All about Michael Bennett - Writing Wednesday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
Today, I'm going to be sharing some of the information about my second logbook on A Chorus Line. I had to research about Michael Bennett for some of this, as he was the director and choreographer of this well-known musical. Some of you may find this helpful to use as a draft and some of you may just find it interesting to learn about someone who you probably didn't know about. Either way, enjoy!
Michael Bennett was an American musical theatre director, choreographer, writer, and dancer, who grew up in Buffalo, New York. He studied dance and choreography in his late teens and starred in musicals in his high school. However, despite his education, he taught himself how to dance primarily and that was what made him a relate to the dancers later, in the musical, A Chorus Line. He dropped out of school at sixteen to join a road company of West Side Story, playing Baby John, touring the US and Europe. However, his well-known Broadway career really began in 1961 in the musical, Subways Are for Sleeping, produced by David Merrick. This was a musical, inspired by an article from the March 1956 issue of Harper’s Magazine, about the homeless in subways. Bennett also met fellow dancer, Donna McKechnie, on the NBC Pop Music series in the mid-60s, Hullabaloo, as a featured dancer himself. He was also an assistant choreographer in a short-lived musical, Nowhere to Go but Up. He choreographed Promises, Promises, Follies and Company but was well known for his hit musical, A Chorus Line. Formed after hundreds of hours of taped performances by Broadway dancers, Bennett created, A Chorus Line. He co-choreographed and directed the musical, which debuted in 1975, off-Broadway.
The show was formed around each dancer’s story of how they became who they were. Bennett wanted to take a realistic look at the harsh realities of the dancers he knew so well so he originally based the musical on the old-fashioned tape recordings of interviews, with his dancers, from two sessions. The three essential things mentioned were the dancer’s names, where they were born, and why they started dancing. This ignited everyone’s stories. Donna McKechnie, Bennett’s divorced wife, still looks back at these interviews with fond memories. Her father was in the military, and as a child, she “would dance around the house whilst she was thinking of him.” She used to envisage dancing with an “Indian Chief” and when her mother saw her, she decided to take her to dance class, to become a ballerina. Other dancers began to speak of divorce, child abuse, and the plight of a professional dancer. Nicholas Dante talked about his experiences, working as a drag queen as a teenager, in a club. His story was then portrayed in the character, Paul, in A Chorus Line where he met his parents at a drag club where he worked.
Even though some of the dancers didn’t believe that their stories were given full recognition or were fairly compensated at times, for their personal stories, they were still extremely proud to be a part of something that was about the dancers and not just the director. This shaped Bennett, who would also share his story, to becoming the foundation of A Chorus Line. The musical would transfer from being performed at local theatres, to be a favourite amongst many, on the well-known Broadway stage.
A Chorus Line
Who's your favourite choreographer? Let me know in the comments below and i'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
Tap on one of the reaction boxes below, to let me know what you thought of this post. It would really help me to make some improvements in the future!
Be sure to follow and subscribe so that you don't miss anymore of my brilliant posts and share this with a friend who might enjoy this article too!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
A Chorus Line:
My social media handles:
My second blog:
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving your comments! I really enjoy reading your positive and constructive messages. They really make my day! 💜