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Michael Bennett
(April 8, 1943 - July 2, 1987) U.S.A.

Michael Bennett

Dancer and choreographer

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Michael BennettBorn Michael DiFiglia in Buffalo, NY, he took his adopted name from his alma mater, Bennett High School. Michael Bennett is considered one of Broadway's all-time greatest choreographers. Although he was a proficient ballet, folk, modern, and tap dancer - and for several years was a continuously employed chorus dancer - he is best known for his choreography.

His credits include Henry, Sweet Henry (it flopped, but Bennett got a Tony nomination); Neil Simon's Promises, Promises (another Tony nomination); Andre Previn and Alan Jay Lerner's Coco; Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company; Sondheim's Follies, which Bennett co-directed (two Tonys, for direction and for choreography); choreographer and "show doctor" for Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' SeeSaw (another Tony for choregraphy); director of Simon's play God's Favorite.

This led up to probably the climax of Bennett's career: his concept for A Chorus Line, which ran for over twelve years and 5000 performances on Broadway, redefining musical theater, and garnering nine Tonys (two for Bennett). He also conceived the idea for, and co-produced, the latter show, which remains one of the most successful shows in American theatrical history. After A Chorus Line, he worked on Ballroom, Dreamgirls, My One and Only, and Sunday in the Park with George.

Michael BennettBennett was was openly bisexual, a lover of men and women; his two primary heterosexual relationships were stormy, first with wife Donna McKechnie - the original Cassie in "A Chorus Line" - (wed December 1976, divorced four months later) then with Sabine Cassel, whom he promised to wed but did not.

His relationships with men were less publicized, but they included long relationships with dancers Larry Fuller, Scott Pearson, Richard Christopher, and Gene Pruitt, his last lover. During the last years of his life, Michael Bennett grew increasingly reliant on drugs and alcohol, and his work suffered. He died of AIDS-related lymphoma; he was forty-four.

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Source: http://lgbt-history-archive.tumblr.com/ - et alii

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