Life Of Famed Dancer And Choreographer Ann Reinking To Be Celebrated In New York City

A celebration of the life of famed dancer, choreographer and performer Ann Reinking will take place this coming Monday afternoon at Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre in New York.

The memorial—organized by Bebe Neuwirth, Caitlin Carter and Reinking’s husband, Peter Talbert—will be open to the public and begin at 1:30 p.m. on March 20. Those scheduled to pay tribute to Reinking, who passed away on December 12, 2020, include James Naughton, Dylis Croman, Rob Fisher, Neuwirth and Ben Vereen.

Reinking grew up in Seattle, where she studied ballet with several Ballet Russe dancers and earned scholarships to San Francisco Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. When she completed high school, she moved to New York and joined the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall, later going on to Broadway, films and television.

Reinking was nominated for four Tony Awards in four different categories: best actress in a musical (Good Time Charley), best supporting actress in a musical (Dancin’), best direction of a musical (Fosse) and best choreography (Chicago). She won the Tony for her choreography of the 1996 revival of Chicago.

Reinking’s Broadway credits include Cabaret, Coco, Pippin, A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, Chicago (both the original 1975 production and the 1996 revival), Fosse and her debut in Over Here!. She starred in the films Movie, Movie, All that Jazz, Micki and Maude as well as the 1982 film adaptation of Annie. She also made two award-winning documentaries, In My Hands about Marfan Syndrome and Two Worlds-One Planet about high functioning autism.

Reinking also was a choreographer for multiple organizations including American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Seattle Spectrum Dance Theater, Kansas City Ballet, “Bye Bye Birdie” for ABC-TV, City Center’s Encores!, Signature Theater, the Goodman Theater and Thodos Dance Chicago.

Among the many awards she received were the National Broadway Theater Arts Award, Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement, Musical Hall of Fame Award and Dance Magazine Award.