Michael Bennett
Encyclopedia
Michael Bennett was an American
musical theater director, writer
, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway
shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.
Bennett choreographed Promises, Promises
, Follies
and Company
. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
and the Tony Award for Best Choreography
for the Pulitzer Prize
-winning phenomenon A Chorus Line
. Bennett, under the aegis of producer Joseph Papp
, created A Chorus Line
based on a precedent-setting workshop process which he pioneered. He also directed and co-choreographed Dreamgirls with Michael Peters
.
, the son of Helen (Ternoff), a secretary, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, a factory worker. His father was Roman Catholic and his mother was Jewish. He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his local high school before dropping out to accept the role of Baby John in the US
and Europe
an tours of West Side Story.
Bennett's career as a Broadway
dancer began in the 1961 Betty Comden
-Adolph Green
-Jule Styne
musical Subways Are For Sleeping
, after which he appeared in Meredith Willson
's Here's Love
and the short-lived Bajour
. In the mid-1960s he was a featured dancer on the NBC
pop music
series Hullabaloo
, where he met fellow dancer Donna McKechnie
.
Bennett made his choreographic debut with A Joyful Noise
(1966), which lasted only twelve performances, and in 1967 followed it with another failure, Henry, Sweet Henry
(based on the Peter Sellers
film The World of Henry Orient
). Success finally arrived in 1968, when he choreographed the hit musical Promises, Promises
on Broadway. 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. Over the next few years, he earned praise for his work on the straight play Twigs
with Sada Thompson
and the musical Coco
with Katharine Hepburn
. These were followed by two Stephen Sondheim
productions, Company
and Follies
co-directed with Hal Prince
.
In 1973, Bennett was asked by producers Joseph Kipness and Larry Kasha to take over the ailing Cy Coleman
-Dorothy Fields
musical Seesaw
. In replacing the director Ed Sherin and choreographer Grover Dale
, he asked for absolute control over the production as director and choreographer and received credit as "having written, directed, and choreographed" the show.
. The musical was formed out of hundreds of hours of taped sessions with Broadway dancers. Bennett was invited to the sessions originally as an observer but soon took charge. He co-choreographed and directed the production, which debuted in May 1975 off-Broadway. It won nine Tony Awards and the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
. He later claimed that the worldwide success of A Chorus Line became a hindrance, as the many international companies of that musical demanded his full-time attention. Bennett would later become a creative consultant for the 1985 film version
of the musical but left due to creative differences. He always sought creative control over his projects, but Hollywood producers were unwilling to give him the influence he demanded.
Although the film version was but a pale imitation of the original, there are some filmed records which testify to the show's initial power. Television talk-show host Phil Donahue
devoted an entire program to the original cast, during which they reminisce and recreate some of the musical numbers. The 2008 feature-length documentary "Every Little Step" chronicles the casting process of A Chorus Line's 2006 revival, with re-created choreography by Bennett's long-time associate Baayork Lee
, and, in the course of the film, the saga of the original production is re-told as well, through the use of old film clips and revealing interviews from the original collaborators, including Lee, Bob Avian
(who was the show's original co-choreographer with Bennett and the director of the revival), composer Marvin Hamlisch
and the original's leading lady, Donna McKechnie
.
Bennett's next musical was an admired project about late-life romance called Ballroom
. Although financially unsuccessful, it garnered 7 Tony Award nominations, and Michael won one for Best Choreography. He admitted that any project that followed A Chorus Line was bound to be an anti-climax. 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. In the early 1980s, Bennett worked on various projects, one of which was titled The Children's Crusade based on a legendary story Children's Crusade
, but none of them reached the stage.
He always collaborated with his assistant Bob Avian
, who was a lifelong friend.
In 1985, Bennett abandoned the nearly-completed musical Scandal, by writer Treva Silverman
and songwriter Jimmy Webb
, which had been developing for nearly five years through a series of workshop productions. The show was sexually daring, and apparently Bennett's best work, but the conservative climate and the growing AIDS panic made it unlikely commercial material. He was then signed to direct the West End
production of Chess
but had to withdraw in January 1986 due to his failing health, leaving Trevor Nunn
to complete the production using Bennett's already commissioned sets.
, Bennett was not known for a particular choreographic style. Instead, Bennett's choreography was motivated by the form of the musical involved, or the distinct characters interpreted.
In Act 2 of Company, Bennett defied the usual choreographic expectations by deliberately taking the polish off the standard Broadway production number. 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. Bennett made the audience aware that this group had been flung together to perform, and that they were in over their heads. He intended the number to be not about the routine, but rather the characters behind it.
The song "One" from A Chorus Line functions in a different way. The various phases of construction/rehearsal of the number are shown, and because the show is about professional dancers, the last performance of the song-and-dance routine has all the gloss and polish expected of Broadway production values. Bennett's choreography also reveals the cost of the number to the people behind it.
Bennett was influenced by the work of Jerome Robbins
. "What Michael Bennett perceived early in Robbins' work was totality, all the sums of a given piece adding to a unified whole". In Dreamgirls, Bennett's musical staging was described as a "mesmerizing sense of movement":
, a dancer, choreographer and director.
He had a long professional and personal relationship with the virtuoso dancer Donna McKechnie
, who danced his work in both Promises, Promises
and Company
and finally won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in the role he had created for her in A Chorus Line
. They got married on December 4, 1976, but after only a few months they separated and eventually divorced in 1979.
In the late 1970s he began an affair with Sabine Cassel, the then-wife of French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel
. She left her family in Paris to live with Bennett in Manhattan, but the relationship soured.
Bennett's addictions to alcohol and drugs, notably cocaine
and quaaludes
, severely affected his ability to work and affected many of his professional and personal relationships. His paranoia grew as his dependency did. Worried by his celebrity and his father's Italian background, he began to suspect he might fall victim to a Mafia
hit.
Bennett's last lover was Gene Pruitt. In 1986 both Pruitt and friend Bob Herr lived with Bennett for the last 8 months of his life in Tucson, Arizona
, where he received care at the Arizona Medical Center. Bennett died from AIDS
-related lymphoma
at the age of forty-four. He left a portion of his estate to fund research to fight the epidemic. Bennett's memorial service took place at the Shubert Theatre in New York (the home at that time of A Chorus Line) on September 29, 1987.
Nominations
- A Musical About Musicals (2001). Bennett and lyricist Ed Kleban are portrayed in this partly ficionalised life story of Kleban, using some of Kleban's unpublished songs. A Chorus Line
's number "One" is included in this musical.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical theater director, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.
Bennett choreographed Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
, Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
and Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Prior to 1960, category for direction included plays and musicals.-1950s:Note: this category was for both dramatic and musical productions...
and the Tony Award for Best Choreography
Tony Award for Best Choreography
-1940s:* 1947: Agnes de Mille – Brigadoon / Michael Kidd – Finian's Rainbow* 1948: Jerome Robbins – High Button Shoes* 1949: Gower Champion – Lend An Ear-1950s:* 1950: Helen Tamiris – Touch and Go* 1951: Michael Kidd – Guys and Dolls...
for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning phenomenon A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
. Bennett, under the aegis of producer Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
, created A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
based on a precedent-setting workshop process which he pioneered. He also directed and co-choreographed Dreamgirls with Michael Peters
Michael Peters
Michael Douglas Peters was an American choreographer.-Biography:Peters was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in New York City to an African American father and Jewish mother. His first major breakthrough came when he did choreography for Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" in 1975...
.
Early life and career
Bennett was born Michael Bennett DiFiglia in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, the son of Helen (Ternoff), a secretary, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, a factory worker. His father was Roman Catholic and his mother was Jewish. He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his local high school before dropping out to accept the role of Baby John in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an tours of West Side Story.
Bennett's career as a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
dancer began in the 1961 Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
-Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
-Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
musical Subways Are For Sleeping
Subways Are For Sleeping
Subways Are for Sleeping is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The original Broadway production played in 1961-62....
, after which he appeared in Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
's Here's Love
Here's Love
Here's Love is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson.Based on the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, it tells the tale of a skeptical little girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle inadvertently is hired to represent jolly St...
and the short-lived Bajour
Bajour (musical)
Bajour is a musical with a book by Ernest Kinoy and music and lyrics by Walter Marks. The musical is based on the Joseph Mitchell short stories The Gypsy Women and The King of the Gypsies published in The New Yorker...
. In the mid-1960s he was a featured dancer on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
pop music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
series Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo (TV series)
Hullabaloo is an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABC's American Bandstand.-Overview:...
, where he met fellow dancer Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she...
.
Bennett made his choreographic debut with A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise is a musical with a book by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut....
(1966), which lasted only twelve performances, and in 1967 followed it with another failure, Henry, Sweet Henry
Henry, Sweet Henry
Henry, Sweet Henry is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill.Based on the novel The World of Henry Orient by Johnson's daughter Nora and the subsequent film of the same name, the plot focuses on Valerie and Marian, two wealthy, love-struck teenagers who stalk...
(based on the Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
film The World of Henry Orient
The World of Henry Orient
The World of Henry Orient is a 1964 American comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Nora Johnson. It was directed by George Roy Hill and stars Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Phyllis Thaxter, Bibi Osterwald, and Tom Bosley.Filming started in...
). Success finally arrived in 1968, when he choreographed the hit musical Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
on Broadway. With a contemporary pop score by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, a wisecracking book by Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
and Bennett's well-received production numbers, including "Turkey Lurkey Time
Turkey Lurkey Time
Turkey Lurkey Time is a song-and-dance number from Act 1 of Promises, Promises, the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical, with a book by Neil Simon. It was originally choreographed for the 1968 Broadway production by Michael Bennett...
", the show ran for 1,281 performances. Over the next few years, he earned praise for his work on the straight play Twigs
Twigs (play)
Twigs is a play by George Furth, with incidental music by Stephen Sondheim.It consists of four vignettes involving three sisters and their mother, each focusing on one of the women as she confronts various issues with the man in her life. Emily is a recent widow, relocating to a new apartment, who...
with Sada Thompson
Sada Thompson
Sada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Life and career:Born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss , and raised in New Jersey, Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after...
and the musical Coco
Coco (musical)
Coco is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by André Previn. It starred Katharine Hepburn in her only stage musical.-Background:...
with Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
. These were followed by two Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
productions, Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
and Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
co-directed with Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
.
In 1973, Bennett was asked by producers Joseph Kipness and Larry Kasha to take over the ailing Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...
-Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
musical Seesaw
Seesaw (musical)
Seesaw is a musical with a book by Michael Bennett, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by Dorothy Fields.Based on the William Gibson play Two for the Seesaw, the plot focuses on a brief affair between Jerry Ryan, a young lawyer from Nebraska, and Gittel Mosca, a kooky, streetwise dancer from the Bronx...
. In replacing the director Ed Sherin and choreographer Grover Dale
Grover Dale
Grover Dale is an American actor, dancer, choreographer and theatre director.-Early years:Dale was born Grover Robert Aitken in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Ronal Rittenhouse Aitken, a restaurateur, and Emma Bertha Ammon...
, he asked for absolute control over the production as director and choreographer and received credit as "having written, directed, and choreographed" the show.
A Chorus Line and the 1980s
Bennett's next project was A Chorus LineA Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
. The musical was formed out of hundreds of hours of taped sessions with Broadway dancers. Bennett was invited to the sessions originally as an observer but soon took charge. He co-choreographed and directed the production, which debuted in May 1975 off-Broadway. It won nine Tony Awards and the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
. He later claimed that the worldwide success of A Chorus Line became a hindrance, as the many international companies of that musical demanded his full-time attention. Bennett would later become a creative consultant for the 1985 film version
A Chorus Line (film)
A Chorus Line is a 1985 musical film directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Michael Douglas. The screenplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the Tony Award-winning book of the 1975 stage production of the same name by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante...
of the musical but left due to creative differences. He always sought creative control over his projects, but Hollywood producers were unwilling to give him the influence he demanded.
Although the film version was but a pale imitation of the original, there are some filmed records which testify to the show's initial power. Television talk-show host Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
devoted an entire program to the original cast, during which they reminisce and recreate some of the musical numbers. The 2008 feature-length documentary "Every Little Step" chronicles the casting process of A Chorus Line's 2006 revival, with re-created choreography by Bennett's long-time associate Baayork Lee
Baayork Lee
Baayork Lee is an Asian-American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author.-Early life and career:Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown to an Indian mother and Chinese father...
, and, in the course of the film, the saga of the original production is re-told as well, through the use of old film clips and revealing interviews from the original collaborators, including Lee, Bob Avian
Bob Avian
Bob Avian is an American choreographer and a theatre producer and director.Born in New York City, Avian's spent his early career dividing his time between dancing in such Broadway shows as West Side Story, Funny Girl, and Henry, Sweet Henry and working as a production assistant on projects like I...
(who was the show's original co-choreographer with Bennett and the director of the revival), composer Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
and the original's leading lady, Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she...
.
Bennett's next musical was an admired project about late-life romance called Ballroom
Ballroom (musical)
Ballroom is a musical with a book by Jerome Kass and music by Billy Goldenberg and lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.Based on Kass' teleplay for the 1975 Emmy Award-winning television drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, the plot focuses on lonely widow Bea Asher, who becomes romantically...
. Although financially unsuccessful, it garnered 7 Tony Award nominations, and Michael won one for Best Choreography. He admitted that any project that followed A Chorus Line was bound to be an anti-climax. Bennett had another hit in 1981 with Dreamgirls, a backstage epic about a girl-group like The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
and the expropriation of black music by a white recording industry. In the early 1980s, Bennett worked on various projects, one of which was titled The Children's Crusade based on a legendary story Children's Crusade
Children's Crusade
The Children's Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events which happened in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a French or German boy; an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity; bands of children marching to...
, but none of them reached the stage.
He always collaborated with his assistant Bob Avian
Bob Avian
Bob Avian is an American choreographer and a theatre producer and director.Born in New York City, Avian's spent his early career dividing his time between dancing in such Broadway shows as West Side Story, Funny Girl, and Henry, Sweet Henry and working as a production assistant on projects like I...
, who was a lifelong friend.
In 1985, Bennett abandoned the nearly-completed musical Scandal, by writer Treva Silverman
Treva Silverman
-External links:**...
and songwriter Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
, which had been developing for nearly five years through a series of workshop productions. The show was sexually daring, and apparently Bennett's best work, but the conservative climate and the growing AIDS panic made it unlikely commercial material. He was then signed to direct the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Chess
Chess (musical)
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...
but had to withdraw in January 1986 due to his failing health, leaving Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
to complete the production using Bennett's already commissioned sets.
Analysis
Unlike his more famous contemporary Bob FosseBob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
, Bennett was not known for a particular choreographic style. Instead, Bennett's choreography was motivated by the form of the musical involved, or the distinct characters interpreted.
In Act 2 of Company, Bennett defied the usual choreographic expectations by deliberately taking the polish off the standard Broadway production number. 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. Bennett made the audience aware that this group had been flung together to perform, and that they were in over their heads. He intended the number to be not about the routine, but rather the characters behind it.
The song "One" from A Chorus Line functions in a different way. The various phases of construction/rehearsal of the number are shown, and because the show is about professional dancers, the last performance of the song-and-dance routine has all the gloss and polish expected of Broadway production values. Bennett's choreography also reveals the cost of the number to the people behind it.
Bennett was influenced by the work of Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
. "What Michael Bennett perceived early in Robbins' work was totality, all the sums of a given piece adding to a unified whole". 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.... Bennett's use of [the plexiglass towers that dominated the set] was revolutionary. The towers moved to create constantly changing perspectives and space, like an automated ballet.... They energized the action, driving it forcefully along. It's why there were no set-piece dance routines in the show: Dance and movement were organic to the entire action. But Bennett had made the mechanical set his dancers."
Personal life
In his younger days, Bennett had a relationship with Larry FullerLarry Fuller
Larry Fuller is an American choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor.Fuller began his career as a dancer/actor, appearing on Broadway in Carousel, The Music Man, Kean, Bravo Giovanni, and Funny Girl...
, a dancer, choreographer and director.
He had a long professional and personal relationship with the virtuoso dancer Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she...
, who danced his work in both Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
and Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
and finally won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in the role he had created for her in A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
. They got married on December 4, 1976, but after only a few months they separated and eventually divorced in 1979.
In the late 1970s he began an affair with Sabine Cassel, the then-wife of French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
. She left her family in Paris to live with Bennett in Manhattan, but the relationship soured.
Bennett's addictions to alcohol and drugs, notably cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and quaaludes
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
, severely affected his ability to work and affected many of his professional and personal relationships. His paranoia grew as his dependency did. Worried by his celebrity and his father's Italian background, he began to suspect he might fall victim to a Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
hit.
Bennett's last lover was Gene Pruitt. In 1986 both Pruitt and friend Bob Herr lived with Bennett for the last 8 months of his life in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, where he received care at the Arizona Medical Center. Bennett died from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
at the age of forty-four. He left a portion of his estate to fund research to fight the epidemic. Bennett's memorial service took place at the Shubert Theatre in New York (the home at that time of A Chorus Line) on September 29, 1987.
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1971 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Choreography - Follies - 1971 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director - Follies
- 1972 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Choreography - Follies - 1972 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Follies
- 1974 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Seesaw
- 1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - A Chorus Line
- 1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - A Chorus Line
- 1976 Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
- A Chorus Line - 1976 Tony Award for Best Choreography - A Chorus Line
- 1976 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - A Chorus Line
- 1979 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - Ballroom
- 1979 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Ballroom
- 1982 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Dreamgirls
- 1984 Drama Desk Award Special Award - A Chorus Line 3,389th performance
Nominations
- 1967 Tony Award for Best Choreography - A Joyful Noise
- 1968 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Henry, Sweet Henry
- 1969 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Promises, Promises
- 1970 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Coco
- 1971 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Company
- 1974 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical - Seesaw
- 1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Seesaw
- 1979 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - Ballroom
- 1979 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Ballroom
- 1979 Tony Award for Best Musical - Ballroom
- 1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - Dreamgirls
- 1982 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Dreamgirls
- 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - Third Street
Other media
A Class ActA Class Act
A Class Act is a musical with a book by Linda Kline and Lonny Price and music and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The musical is based on the life of composer-lyricist Ed Kleban, who died at the age of 48 in 1987...
- A Musical About Musicals (2001). Bennett and lyricist Ed Kleban are portrayed in this partly ficionalised life story of Kleban, using some of Kleban's unpublished songs. A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
's number "One" is included in this musical.
Further reading
- Chapin, Ted (2005). Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies. Applause Books, ISBN 1557836531
- Flinn, Denny Martin (1989). What They Did for Love: The Untold Story Behind the Making of "A Chorus Line" Bantam, ISBN 0553345931
- Hamlisch, Marvin (1992, 1st edition). The way I was. Scribner, ISBN 0684193272
- Stevens, Gary (2000). The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line. Applause Books, ISBN 1557832218
- Viagas, Robert (1990, 2nd edition). On the Line - The Creation of A Chorus Line. Limelight Editions, ISBN 0879103361