Tony-winning Broadway star Ann Reinking dies age 71 Chris Wiegand
Ann Reinking, the Broadway star whose elegant style, mesmerising physicality and piercing gaze lit up musicals including Chicago, has died at the age of 71. Her former co-star Chita Rivera was among those paying tribute and said that Reinking’s “spirit and razzle-dazzle will be with me for ever”. Reinking’s manager, Lee Gross, said that she died on Saturday while visiting family in Seattle.
Reinking had parts in Cabaret, Pippin and Goodtime Charley (as Joan of Arc) before taking over the role of the ambitious, murderous Roxie Hart in Chicago in 1977. Twenty years later, she reprised the role and won a Tony award for choreographing the revival of that musical in its originator Bob Fosse’s style. She and Fosse had a long relationship on and off the stage; she starred in his show Dancin’ and directed and co-choreographed a Broadway revue celebrating his work. Their lives are explored in the
Who is Ann Reinking’s son Christopher? How the star of broadway helped her son with Marfan Syndrome
Tony award-winning choreographer and the star of broadway Ann Reinking has passed away at the age of 71.
The news of her death was disclosed by her manager Lee Gross. The cause of her death has not been revealed. Several fans and celebrities were quick to pour in their tributes on social media. There is no doubt that Ann’s legacy will continue to live. Here’s a look at how she supported her son Christopher Reinking Stuart with Marfan Syndrome while juggling her career.
Her work on “Chicago” earned her a 1997 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Reinking replicated its choreography in productions throughout the world England, Australia, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands and elsewhere. She was portrayed by Margaret Qualley in the recent FX series “Fosse/Verdon.”
The musical’s revival was first done in a concert version at City Center’s “Encores” series in 1996 and then moved to Broadway, where in 2011 it became the second longest-running show in Broadway history.
Credit: AP
FILE - Ann Reinking holds her Tony Award for best choreography for the musical Chicago at the 51st annual Tony Awards on June 1, 1997, in New York. Reinking, the Tony Award-winning choreographer, actress and Bob Fosse collaborator who helped spread a cool, muscular hybrid of jazz and burlesque movement to Broadway and beyond, has died. She was 71. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
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Ann Reinking, the Tony Award-winning choreographer, actress and Bob Fosse collaborator who helped spread a cool, muscular hybrid of jazz and burlesque movement to Broadway and beyond, has died.
Reinking died Saturday while visiting family in Seattle, said her manager, Lee Gross. No cause of death was disclosed. She was 71.
Trained as a ballet dancer, Reinking was known for her bold style of dance, epitomized by her work in the revival of the Kander and Ebb musical “Chicago,” complete with fishnet stockings, chair dancing and plenty of pelvic thrusts. Reinking co-starred as Roxie Hart alongside Bebe Neuwirth’s Velma and created the choreography “in the style of Bob Fosse,” the show’s original director and choreographer, who died in 1987.
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