Ann Reinking

Ann Reinking was a Broadway dancer, actor, singer, choreographer, and director whose career spanned from the original staging of classic musicals to the preservation and renewal of Bob Fosse's movement vocabulary. Born November 10, 1949, in Seattle, Washington, she studied dance from childhood, including summer study with San Francisco Ballet and training at the Joffrey Ballet in New York.

Reinking made her Broadway debut in *Cabaret* in 1969, beginning in the ensemble before moving into increasingly visible roles. Her 1970s stage work linked exceptional dancing with character performance. She appeared in *Pippin*, earned a Tony nomination for *Goodtime Charley* in 1975, replaced Donna McKechnie as Cassie in *A Chorus Line*, and in 1977 succeeded Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart in the original Broadway production of *Chicago*. In 1978, her performance in Bob Fosse's *Dancin'* brought another Tony nomination.

Reinking's film work extended her reach beyond Broadway. She played a character partly modeled on herself in Fosse's *All That Jazz* (1979) and portrayed Grace Farrell in *Annie* (1982), balancing stage and screen projects throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Her professional connection to Fosse was consequential to her career's direction.

The decisive achievement of Reinking's later career was the 1996 Broadway revival of *Chicago*, directed by Walter Bobbie. She choreographed in the style of Bob Fosse and returned to the role of Roxie Hart. In 1997, she won the Tony Award for Best Choreography, establishing a production whose stripped-down staging placed the dancers' timing, shape, and attitude at its center. This revival became a sustained presence on Broadway, demonstrating the durability of both Fosse's vocabulary and Reinking's restaging work.

Reinking later co-created, co-directed, and co-choreographed *Fosse*, which opened on Broadway in 1999, extending her preservation work through a repertory revue. She also became an advocate for people with Marfan syndrome and related conditions, working with The Marfan Foundation on educational media and participating in the documentary *In My Hands*. Reinking died unexpectedly in December 2020 in Washington State at age 71.