A celebration of life will be held for the late Ann Reinking on March 20 at 1:30 p.m. The famed actor, dancer, choreographer and director passed away on Dec. 12, 2020, at the age of 71.
The memorial will be held at the Ambassador Theatre, home of Broadway’s revival of “Chicago,” in which Reinking originated the role of Roxie Hart and won the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
The memorial is being organized by Bebe Neuwirth (who originated the role of Velma Kelly alongside Reinking’s Roxie), Caitlin Carter (the “Chicago” revival’s original dance captain) and Reinking’s husband Peter Talbert. It will feature tributes by James Naughton (the original Billy Flynn in the “Chicago” revival), Dylis Croman (who worked under Reinking on “Fosse”), Rob Fisher (“Chicago” musical director), Neuwirth and Ben Vereen (who also starred in “Fosse”).
Reinking made her Broadway debut as a replacement in the original production of “Cabaret.” From there, she went on to perform in nearly a dozen Main Stem shows, including “Coco,” “Pippin,” “Goodtime Charlie” and “Sweet Charity.” Her additional choreography credits include “Tommy Tune Tonite!” and “Fosse,” which she conceived and co-directed.
On film, she starred in “Movie Movie, “All that Jazz,” “Micki + Maude” and as Grace Farrell in the 1982 film adaptation of “Annie.”
Reinking accumulated four Tony nominations over her career, including Best Actress in a Musical for “Goodtime Charlie,” Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the original “Dancin’” and Best Direction of a Musical for “Fosse.”
In addition to her Tony win, Reinking received the National Broadway Theater Arts Award, Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
