Michael Bennett (Director)

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Michael Bennett , actually Michael Bennett DiFiglia , (born April 8, 1943 in Buffalo , New York , † July 2, 1987 in Tucson , Arizona ) was a dancer and choreographer of the American musical theater of the 1970s and 1980s.

Life

Michael Bennett was born the son of a machinist in a Buffalo auto plant and a secretary. At the age of three he received dance lessons in a dance school for children. When he was 12 years old, he had already mastered a broad repertoire from modern folk dance to classical ballet and tap dance . Bennett appeared on shows such as "Mrs. John Dunn's Little Stars of Tomorrow ”and was active as a choreographer and director in several student productions while he was still at high school in Buffalo. When he was offered the role of "Babe John" in the musical West Side Story by Jerome Robbins shortly before graduating from school , which he was supposed to play on a Touenee through Europe, he decided on a career as an artist.

Since he was a dancer himself, he knew the worries and needs of this profession from personal experience. Due to the desperate situation of the group dancers, the so-called gypsies, who were increasingly sidelined and increasingly exposed to poor employment and working conditions, he came up with the idea for the musical A Chorus Line . His declared goal was to bring members of the chorus line (dancing and singing corps de ballet) to the center of attention, to introduce them to the audience with all their worries and hopes, as human beings, not as stage robots.

Bennett, a self-confessed bisexual, was married to the dancer Donna McKechnie from 1976 to 1979. He had relationships and affairs with, among others, Larry Fuller , Sabine Cassel (the wife of Jean-Pierre Cassel ) and most recently with Gene Pruitt. He died of AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of 44. His funeral took place at the Shubert Theater , where A Chorus Line was being performed.

Works (selection)

As a dancer

  • 1959: West Side Story
  • 1961: Subways Are for Sleeping , St. James Theater
  • 1963: Here's Love , Shubert Theater
  • 1964: Bajour , Shubert Theater

As a choreographer

  • 1966: A Joyful Noise , Mark Hellinger Theater
  • 1968: Henry, Sweet Henry , Palace Theater and Promises, Promises , Shubert Theater
  • 1969: Coco , Mark Hellinger Theater
  • 1970: Company , Alvin Theater and Her Majesty's Theater, London (1972).

As a director and producer

  • 1971: Twigs , Broadhurst Theater
  • 1973: Seesaw , Uris Theater
  • 1974: God's Favorite , Eugene O'Neill Theater

As a director, producer and choreographer

  • 1975: with Bob Avian ; A Chorus Line , at the Newman and Shubert Theaters, and in 1976 at the Drury Lane Theater, in London
  • 1978: with Bob Avian; Ballroom , MajesticTheatre
  • 1981: with Michael Peters; Dreamgirls , Imperial Theater

A Chorus Line received nine Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize , among others .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Bennett on munzinger.de, accessed on May 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Michael Bennett on spiegel.de, accessed on May 21, 2013. (Obituary from July 6, 1987)
  3. ↑ DIED: Michael Bennett . In: Spiegel Online . tape July 28 , 1987 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 24, 2019]).
  4. ↑ The Pulitzer Prize for Theatrical Performance on d-nb.info, accessed May 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ A Chorus Line - this summer's musical event! at simskultur.net, accessed on May 21, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Bennett, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES DiFiglia, Michael Bennett (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Buffalo , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH 2nd July 1987
Place of death Tucson , Arizona , United States