Ann on her head during Over Here. I always thought it was her dance partner John Mineo but someone else told me it was his understudy. She was still in pain when she started Goodtime Charley.

Go to 419 to see Ann and OBC dance up a storm in "Over Here!"

Make that 4:19

As an integral part of the Chicago revival, it could be argued that Ann did more for Fosse's legacy than just about anyone. Yes, of course, without the Chicago revival, Fosse would remain a legendary Broadway figure and, at times, a respected filmmaker, but I do wonder if he would still be such a household name in the way he is today. I'd venture to guess he's one of the few choreographers people who don't follow theatre or dance could name -- not only that -- but people who don't follow the arts can probably identify the look and feel of a Fosse production in a way they probably can't for a Jerome Robbins or Michael Bennett production. Yes, as a result, some people probably think the Chicago revival is 100% Fosse (which isn't fair to Ann, nor to Fosse's legacy,) but all-in-all it probably helped maintain interest in his work in a way nothing else could have done.

Very nice appraisal of Ann by NY Times dance critic.

It is significant that outside of Chicago, Reinking never had another hit as a choreographer. Her staging of the revival of "Applause" was widely ridiculed. She understood the Fosse vocabulary but was hamstrung artistically anywhere else.

The LA Times once noted that within her range, she was a star but outside of it, she was something of a pain. It was a prophetic statement considering that her disastrous performance at the Oscars would be only a few months away.

Isn't that John Travolta in #162's link, at the 4:32 mark?

Anyone else spot John Travolta in r62 ‘s video?

Not only Travolta but Treat Williams and Marilu Henner. Travolta wanted Annie for ChaCha in the movie of Grease.

Wiki says the choreographer for "Over Here" was Patricia Birch, who later choreographed the movie "Grease" and directed "Grease 2".

If that were John Travolta, he'd be touching all the costumes.

Anyone see her as Cassie in "A Chorus Line"?

Chita is truly the last one standing. Bebe never really had original Fosse choreography created on her: she was a replacement in Dancin' and opened the Sweet Charity revival. Chita on the other hand headed up the original Sweet Charity national tour (where Fosse reset some of the numbers for her), then did the film, then had Chicago tailored from the start to her particular talents.

I saw Reinking as Cassie. She wasn't very good. The messy long hair flying around was not an asset to Music and the Mirror. Nor was her singing. McKechnie is a strong singer with some range to her voice. Reinking was a poor singer with no range. And it was transposed down, roughly into the key William Warfield might have sung it. With that change came the loss of a bit of excitement. The change from McKechnie to Reinking must have been like the change when Gwen Verdon left Damn Yankees! and DL Favorite Gretchen Wyler took over. Similar... but not the same.

In fairness to Reinking, I saw a number of those early companies of A Chorus Line and Donna McKechnie was by far the best of the Cassies. McKechnie has loads of star quality and that is the essential requirement for Cassie. She's down on her luck and she's auditioning for a chorus job, but she doesn't fit in the chorus line. She stands out. That's the problem that she faces and that Zach faces. And Donna McKechnie certainly did stand out, especially when she danced. I noticed it again in the Papermill FOLLIES. She was a really good Sally. But the moment she started dancing full out in Who's That Woman?, she stood out from all the others. Not just that her dancing was better, but her star burned a lot brighter. Which was good for anyone who loves dance, but not entirely good for Sally. Donna stands out. Cassie stands out. The other Cassies that I saw did all the steps, but absolutely - including Reinking - were perfectly fine for a job in the chorus.

A lack of star quality is not an acting problem. It's a casting problem. You either got it, or you ain't. No one can be blamed for it. But it is a problem that plagues A Chorus Line. All I can say is, it is best understood by time traveling back to the 70s and 80s and experiencing McKechnie in the role. It was an enormous privilege to see Gwen Verdon dance on stage in CHICAGO. It was an enormous privilege to see Chita Rivera dance on many stages over the years. And it was likewise an enormous privilege to see Cassie played by Donna McKechnie.

What about Rev. Wanda?

[quote] What about Rev. Wanda?

You don't hear the number of times she sings flat? Over and over and over again?

[Quote] You don't hear the number of times she sings flat? Over and over and over again?

To be honest, I think Donna McKechnie has a church lady voice, so I've never been primed to care about Cassie's singing.

Outside of Lerner and Loewe's [italic]Little Prince[/italic] movie musical, all that Donna McKechnie could get in terms of film/TV roles was playing the mother of DL's very own Lisa Whelchel in the 1981 TV movie [italic]Twirl[/italic].

I think Donna was DL fave Erin Moran’s mother. Stella Stevens was Lisa’s slutty mom.

Donna was on 24 episodes of Dark Shadows!

Hello, Donna/R175!

Best Cassie for me was Deborah Henry who left us much too young. She had it all. Heartbreaking when asking Zach for a job and danced and sang the hell out of it. She was also a great Val. I didn’t care for Donna.

Wouldn’t the daughter of Fosse be the last remaining artistic link to him and his choreography?

And they absolutely pushed poor Donna into the wings (at 1:23) in Billie! At least the costumer put her in bright red stripes...but I think your attention would be drawn to her regardless.

R184 No, many dancers who worked with him are still alive.

Annie.

I wonder why they went so severe with Annie's look as Roxie for Broadway. And her characterisation became so heavy handed. She was effortless at Encores!

She looked a lot better with the longer wig at Encores, too.

I saw Reinking do Cassie. I thought she was good. The singing was absolutely jarring down in the basement, but not so much in "The Music and the Mirror" - the place you really noticed it was "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen" where Donna had all those high notes ("Am I your friend, am I your friend, am I your very favorite friend?" "Those stage & move people got there because they're special" etc). That's what sounded weird. She danced it well, but it was essentially McKechnie's choreography, the dance wasn't built on her body.

Reinking did it in LA for three months, then Vicki Frederick came in for a month, then Leland Palmer took over for what was supposed to be an extended run, but she had a breakdown after five performances and left the show.

Did anyone here see Leland in one of those five performances?

Vicki!

I remember when Wanda Richert came to LA as Cassie when the tour came back at the end of the 70s. The press was very much in the vein of "the best Cassie since Donna McKechnie" but you certainly can't tell it from that tape.

Someone posted this on All That Chat. It's a bit "Mary!" but well written...

[quote]I love your description of her Roxie as wicked. It's so true. My favorite three Roxies have been, in descending order, Ann, Karen Ziemba, and Charlotte d'Amboise. Charlotte's has a sort of daffy sitcom energy (and I mean that in a good way). Karen was the most vulnerable and relatable...a Roxie who really seemed to have lived through her share of life's hard knocks and was therefore ALMOST forgivable. But Ann's was gloriously diabolical. I love what the NY Times (?) wrote about her always opening her arms as if to embrace an imaginary crowd. It was a great gesture that showed how grandiose she was, even though she was always total guttersnipe. The way she cackled got the whole audience cackling. It was throaty and boozy and "been around the block," but also childlike and vivacious...like an old barmaid had just snorted a whole package of pixie sticks.

[quote]And, yes, her leaps in Me and My Baby looked like she was in a production of Peter Pan, being lifted by wires. What was even more remarkable to me, though, was how EFFORTLESS she made it all look. It somehow seemed virtuosic and easy at the same time.

[quote]Writing this now and thinking of Karen's Tony winning turn in Contact and the lovely job Charlotte did replacing her, it makes me wish that Ann had come out of retirement to play the Wife. They all have that special ability to dance with a ballerina's grace while still looking like they're dancing in a musical.

[quote]I loved Karen and Ute together. I loved Charlotte and Deidre. But nobody will ever match Ann and Bebe. They articulated the Fosse vocabulary better than any other pairing except Gwen and Chita. And the match of their personalities was also just sheer perfection. Ann was fire. Bebe was ice. I feel so lucky to have seen her.

Ann deserved a more high profiled career. That oscar number seemed to have taken the wind out of the sails in terms of movie and TV roles, and it was unfortunate. She would have made a fabulous Louise in Gypsy when she was younger.

It was nice that Debbie Allen saluted her as a legend on social media. Because she was.

Surely praising d'Amboise makes that poster's opinion moot.

I think she was missing that little something special, which she could fake on the stage, but not film or TV.

R196 - not at all. d'Amboise was not right for A Chorus Line but she was knockout as Roxie in Chicago and as Fastrada in the Fosse'esque Pippin revival.

As long as they made all her Gypsy costumes with v-necks, r195.

Bebe's (understandably) very upset about Ann's sudden passing. She hadn't posted anything on social media for the past couple of days and I started to wonder if they'd had a falling out. But, then when I looked through her Twitter replies (not just her own tweets), I saw her liking and commenting on a few threads saying she was heartbroken, but needed more time to share her thoughts. She's since shared some thoughts on Twitter. You can scroll through and see some of those comments in this thread...

She made it against ALL THE odds!

McKechnie.

Why did Ann sing Against All Odds at the Oscars when Phil Collins was right there in the audience? And why was she chosen in the first place? It just seemed so random. That performance pretty much put an end to her movie career.

I seem to recall and the link above doesn't show it but they cut to Collins right after the performance and he was pissed.

With all due respect to Ann Reinking, that Oscar performance was not one of her best.

Flashback: Oscars Organizers Refuse to Let Phil Collins Perform Song

Watch Broadway choreographer Ann Reinking butcher “Against All Odds” while Phil Collins sits in the audience and stews with anger

A quote from Phil Collins from the article:

[quote]He then turned his attention to Stevie Wonder. “He is one of my heroes, but I have serious doubts about whether or not that song was actually written for the film,” he said, before offering an explanation for why Wonder won that he probably regrets: “He’s blind, black, lives in L.A. and does a lot for human rights.”

Holy shit can you even imagine what would happen if somebody said this today?

Cancelled! Cancelled! Cancelled!

R206 I still don’t understand why it literally would destroy one’s career. When has it ever been a good idea for an actor to perform or any way “be involved “ in the Oscars? Teri Garr’s opening act (also sometime in the 80s) was pretty fucking embarrassing and I’m sure she wished she hadn’t done it, but it obviously didnt. ruin her career. Even Rob Lowe eventually recovered.

Performing at the Oscars is almost expected to be embarrassing (especially back then). I don’t think that alone cooked her goose. (As for what did, I really don’t know. Maybe the industry just didn’t like her.)

This is Miss Warwick at the Oscars, no?

I think it’s pretty obvious Ann Reinking died due to the Oscar curse.

Probably R208 because Reinking’s was so embarrassingly bad, heads had to roll.

I also saw Reinking do Cassie in LA and she was not great. The dance was not her style although she says she had some of it rechoreographed. It looked the same to me. Her acting, however, was quite good. BTW, the line mentioned above is "A diaphragm, a diaphragm, I thought a diaphragm was up here". There is a complete audio of her performance in LA with Kelly Bishop as Sheila that might pop up on YT now that she's deceased. This is an audio of the confrontation scene from ACL with Joe Bennett at the big gala. This is Ann at her surprising best, one of her best acting scenes.

Ann doing her own choreography for Music and the Mirror (Heat Wave section) and it's better than the original though that's not saying a whole lot.

What was Ann’s ranking in the world of dance?

One of the few effective changes in Annie's performance of ACL. Her stance in the line was with her arms behind her back. At the finish of Music and the Mirror, she reverts to the pose, only with her back to Zack, looking over her shoulder.

I think some of her lesser known contemporaries were superior dancers like Sandahl Bergman, Pam Sousa and Cheryl Clark and if you compare their dances in Sweet Charity, McKechnie is definitely better.

I'm surprised to find I'm kind of sad Ann has died. Growing up, I didn't like her because of her weird looks (flat hair, light eyes, big bones) and I thought she seemed arrogant. But later on, I got into Fosse's choreography, and I came to really appreciate her.

I'm not a dance expert, so I know that my high opinion of her skills probably isn't borne out by those in the know. I've studied various dance forms, though not to a high level. When I revisited some clips of Ann Reinking after I watched "Fosse/Verdon," I was very impressed by her precise and expressive port de bras, those LEGS, and her midsection movements/isolations. (I know we have some dissenters here on that point.) Her dancing was, to me unique, and she sounds like she was a very good person.

If embarrassing Oscar performances ruined careers then Rob Lowe and Snow White would have been banished from Hollywood forever. Maybe Ann wasn’t interested in performing anymore and wanted to choreograph. Imagine the direction her career would have gone in had she made the cut for Three’s Company or Charlie’s Angels. I think her life and career turned out just fine.

AMPAS fucked up not allowing Collins to perform, it was the only year in history that all the nominated songs had gone to number one.

R143, Ann's son Chris has Marfan's and Ann was very involved in the Marfan Foundation. Chris is the young man with the blue shirt at the beginning of the video who lays down and bends his knees sideways.

More info about her son Chris and Ann;s work with the Marfan Foundation.

I saw her on Broadway in Chicago - stellar performance. RIP

She had this air about her that made one think she’d demand to be called “Ahn”.

R223 - I never got that vibe from her. Seemed like a kind, funny, genuine lady. I didn't realize she'd become quite religious.

She didn't look or sound well at all in the video posted above that was only about a year and a half ago.

1984 was the first and only time that all of the Best Song nominees were number one hits. I think people had been expecting that since all of the nominated songs were so well known that they would have the performers who sang on them perform them at the oscars. But producers wanted singers who had acting to perform the nominated songs. But somehow, Denice Williams and Ray Parker Jr didn't wind up getting the memo. Although they did pair Ray with Dom DeLuise.

Cher was the original choice to sing Against All Odds but declined.

I think the reason why it hindered her career was because Phil beat that drum in the press for months afterwards. The publicity surrounding that debacle also didn't hurt sales for his recently released album either.

But the oscars had a dicey history of poorly received performances. Peggy Lee's The Way We Were has long been rumored to be equally bad, and there was one year that Dyan Cannon sang a nominated song with a huge forest like set only to have her mike go out on the first word.

And then there was Debbie Boone's performance which had kids signing out words that turned out to be gibberish.

Against All The Odds isn’t a very good song, it just plods along and lays there.

All of Phil Collins' songs were like that. And fuck were they overplayed back in the day. You couldn't escape his dreck music.

Well then, Reinking's performance did the song total justice.

No it didn't. There's nothing worse than someone ACTING a dull song. All that the viewer is left with is the dreadful acting as the song itself doesn't live in the memory.

Which it would not do anyway, if it is a dull song, as you assert it to be.

What if they had gotten Ann Wilson instead?

Ann Wilson would've been pretty good.

Ann and Annie were good friends. Both Seattle girls.

Annie didn't just act the song, she danced it. And she messed up the lyrics. And the lyrics were prerecorded. Just a disaster on all accounts

Look at her face at the end of the number. She really thinks she did well.

Did she ever talk about it?

[quote]If embarrassing Oscar performances ruined careers then Rob Lowe and Snow White would have been banished from Hollywood forever.

When was the last time you heard of the woman who played Snow White?

Did they call her that because she’s king of the Rhine?

So

take

a

look

at

me

now!

Snow White is still an icon and Rob Lowe has worked consistently. No damage done.

No one even remembers what/if Rob Lowe sang. Annie was singing a number one hit, which helped the event live on pop culture memory.

"When I stand here taking every breath with you. Ooh-ooh." The way she does the "ooh-ooh" part is laughable.

I mean, the song is kind of a dog, and it's really not one that lent itself to a production number in the first place. Oscars songs are always bad.

[quote] When was the last time you heard of the woman who played Snow White?

I guess I know now that I'm just old eldergay show biz queen since I know that actress/singer Adriana Caselotti dubbed the speaking and singing voice of Snow White in Disney's 1937 film And the animators used short black and while shots of dancer Marge Champion to help create create Snow White's visuals.

Caselotti was also the voice saying "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" in The Tin Man's song in MGM's The Wizard of Oz two years later.

I am a fount of useless information.

r243 he means the Snow White from the Oscars.

Strange how "To Sir With Love" was the biggest selling single of 1967 and it didn't nab an Oscar nomination.

R240 they don’t remember the song he sang, really?

Ann Wilson of Heart, R232? They should have, she'd have brought the house down.

[quote][R243] he means the Snow White from the Oscars.

I know that, r244. I was responding to the poster who said

[quote] When was the last time you heard of the woman who played Snow White?

[quote] Ann Wilson of Heart, [R232]?

These days, it’s more like “clogged arteries.”

I didn't know that Karen Black cut a version.

So what, R249, she can still deliver. This is from October.

I believe, r248, that they were referring to...

^

"I remember sitting in my condo after being served the papers, watching the news -- and the Snow White number was all that was on the news. I had no idea. My phone never stopped ringing. It was awful. All I can say is what Rob Lowe said, "Never trust a man in a caftan."

Ann would have made a great Fastrada herself.

A thread like this is why I love DL.

From R252:

[quote] "She had a look on her face, if I remember correctly, of pain," Martin Landau tells THR. Nominated that year for best supporting actor for Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Landau, now 84, was one of the few who gave Bowman a warm reception. "It wasn't her fault," recalls Landau. "I empathized with her. Poor Snow White. She didn't have the dwarves to support her."

If the seven dwarfs had been there they probably would’ve been singing a Village People song.

Ann Reinking at the bar.

Who are the other women?

Is Janie Sell still with us? She's looks quite glamorous here.

Janie is still with us but that woman doesn't look like Janie.

Ann spent the 1980s being married to Herbert Allen Jr., a well-known investment banker who was filthy stinking rich. She must've made major bank in the divorce settlement, which is why she didn't work very often after the marriage was over. She had the kind of money that she only worked when she wanted to.

I think it's her, especially as she played the third part of the trio.

R261 maybe maybe not. Women who married really well back then a lot of them hadn’t caught on that you pop out kids right away. Now ALL the gold digging heauxs know just what to do,

Without that she probably couldn’t take him to the cleaners. Plus, she moved to the Sunbelt.

Yes, R262, that's Janie in the photo you posted but it doesn't look like her in the previous photo. I know Janie and knew her back then and earlier.

Did Ann ever do a horror movie? She could easily have played someone with... abilities.

r263 she surely got several million.

Is that a Francesco Scavullo?

Theatermania...

This video is from August 2020. Apparently, Ann was teaching like this up until the week before she passed. Not a bad death, it seems.

Dye Leese sounds too much like Dilate. She should have gone with Dillis.

Reinking is actually pronounced as Ranking. Who knew.

What the hell did she die from?

All that jazz.

Great talents (and teeth).

Didn't Janie Sell end up in real estate, or as a paralegal or a legal secretary? I heard different stories. I just adored her and was so sad when I heard she left the business. The last time I remember seeing her was when she she covered for Burnett in Moon Over Buffalo. She won the Featured Actress Tony for Over Here!, right? I posted above about seeing that from front row mezz dead center after buying my seat at TKTS, my first musical on Broadway.

I knew a heathy 72 years old woman, had a Botox treatment and the next day died suddenly (she was resting in a chair and found dead. )

Ms. Reinking had been visiting her older brother when she died in her sleep in a hotel room, said Dahrla King, her sister-in-law. The cause was not yet known.

Visiting her brother but staying in a hotel room?

R278 she could have found out she was very ill and decided to plan a weekend to visit her family and then quietly end her life (hence the hotel room). Which is why no one is disclosing her cause of death. I actually know someone whose father did this fairly recently - although he went to a clinic in Switzerland to do it. Said he had the time of his life.

The family thought she would be more comfortable staying at a hotel is code.

Jennifer Narin Smith who also fucked Bobby is I that Pippin photo with Ann. Ann understudied Jill Clayburgh as Catherine but not sure if she ever went on. Rumor is Annie and Herb were never married but told people they were. She married someone else right after that relationship ended, had a baby and got divorced all in the same year. But Herbert still took care of her financially. Peter Talbert is a great guy and they were together for over 25 years so good for her.

If she flew to visit her brother she may have been quarantining until she was tested prior to being with them.

I stay in a hotel when I visit family because I’m more comfortable and never feel like I’m inconveniencing anyone. And starting suicide rumors is really irresponsible. Good lord. Have you never heard of anyone passing away peacefully in their sleep?

[Quote] But Herbert still took care of her financially.

Why? Was she a beard?

Her sons full name is Christopher Reinking. Didn’t take his fathers name.

Ms. Reinking was married four times, including briefly when she was 21, and had a six-year relationship with Fosse. She and her most recent husband, the sportswriter Peter Talbert, were married in 1994.

He survives her, along with her son, Christopher, and six siblings: Richard, Robert, James, Jeffrey, Helen and Daniel.

R276, must you people insist on bringing Meghan Markle into every thread?

I won't have that chorus girl in my house!

R283 it’s not totally unheard of at that age but it’s a little odd - 71 is far from a “natural old age” where you just die in your sleep. It’s not a natural expiration date for the vast majority of people,

I mean she could have died in her sleep, but chances are she was having some kind of health issues to begin with.

She had a heart condition.

Also those who carry the gene for Marfan syndrome are at higher risk for a thoracic aortic aneurysm—swelling in the upper part of the large artery that carries blood from the heart, down through the chest and into the abdomen. This can strike without warning and is often fatal if not monitored closely. If Reinking was susceptible and died in her sleep from from an aortic aneurysm, her family probably would be reluctant to disclose and cause Reinking's son that much more trauma not only from his mother's death but from the prospect of dying the same way since he has full-fledged Marfan syndrome.

Why is her family so ashamed of her death they won't release the cause?

Has there been an autopsy?

No she died three days ago but we are backed up.

Will the mortuary staff wear oversized white gloves?

I JUST READ ON ANOTHER THREAD THAT KURT WEILL IS DEAD TOO! AND PORNHUB!!!

Kurt Wild!?

R293 not yet, stay tuned!

It is the holiday season so we have a lot of parties to attend.

Maybe her family believes it’s no ones fucking business if she was battling an illness. They owe the public nothing. She’s gone so let’s celebrate her life and contributions.

Ann's final curtain

Except it turned out not to be, r301. She came back as Roxie for a week when everyone, including Marilu Henner, got the flu.

Didn't she have to wear a long shirt?

R303, she wore a tunic.

If Lenora Nemetz had what it takes to be a star, she would not have let them costume her thigh like that.

Beats a caftan.

She's a pistol onstage, but she doesn't have a magnetic presence on screen.

Nor is her voice or vocal style distinctive.

There's a bootleg of Nemetz subbing for LuPone in GYPSY. Has anyone heard it?

How the fuck did this turn into a Lenore Nemetz thread?

We're discussing Miss Reinking. Not some frau who looks like she's playing dress up at a gay bar.

I know right, must be the time of year or length of the pandemic, threads be going off the rails everywhere.

Podcast with Lenora.

I love Lenora but by the time I saw her in Chicago she had put on quite a bit of weight. I thought she was going to break the chair in When Velma Takes the Stand.

Oh for chrissakes, r310, there's over 300 posts in this thread. Really, how much more is there to say/post about Ann? Did the Great Livvie's DEAD to Me thread even get to 300 posts?

[Quote] I thought she was going to break the chair in When Velma Takes the Stand.

I thought similarly about Ruthie Henshall when she returned to the show not long after having a baby.

Who was Mary McCarty's replacement below?

R312. I listened to some of the podcast. That guy is a hack. He thought Fosse directed the broadway production of Cabaret? He didn’t know Ann replaced Gwen in Chicago. I’m assuming he’s straight.

Why did Ann wear that Annie wig?

R316. Alaina Reed and she was great. Ended up in the sitcom 227.

R318. That’s not the wig she wore in the show. It was short and blonde. The curly wig was for publicity pics. It’s identical to the one Gwen wore.

Why did Gwen wear a wig?

Reinking didn't seem particularly vain. Or she had little idea about styling.

Exhibit B.

Wig-wearing is/was commonplace on stage, r321...

[Quote] I love Lenora but by the time I saw her in Chicago she had put on quite a bit of weight.

Lenora just said on the podcast (circa 35:00) that Tommy Tune told her to lose some weight when she auditoned to replace Ann Reinking in the tour Tune did of "Bye Bye Birdie."

Except for the color, r320.

Ann Reinking wore Barbara Cook's hair?

Lenora and Tommy.

The "Kim Mcafee", Belle Callaway, went on to be one of the better Roxies in the CHICAGO revival.

That fucking host just said he knows Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb from GOLDFINGER!?!?!

Belle played Mrs McAfee. Kim was Susan Egan. Belle also understudied Ann in BBB, Stefanie Powers in Applause and Bacall in WOTY tour. Whatever happened to her? She was a great Roxie.

Thanks for the correction. Belle looks too young to be a teenager's mother in the pic above.

The host also thought Lenya was playing Sally Bowles in CABARET. Bless his heart.

How sad. Where's my Chipotle? Hopefully, DoorDash remembers I asked for the keto bowl this time.

[quote] Chita is truly the last one standing. Bebe never really had original Fosse choreography created on her

*cough*...

Ben Verren is standing? Watch out!

Ann was a Kit Kat girl in CABARET with Lenora. I hadn't heard that before.

Belle CHICAGO

It's a shame Bonnie Franklin never did a Fosse show.

She would have been fabulous in Chicago.

Only if they sent Roxie to the electric chair.

[quote]It's a shame Bonnie Franklin never did a Fosse show. She would have been fabulous in Chicago.

Especially during all the tap numbers.

Dammit, Velma!

Hold me, David...

Nine Roxies and Reinking is one of the worst. Charlotte IS the worst. She sounds like she's doing Ruth Buzzi's Gladys. Shocker is Melanie is far and away the best.

Yes, Melanie is a perfect example of being the part rather than acting it. Such an effortless reading. I saw Ruthie Henshall as Roxie circa 2010. She'd given up the schtick and gave a more real, touching performance.

Melanie is the ONLY good one in that set. What fucking kind of voice was Ann doing? And Lisa Rinna was just awful!

Where was Marilu?? I would have loved to have seen that, I bet she wasn’t bad.

Marilu was a disappointing Roxie. Bland.

R346 But she never forgot a single line.

r347, hyperthymestic individuals like Marilu actually appear to have poorer than average memory for arbitrary information.

Ann sounds like she is doing a bad Gwen Verdon imitation voice.

I am with r346...

Melanie? Mushmouth? I could barely understand a word she said.

Aging is a bitch, huh r351?

I saw Reinking in CHICAGO twice. Both times she wore a platinum blonde curly wig, much like the red curly wig worn by Verdon.

Did anybody see Sandy Duncan as Roxie? I heard she was terrific but she broke her foot a month into her run. She had to leave and never returned.

Sandy broke her foot BEFORE she got to broadway. She wasn’t happy during the run and left when her contract was up. I saw her. She was ok. I didn’t understand the raves.

Sandy Duncan is in the 9 Roxies compilation above. She's very sitcom.

Sandy was paired with Ruthie Henshall as Velma. They joined the tour before bway. Sandy broke her foot. Weisslers paired Ruthie with Charlotte for broadway and brought the critics back. By the time Sandy made it to bway Ruthie was cast in Putting it Together so they only worked together for a few weeks. Then they gave Velma to an understudy and Sandy wasn’t happy.

[quote]She would have been fabulous in Chicago.

I wish we'd sent her to Pyongyang.

[quote]It's a shame Bonnie Franklin never did a Fosse show.

Hold me, Billy--I'm scared.

[quote]I love Lenora

But EVERYBODY loves LEONA.

[quote]"Never trust a man in a caftan." .

This should be DL's unofficial motto.

[quote]I am a fount of useless information.

You and I would be a match made in hell.

My nickname in college was "Department of Useless Information."

Fosse originally cast Bonnie as the Angel of Death in "All That Jazz" and devised an elaborate dance number to showcase her phenomenal tap talent. His affair with Jessica Lange led to her getting the role instead, and poor Franklin and her tap shoes were rather cruelly kicked to the curb.

^^ Fake old news. But funny.

Bonnie flunked her audition for the Ann Reinking role when she slapped the child.

Erzsebet still has a red mark on her cheek to this day, r365...and the nightmares...

"Everybody Loves Leona" is one of the worst songs Sondheim ever wrote. Likewise Rodgers. The monologue it replaces is much more effective. It was a mistake to put it back in for Pasadena. Did they do it at Encores as well?

Who *did* audition to play the Reinking role in ATJ? Reinking had to audition, was that just to humiliate her, or was Fosse actually seeing actresses for the part?

[quote] "Everybody Loves Leona" is one of the worst songs Sondheim ever wrote. Likewise Rodgers. The monologue it replaces is much more effective. It was a mistake to put it back in for Pasadena. Did they do it at Encores as well?

Yes, "Everybody Loves Leona" was included in the Encores! production.

Did any names turn down "My One and Only" before Twiggy came onboard? Obviously Sandy Duncan did it later. Was Ann ever in the running?

Did Sandy replace Valerie Harper as Roxie?

Did they play "Everybody Loves Leona" at Ms. Helmsley's trial?

Tommy wanted Twiggy after working with her in The Boyfriend. She was perfection.

I saw Sandy and Ruthie in Chicago and previously had seen Bebe/Ann (and later Amy Spanger as Roxie, don’t remember who was Velma). They were electric together and it was a very “one-upmanship” type of performance, which obviously works like gangbusters for this particular show. Sandy’s “They Both Reached For The Gun” and “Me And My Baby” were unforgettable. She was exquisite. Her cutesy, “sitcom” take on Roxie perfectly complimented Ruthie’s hard-bitten Velma. They are close friends apparently and their chemistry was palpable. One of the best, if not the best, pairings ever in the revival.

"'Micki and Maude' Curse! Dudley Moore and Ann Reinking are dead. Is Amy Irving next?!"

Chicago curse! Verdon, Orbach, Mary McCarty, Reinking, and Barney Martin are dead! Chita and Lenora must be quaking in their pumps!

I'm a shurvivor!

I just rewatched "All That Jazz" last week after reading that she had died. She is great in it, both at dancing and acting. She had marvelous screen presence, and I kind of wish she'd been in more movies. Reinking aside, "All That Jazz" is simply one excellent movie,, and I say that as someone who doesn't even really like musicals. The storytelling is done in an almost subconscious way, where the vignettes simply wash over you, but you never leave the film feeling like you didn't get a full perspective of Joel Gideon/Fosse's life.

I'm not really a musical person either, but I've always loved All That Jazz. Fabulous film. It should've won Best Picture instead of Kramer vs. Kramer, which is what today we would call a Lifetime movie.

"All That Jazz" isn't a musical. It's a movie with music.

R380 I suppose you're right; in some ways, it's almost an "anti-musical" musical.

ATJ never would have won the Best Picture Oscar. Apocalypse Now was the likely winner and for me, Breaking Away was the best of the lot.

I'm not surprised that All That Jazz didn't win Best Picture against Kramer vs. Kramer. I suspect the Academy must have thought it was too dark. I think the general reception towards All That Jazz was a bit mixed at the time.

I wonder what moves she would have taught the Truvada Dancers.

Take Off With Us/Airotica is the most stunning musical number ever captured on film. Campy, sexy, sensual, funny and erotic all at the same time. And those dancers were absolutely gorgeous. Not overly muscular like so many of them are today.

R385 I love the ex wife reaction to Joe afterwards.

R385, and it's interesting that on a thread about Reinking, the best dancing done in ATJ was done by another female, Sandahl Bergman.

And her new tits, r387.

Sandhal got that part when Cheryl Clark dropped out after Fosse added the topless bit. Much respect for Cheryl.

I guess the [italic]Annie[/italic] movie villains won if all the adult protagonists are now deceased.

And damn, those were some nasty looking titties. But if you saw her in the opening numbers of Mame, Sandahl really had nothing upstairs. Maybe she helped inspired Tits and Ass. Not really but it became understood.

Fosse didn't want Cheryl after a while and knew that if he added the topless scene, she'd quit. She even helped choreograph the end of the number with him but it didn't matter. He wanted Sandahl and it turned out to be the right choice. Did you know Fosse tried to pimp Sandahl out to David Begelman in an attempt to get more money for the movie. Sandahl said that if he made the call, she was going back to LA and he wouldn't be able to finish the number.

R391. Nothing you wrote surprises me. I saw Sandahl play Cassie. Her acting was so so but her dancing was spectacular.

How come I can’t find and hot pictures of Leland Schwantes all sweaty in just a jock dancing in Take Off With Us?

Tim Curry had a massive stroke several years ago - only in his 60s. Not a vegetable but permanently disabled /in a wheelchair. Not exactly “winning.”

I don't think the Airotica number is sexy. And Bergman's dreadful implants were perfectly cast. Plastic plastic plastic.

Go, Sandy, Go!

Were Bergman and ONJ really a thing?

I agree, r395, it tries way too hard. Speaking of sexy choreography...

I just watched R385's Take Off With Us/Airotica on YouTube at twice the speed, no way I could have sat through that dreck in real time. Fosse's choregraphy is tedious. Bergman was gorgeous though. I never paid attention to her career.

Well, it mostly consited of exploitation movies so you were probably better off.

*consisted

Here you go r393

[quote]Tim Curry had a massive stroke several years ago - only in his 60s. Not a vegetable but permanently disabled /in a wheelchair. Not exactly “winning.” —Lilly St Regis

Albert Finney died. He wins by default.

^ I died first, racist!

R402 Nice thanks! And a good shot of his hand too, he became a renowned hand model.

Only on DL would anyone of any sexual persuasion ever deem “Airotica” not sexy. Those basements must be deep!

Only on earth would anyone of any sexual persuasion ever deem “Airotica” not sexy.

There, R406. Fixed that for you.

Only on earth would anyone of any sexual persuasion ever deem “Airotica” not sexy.

There, R406. Fixed that for you.

If you can “fix” you can learn how to post, too, R407 AND R408.

[quote]Take Off With Us/Airotica is the most stunning musical number ever captured on film.

You know the story of that, right? When Fosse directed PIPPIN, he took Stephen Schwartz's innocuous, pretty little ballad, "With You" and sexed it up into a major dance number, a la what happens to "Airotica" in ATJ. Schwartz had been banned from rehearsals, so when he finally saw it, he threw a fit. But it was his only his second major show (after Godspell) and he had no power. The setup up version stayed (but Schwartz made sure his original was recorded for the album). Everyone thought the composer/lyricist team in ATJ was obviously Kander and Ebb, but Fosse insisted to friends that the "Ebb" character, so whiny, annoying, and hysterical, was actually based on Steve Schwartz.

So....Ann Reinking, K.T. Oslin and now Rebecca Luker.

R410 Why wasn't good, real shit like that in the dreary little Fosse biography.

R430, but that's suggesting there's only one incident that inspired things. Clearly not and they're also filtered through Fosse's eyes so they're not necessarily correct either since he sees himself as a misunderstood victim. The composer in ATJ is absolutely based on Ebb, at least performance wise,. If you ever saw Ebb perform, you knew it immediately. And there was an incident in Chicago that was similar. In Razzle Dazzle, he choreographed the number so people would be fucking on the stairs and Ebb felt Sinatra wouldn't record the song associated with that imagery. Certainly, if you compare "You" to "Razzle Dazzle", there's only one song that would merit the line "now Sinatra will never record it." The actor even resembles Ebb.

It like Betty Hutton and Judy Garland re Neely O'Hara!

And Razzle Dazzle was completely changed but With You stayed as is. Why would Verdon care what happened in Pippin since she wasn't in it? As I said, don't try to match up every incident and character with real life. At the beginning of ATJ, Joe Gideon says he lies all the time. Fosse probably said the same thing.

R413, EVERYONE wanted Fosse to change Razzle Dazzle. Ev-ry-one, from Gwen and Chita to Stan Lebowski down to the coffee boy. Freddie was far from alone in thinking the number wasn't staged well. The character in All That Jazz is 100% based on Stephen Schwartz's hissy fits during Pippin. Freddie was afraid of Fosse during Chicago and was desperate to please him, and just didn't behave that way in the rehearsal room.

Just like Fosse/Verdon wasn't a documentary, neither was All That Jazz. If you watch it carefully, the Bobby character is the only sympathetic one in the whole thing, it's other people always doing to HIM: underestimating him, cheating on him, trying to take the show away from him, etc. All That Jazz is a masterpiece, but don't make the mistake of thinking it was an honest portrayal of the events of his life.

R376, you forgot Michael O'Haughey!

Michael O'Haughey was the poor man's Spring Byington.

M. O'Haughey

Fred doing Ring Them Bells. You almost can't satirize this but the similarity to the composer in ATJ is undeniable.

I remember seeing Fred belt out Maybe This Time on Merv. I think that was my first MARY! moment.

R418 - what a fun clip. That Mary Sunshine looked pretty butch in his turtleneck and blazer.

Anyone have any video of "Mary Sunshine's" reveal in Chicago (preferably the revival). In which she drops the facade and reveals herself as a man. The audience reaction is always a lot of fun.

Maybe This Time wasn't written for Chicago. It was written for Kaye Ballard's nightclub act. It ended up in the film when they went looking for additional material for Liza. Kaye has been discussed lately in the Theatre Gossip thread.

Maybe This Time wasn't written for Chicago. It was written for Kaye Ballard's nightclub act. It ended up in the film when they went looking for additional material for Liza. Kaye has been discussed lately in the Theatre Gossip thread.

Needless to say, Kaye sang it much more butch than Fred.

Kaye also had "If You Hadn't But You Did" taken away from her. She left "Two on the Aisle" out of town because of it.

Ya gotta watch out for that damned Dolores Gray.

R425 - did Kaye do her biting the hand bit?

i meant Cabaret above, of course, not Chicago, about Maybe This Time.

[quote]did Kaye do her biting the hand bit?

We see clips of her doing it about a hundred times in the documentary.

When is Jo Anne Worley going to get her documentary, complete with footage from her turn(s) in GYPSY?

R419, I understand why you think that's so. However, if you had been around to see Schwartz's flights of pique (starting with the opening number, and especially over With You and parts of Glory) you'd prolly understand the Songwriter's portrayal a bit more clearly.

Kander looked better in the 1990s than in the 1970s.

Jo Anne Worley spent over a year as Carol's first understudy in Dolly. She finally left the production after never getting to go on. Carol never missed.

Did Worley also understudy for Nancy Dussault in "Bajour" AND NEVER GET TO GO ON?

It's become traditional for whoever plays Mrs. Rose to cover for Dolly, even in Midler's recent production. There are exceptions. During Carol's last tour/Broadway stop her understudy was Florence Lacey, who otherwise played Irene.

R435 - I saw Florence Lacey play Dolly in that tour. I think Carol was getting a special Tony award and decided at the last minute she was going to fly out from San Diego to New York to accept the award in person. The majority of the audience got refunds, but it was the only night my family could go and, at 12, I had no idea who Carol even was. I imagine it was one of the few (if only) times Florence went on for Carol, so she relished the moment -- even if it was with a half empty theatre. She was so funny and charming.

I have no idea what the hell this has to do with Ann Reinking, but I guess this thread has moved on..?

Has Ann become more in death than she was in life?

I would like to know why with her increased profile from a movie career, the 1980s were a wash for her on Broadway. The best she could do was replace Debbie Allen in "Sweet Charity"?

R438 Oh trust me, Debbie Allen I’m sure felt no one could replace her in that or anything. Debbie thinks very highly of herself.

But... Debbie sings worse than Ann...

Channing was so obsessed with her flawless Dolly record that when she had to miss that one performance to attend the Tonys she insisted they change the playbills and posters to Florence Lacey in Hello Dolly! so it looked like Flo was a replacement rather than going on for absent Carol. Carol did miss one show in London but pretended that never happened.

Debbie WAS irreplaceable in Sweet Charity. She was the reason the revival was a success and when Ann took over, it quickly closed and Donna McKechnie didn't even make it for a few months on the road.

The only Sweet Charity revival I care about was Christina Applegate’s and she did it on a broken foot.

Debbie Allen? Blecch.

I waited for her to go on vacation to see Bebe Neuwirth perform the role. She was predictably great as Charity.

Bebe might have been great but at that point, she sold as many tickets as Pamela Peadon did when she replaced Debbie Reynolds in Irene.

I didn't invest in it, R445, so I did not care. Still don't.

If she was going to sell better than Debbie Allen, then she would have been cast as Charity, not as Helene and the Charity stand-by, so you have not pointed out anything that the world didn't already know.

Pamela Peadon replaced Debbie Reynolds in Irene? What about Jane Powell? Pam Peadon wound up taking over Cassie in the LA Chorus Line after Leland Palmer bailed after a few performances.

Ann kept Charity open for 5 months. Debbie was terrible. Bebe was worse. Donna McKechnie does not sell tickets on the road.

Pam Peadon stepped in for Jane Powell during an absence for illness. She never took over the role or replaced anybody.

R446, oh you poor ignorant slut. You didn't like Allen but she made that production a hit. No other female did that for this show and it was the ultimate irony that Fosse's original show that year, "Big Deal" was an unmitigated flop. Martin Gottfried pointed out that by giving SC "Revival of the Year" and BD only getting Best Choreography meant that Fosse was crowned "Has Been of the Year.".

Someone just posted this. Not sure who the choreographer was. The choreography is a bit uninspired. Ann dances sensationally, as expected, but she also sounds fabulous.

Forget Ann, who was one of her boys? The one with dark hair, who's broad where a bro should be broad.

Helen Gallagher would seem like a shoo in for replacing as a character called Velma Kelly. Had she given up dancing by then?

Her voice was just too darn low. It really is pitched to low for maximum excitement. It undercuts everything she tries to do.

R451 is that from the Kennedy Ctr Honors?

Where is Nancy Dussault (the original Muriel) these days?

Quarantined in Oxnard, r456.

R455 - No. Some one night TV special concert -- something like Broadways does DC.

Ann and Erz.

Was this from a cabaret act? The spoken "funny" part in the middle isn't. She looks great in that dress.

[Quote] she was replaced by Elizabeth Seal of "Irma La Douce" fame.

And here she is!

Yikes! That was only a couple of years after Seal was fired as the Cassie replacement in ACL. Bennet was right. She's terrible.

Her accent work is terrible. And she's not helped by forgettable staging and choreography. She has some charm in the part, though.

Her leaps are good.

Has Gary Chryst her dance partner at her triumphant oscars performance and the iconic pimp of pat benatar commented yet?

Has Reinking herself ever discussed the Oscar debacle? There was some piece that had her talking about a bunch of her taped performances but they sadly omitted AAO.

Is Elizabeth Seal Roxie or Velma in that clip?

Seal is Roxie. Jenny Logan is Velma.

Bebe is amongst the dancers remembering Annie for an hour on this livestream.