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It is sad to see him go and I will get to see him again someday. [4], In 1973, Bennett was asked by producers Joseph Kipness and Larry Kasha to take over the ailing Cy ColemanDorothy Fields musical Seesaw. [14], He always collaborated with his assistant Bob Avian, who was a lifelong friend. Police are asking anyone in the Oakview section of Drexel Hill near or off Bridge Street, or along the Baltimore Pike corridor in Clifton Heights, to contact them. There are some filmed records which testify to the show's initial power. Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. And after finishing his residency at Cox Medical Center South in Springfield, he worked at St Johns Hospital in nearby Willard, Mo. FamilySearch. [18][19], Unlike his more famous contemporary Bob Fosse, Bennett was not known for a particular choreographic style. [13], In 1978, he purchased 890 Broadway and converted it for use as a rehearsal studios complex for dance and theatre. Mr. Bennett rarely stepped back to reflect. Michael A. Bennett Jr. Obituary. He was 52. https://FamilySearch.org : 18 July 2022. Dance Lessons at 3. Mike was preceded by his grandparents Andrew and Sarah Bennett, James and Josephine Keogh, Roy and Lola Polk. ''Scandal'' was the last show of his own devising that Mr. Bennett would work on. His beginnings as a dancer were most strongly reflected in A Chorus Line, which was made for and about dancers. Theater Hall of Fame. The Lummis Hamilton Funeral Home in Camp Point is handling the arrangements. He was 96 . Many Broadway houses were dark when it literally lit up West 44th Street (and the rest of the theatre district, too), becoming the Shuberts then-unheard of sole tenant for fifteen years. His death was a blow, not only because he was so damn young, but for how it effected those who loved his work so much. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Published by. Privacy Policy and He could be a helper behind Tony Pollard with Ezekiel Elliott having been cut. MICHAEL BENNETT OBITUARY Bennett, Michael Middleton Bennett of Grand Rapids passed away unexpectedly Dec. 4, 2017, at the age of 74. [7], Bennett's next project was A Chorus Line. The musical was formed out of twenty hours of taped sessions with Broadway dancers. Instead, Bennett's choreography was motivated by the form of the musical involved, or the distinct characters interpreted. Bennett has long been Mr. Robbins's heir apparent, as he has demonstrated in two previous 'Gypsy'-like backstage musicals, 'Follies' (which he staged with Harold Prince) and 'A Chorus Line.' The show opened April 26, 1970. In a 911 call just before 6 a.m., her mother Patsy Ramsey was inconsolable as she told the dispatcher that her daughter was missing and that she'd found a ransom note at the bottom of her stairs. ''What I did in 'Company' was to choreograph the characters,'' Mr. Bennett later recalled. Winning a third Tony Award (for choreographing Seesaw) was nice, but Bennett wanted more. Consider offering these words of comfort if you're not sure what's appropriate. I will always remember all the video games we played. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. ''I think that a lot more of the show was choreographed than most people who saw it realized. Michael D. Bennett, 75, of Paloma, died at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, October 29, 2022, at Blessing Hospital in Quincy. Parenting Adult Coffee on Mental Health. Mr. Bennett had become involved with the show through the Shubert Organization and its president, Mr. Jacobs, to whom he had been close since the early 1970's. He married Judith Ann Schaefer. . Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. Get Unstuck, Re-centered, Focused and Back on Track. Also, please follow me here on Medium and feel free to email me with comments or questions at Ron@ronfassler.org. It's why there were no set-piece dance routines in the show: dance and movement were organic to the entire action. Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. In the 21st century, it's not just urns and gravestones anymore. Winning a third Tony Award for choreography was nice, but Bennett wanted more much more. He admitted that any project that followed A Chorus Line was bound to be an anti-climax. Would you like to offer Michael A. Bennett Jr.s loved ones a condolence message? A rewritten version of the show is to open this month in London, under the direction of Bob Avian, Mr. Bennett's longtime assistant. To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one. He would get a twinkle in his eyes and the adventure would begin. [2][3] He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his local high school - Bennett High School in Buffalo, NY (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_High_School_(Buffalo,_New_York)) - before dropping out to accept the role of Baby John in the US and European tours of West Side Story. Bennett and lyricist Ed Kleban are portrayed in this partly fictionalized life story of Kleban, using some of Kleban's unpublished songs. ''Restless orchestration, expletives over music whenever a misstep occurs, linked bodies cross-kicking forward as rhythms climb to crescendo, all give the sense of a word, a sung note a sprung dance, an entire show being born on the spot, taking shape as we watch,'' Walter Kerr wrote in The Times. Family and friends are mourning the sad loss of Michael Bennett, 58, of Malibu, tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver on Sunday, October 4th, on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. It changed the fortunes of Joe Papps Public Theatre as well, since the foresighted producer provided the workshops that made the show possible, allowing the Public to share in A Chorus Lines profits and keep it solvent for years to come. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. No more Lubitsch pictures.. [4] Success finally arrived in 1968, when he choreographed the hit musical Promises, Promises on Broadway. It was an emotional tribute to an artist who, through such shows as ''Company,'' ''Follies,'' ''Dreamgirls'' and ''A Chorus Line,'' left an indelible imprint on the comtemporary Broadway musical. Two tenants purchased the building, and it remains a rehearsal facility for American Ballet Theatre, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, Gibney Dance Company, and others. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. According to his lawyer, John Breglio, Mr. Bennett`s death was caused by In 1967 and 1968 he assisted, without attribution, in choreographing ''How Now, Dow Jones'' on Broadway and ''Your Own Thing'' and ''By Jupiter'' Off Broadway. Michael was employed as an over-the-road truck driver for many years. He gave himself a new last name when he pursued this life in the arts, taking inspiration from his high school. All his male collaborators mentioned above took home Tonys for Company, but not Bennett, whose crafty stylings were a bit too subtle for the average theatregoer. [1] His father was Italian American and his mother was Jewish. When he was diagnosed with AIDS in December 1985, (he) carefully disguised that fact as well". Ways to honor Michael Bennett's life and legacy. Michael A. Bennett Jr.a.k.a Peanut, passed away at the age of 25, unexpectedly on Saturday March 04, 2023.Peanut is survived by his mother, Sheila R. Arnold, stepfather Michael S. Arnold and father Michael A. Bennett Sr., brothers Skylar, Cameron & Dax and sister Madison. It also changed Bennett immeasurably, and not for the better. After two five-week workshops at Mr. Papp's Public Theater, the show, ''A Chorus Line,'' inaugurated the 299-seat Newman Theater on May 21, 1975, and moved to the Shubert Theater on Broadway on July 25, 1975. We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time. He got death threats from the community, some from business owners, and some from Texas, his brother, Damon, said in an interview. Widely recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, he is driven by a deep-seated obligation to create more opportunity for the next generation. Discerning in that conversation the seed of a show about Broadway's least-heralded and most overworked journeymen, he persuaded Mr. Papp to finance a workshop to develop the material. I believe that one of the best things I've ever done was the opening number, the 'Company' number. "[24], Bennett was gay,[25] though he was romantically linked to a number of women. The show opened Dec. 1, 1968, and ran through June 26, 1971; it was Mr. Bennett's first hit and third Tony nomination. His Parents, Andrew and Jacqueline Bennett, Step-mother Noma Bennett, brothers Steve, Larry and several Aunts and Uncles. For the past 15 years, there were only two family physicians in Greenfield, Mo., a town with 1,371 residents about 40 miles northwest of Springfield. Exercising complete creative control was his goal, and he achieved it with A Chorus Line. According to Lincoln County deputies, Michael Charles Bennett was in an altercation with his stepfather, Justin Charles Chafin, when Bennett grabbed an AR-15 and shot Chafin several times.. In January 1986, Mr. Bennett withdrew from ''Chess,'' giving the first public indication that he was ill. During the next year and a half, he withheld the nature of his illness from all but his closest associates, telling others that he had a heart ailment. What he did with a cast of mostly non-dancers was ingenious, and the show moved with a fluidity that Bennett steadily improved upon with Follies, A Chorus Line and finally Dreamgirls, where his integration of lighting, scenery and actors flowed seamlessly. He began to alienate people left and right, some of them his closest associates. That show was one of many that revealed Mr. Bennett's love of show business and the people associated with it. Michael Bennett, original name Michael Bennett DiFiglia, (born April 8, 1943, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.died July 2, 1987, Tucson, Ariz.), American dancer, choreographer, and stage musical director. He was a vigorous proponent of wearing masks and of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, offered free Covid-19 testing to his patients with funding help from the federal C.A.R.E.S. He was the son of the late Angus and Betty (Smithers) Bennett. He died in Tucson, Arizona in 1987 from complications caused by AIDS at the age of forty-four. A heart ailment was the story used to explain why he couldnt proceed, when it was actually his AIDS diagnosis, which he kept hidden from nearly everyone. Broadway history was made at the end of Michael Bennett's beautiful and heartbreaking new musical, 'Dreamgirls.' Longest-Running Show. It was devastating. Donna McKechnie, a star of . This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. As show doctor, he had contributed to Mr. this is not Sappington on the right, but her understudy Julane Stites). It was. With a contemporary pop score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a wisecracking book by Neil Simon and Bennett's well-received production numbers, including "Turkey Lurkey Time", the show ran for 1,281 performances. Meeting privately with the company in the theater's auditorium, the entire group sang the song ''One,'' a song from the show. [20], In act 2 of Company, Bennett defied the usual choreographic expectations by deliberately taking the polish off the standard Broadway production number. Miss McKechnie returned several times to the Broadway cast. In his younger days, Bennett had a relationship with Larry Fuller, a dancer, choreographer and director. He was hurt pretty badly, and during that stay in the hospital he decided he wanted to be a doctor, Ms. Bennett said by phone. Born Michael Bennett DiFiglia, he grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he studied dance as a teenager and choreographed his high school musicals. Nationwide, 463,205 health care workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 1,541 have died as of April 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The lights of Broadway theaters were dimmed briefly last night at 8 P.M. in memory of Mr. Bennett. [28] left her family in Paris to live with Bennett in Manhattan, but the relationship soured. ''I always thought I was prepared for success,'' Mr. Bennett said in an interview in The Times in October 1981. But Mr. Bennett's next show, ''Dreamgirls,'' proved to be as electrifying to an increasingly moribund Broadway as ''A Chorus Line'' had been six years earlier. Bennett was influenced by the work of Jerome Robbins. Arts reporter, BBC News. Worried by his celebrity and his father's Italian background, he began to suspect he might fall victim to a Mafia hit. But the idea did not advance. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The most recent obituary and service information is available at the Brewer Funeral Home, Inc. - Lake Luzerne website. Mr. Bennett established Plum Productions to run his business interests, and in 1971 directed a nonmusical play, George Furth's ''Twigs,'' with Sada Thompson. The song also featured Margo Sappington, who would later choreograph the nude revue Oh! A Chorus Line's number "One" is included in this musical. He became a multi-millionaire, and with that came power and paranoia (unquestionably linked to his drug use). late last night has died. So very sorry. He even managed to squeeze in time in Los Angeles, where he appeared on the TV dance series Hullabaloo, which is where he met the dancer who would become his muse, Donna McKechnie. I attended its opening night and found it charming, dynamic and even a bit thrilling, but the critics had their knives out and literally killed it. Omissions? Born: in Fountain Hill, he was a son of the late Robert E. and Anna M. Laky. In October 1986, Mr. Bennett sold the building to several of the dance companies housed there. If you enjoy these columns, check out Up in the Cheap Seats: A Historical Memoir of Broadway, available at Amazon.com in hardcover, softcover and e-book. Having worked nearly nonstop for more than a decade, Mr. Bennett realized that his days as a dancer seemed to have ended before he'd known it. Jones (5-11, 205) was drafted by the Bucs out of USC and was on the Chiefs' Super Bowl roster last year. 8, 2023. It was a shockingly abrupt end that took his creative team, composer Jimmy Webb and television writer Treva Silverman totally by surprise, in addition to its star Swoosie Kurtz. They energized the action, driving it forcefully along. RT @WAVY_News: UPDATE: @PortsmouthPD confirm one of two men shot on Portsmouth Blvd. Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. Tune. His major contribution to the dance scene was as a choreographer-director of Broadway musicals, notably in Promises, Promises (1968), Coco (1969), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Chorus Line (1975), and Dreamgirls (1981). About. [29] During his adult life, Bennett "took elaborate pains to ensure that the public never suspected he was gay. Then in 1986, he mysteriously dropped out of his next directing assignment, Andersson and Ulvaeuss Chess. Mr. Bennett shared the choreography Tony, his eighth, with Michael Peters. But that success was relatively short-lived, when an original musical titled Scandal, one that Bennett had workshopped for over a year beginning in 1984, had its plug pulled by Bennett, prior to an announced Broadway opening, with little to no explanation. He took over Seesaw, an ailing musical while in its 1973 try out, and managed the rare feat of successfully overhauling it (firing so many people in the process, that those left standing felt like wounded war vets). No one had ever seen anything like Company before, and it was immediately recognized for its groundbreaking production and non-linear story telling (even by those critics who didnt care for it, like Walter Kerr in the New York Times who wrote, I left feeling rather cool and queasy.). Michael Bennett's passing on Friday, March 10, 2023 has been publicly announced by Brewer Funeral Home, Inc. - Lake Luzerne in Lake Luzerne, NY. The number is all the evidence necessary that Michael Bennett was not your average everyday choreographer. By the time ''Coco'' opened, he was collaborating with Mr. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. Much has been written about A Chorus Line and how it not only changed the American musical, but changed the fortunes of the American Theatre. The $5,000 reward has now been increased to $10,000 for information. The best poems for funerals, memorial services., and cards. ''Chess'' was taken over by Trevor Nunn. [31], Bennett's last lover was Gene Pruit. That was followed by Mr. Bennett's second nonmusical, ''God's Favorite,'' Neil Simon's play based on the biblical Book of Job, which opened in December 1974 and ran three months. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. In 1986, he was forced to sell it for $15 million due to stress-induced angina and the financial losses of the property. Information and advice to help you cope with the death of someone important to you. He was 52 years old. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page . Michael Bennett Obituary. For other people named Michael Bennett, see, Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_High_School_(Buffalo,_New_York)), Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical, "WHY MICHAEL BENNETT HAS SAID GOODBYE, FOR NOW, TO BROADWAY (Published 1986)", "New Biography Presents the Soap-Opera Life Story of Michael Bennett", "A Long and Twisting Road Back to Broadway", "AIDS: Words From the Front--The Death of Rudolf Nureyev has Refocused Attention on AIDS in the Dance Profession", "From Friends and Associates, A Tribute to Michael Bennett", "Choreographer, Directors & Producers: Michael Bennett", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Bennett_(theater)&oldid=1152362228, This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 19:46. Corrections? [8] Bennett was invited to the sessions originally as an observer but soon took charge. His work was so much a part of the thrill I associate with what being in a theatre is all about. On this date 34 years ago, Michael Bennett died in Tucson, Arizona, from complications caused by AIDS. Much more. The show proved to be a major disappointment, failing to win critical or popular acclaim (though he and Mr. Avian won Tony Awards for the choreography). Bennett's next musical was a project about late-life romance called Ballroom. The company stumbled through the steps of a hat and cane routine ("Side By Side") and thus revealed to the audience the physical limitations of the characters' singing and dancing. Just before he was to have been graduated from Buffalo's Hutchison Central High School for Boys, he joined a company of ''West Side Story'' directed by Jerome Robbins (who had staged the Broadway production) and spent a year in Europe with the show. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Michael Bennett (Ottawa, Ontario), who passed away on January 12, 2023, at the age of 50, leaving to mourn family and friends. 1970 brought Company, where Bennett was able to work with collaborators who, like him, were at the top of their game: Stephen Sondheim, George Furth, Harold Prince and Boris Aronson. Michael was cremated. The accomplishment is brilliant.'' [33] [34] Bennett's memorial service took place at the Shubert Theatre in New York City (the home at that time of A Chorus Line) on September 29, 1987. The British Library, London. ''When Broadway history is being made, you can feel it,'' Frank Rich, chief theater critic for The Times, wrote in his opening-night review. Bennetts mysterious behavior reared its head a year later in 1986 when he dropped out of his next directing assignment, Andersson and Ulvaeuss Chess. Michael Dwight Bennett, 38, of Goshen, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, in Goshen when an automobile accident took the lives of Michael, his girlfriend, Samantha "Sammi" Day, 28, and his son, Dakota Nathaniel Bennett, age 6. A compact, slightly built man who rarely stopped moving and never ceased pouring out ideas, Mr. Bennett was a prolific and indefatigable creator of dazzling stage images. He became a multi-millionaire, and with that came power and paranoia (unquestionably linked to his drug use). He had given. ''I think Michael contributed more to the American theater in his short life than other artists who had lived far longer,'' Mr. Jacobs said. They married on December 4, 1976, but after only a few months they separated and eventually divorced in 1979. MICHAEL BENNETT. Authorities are also asking anyone who may have surveillance video from April 21, about 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., to contact them. When you consider that at eighty, Mike Nichols won his 7th Tony Award for directing . Ways to honor Michael Bennett's life and legacy. Email me with comments or questions at Ron@ronfassler.org. We had a lot in common. They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Michael A. Bennett Jr. to pay them a last tribute. Mike- I was so shocked when I was told about your son. I am so sorry - I am sending you my most sincere thoughts and prayers . In 1984, he began work on ''Scandal,'' with a book by Treva Silverman and songs by Jimmy Webb. Standard text messaging rates apply. Cite This Collection. FATAL ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION NEEDED As stated in the obit: From the 1966 A Joyful Noise through the December 1981 opening of Dreamgirls, he received Tony Award nominations for every musical with which he was associated, and won seven, an extraordinary statistic. The show won nine Tony Awards, including best direction and choreography for Mr. Bennett and best musical, as well as the Pulitzer Prize, which Mr. Bennett shared, and the New York Drama Critics Circle award. [23] In Dreamgirls, Bennett's musical staging was described as a "mesmerizing sense of movement": The most thrilling breakthrough of the extraordinary show is that whereas in A Chorus Line Michael Bennett choreographed the cast, in Dreamgirls he has choreographed the set. He started dance lessons at the age of 3 and by 12, he was versed in tap, ballet, modern and folk dancing. Michael Bennett, beloved brother, father, uncle and cousin, passed away peacefully Friday, February 18, 2022 at the Carpenter's House in Baton Rouge. One of Broadway's most sought-after show doctors, he took over the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields musical ''Seesaw,'' and changed every element from the choreography to the sets, costumes and lighting. Upper Darby Police Tuesday night said they. [12] Bennett had another hit in 1981 with Dreamgirls, a backstage epic about a girl group like The Supremes and the expropriation of black music by a white recording industry. Earlier in the day at the Public Theater, where ''A Chorus Line'' opened over 12 years ago, Mr. Papp said that when Mr. Bennett worked in the theater, ''he was a supreme being. 'Company' Breakthrough. As of Wednesday morning, more than $47,500 has been raised by the campaign. Reflecting on that experience recently, and on the demise of the workshop system he had created, he said his own celebrity had partly sabotaged the privileged workshop setting. The show opened March 18, 1973, and won for Mr. Bennett his second choreography Tony and made a tap-dance star of Tommy Tune, who won a Tony as well. Undeterred, Bennett came roaring back four years later with Dreamgirls, a monumental achievement by anybodys standards. . He was 52. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the musical A Chorus Line. Funeral arrangement under the care ofRochester Cremation. Co-directing Follies put Bennett on equal footing with Harold Prince, at the time, the most respected director in the musical theatre. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Among his many credits are the multi-faceted stylings of his choreography for Follies (1971), that he co-directed with Harold Prince, and two shows he directed himself A Chorus Line (1975) and Dreamgirls (1980) which featured new levels of stagecraft and storytelling devices that dazzled critics and theatregoers alike. I will always remember all the birthday parties as kids, driving the go-karts and playing games at the arcade. [32] He left a portion of his estate to fund research to fight the pandemic. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. He died of Covid-19 on March 6, his former wife, Teresa Bennett, said. He was loved and cherished by many people including : his mother Sheila R. Arnold; his step-father Michael S. Arnold; his father Michael A. Bennett Sr.; his siblings, Skylar, Cameron, Dax and Madison; and his grandparents, Timothy, Anna Weeks and Robin DeJesus. A memorial service will be held at noon on July 27 at the Shubert Theater.

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