He wrote a touching tribute to his friend, who also credited her dancing ability. The lights on Broadway are forever more dim this morning and there is one less star in the sky,” he wrote.
“The good news is that heaven has the very best choreographer on earth now.”
Reinking rose to fame in Broadway (Image: GETTY)
Top 10 most followed Instagram accounts (Image: EXPRESS)
Reinking kick-started her acting career after appearing in a Seattle Opera House production of Bye Bye Birdie in 1965.
She was soon cast in Cabaret four years later, where she made her Broadway debut.
But she is perhaps best known for playing Roxie Hart in 1977’s Chicago, respiring the part when she returned for the 1996 revival of the famed production.
Ann Reinking, ‘All That Jazz’ and ‘Annie’ actress, dead at 71
Updated Dec 15, 2020;
Posted Dec 15, 2020
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: Actress Bebe Neuwirth and Choreographer Ann Reinking perform live onstge during a dress rehearsal for the 10th Anniversary of Broadway s Chicago on November 14, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)Getty Images
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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. She was 71.
Reinking died Saturday while visiting family in Seattle, said her manager, Lee Gross. No cause of death was disclosed.
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 US Broadway actress, dancer and Tony Award-winning choreographer, has died aged 71.
Reinking portrayed Roxie Hart in the hit crime musical, Chicago, in 1977.
The news of her death was confirmed by her sister-in-law Dahrla King on Monday. The world and our family have lost a vibrant, amazing talent and beautiful soul. Ann was the heart of our family and the life of the party, her family said in a statement. We will miss her more than we can say, they added. Heaven has the best choreographer available now. I m sure they are dancing up a storm up there!
Ann Reinking, Tony-Winning Choreographer And Actress, Dead At 71
Reinking was known for her bold style of dance epitomized by her work in the revival of the Kander and Ebb musical “Chicago.
MARK KENNEDY
NEW YORK (AP) 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. She was 71.
Reinking died Saturday while visiting family in Seattle, said her manager, Lee Gross. No cause of death was disclosed.
Tributes poured in from the Broadway community, including from Tony Yazbeck, who called her “an absolute inspiration” and Leslie Odom, Jr., who thanked Reinking for being a mentor: “She honored the calling for real. RIP to a legend.” Bernadette Peters took to Twitter to say her heart was broken and Billy Eichner said she was “one of the most mesmerizing people I’ve ever seen on stage. A singular genius. RIP.”