Many happy returns today to the theatrical singer, dancer and actress Miss Donna McKechnie - the original "Cassie" in A Chorus Line and long-time stalwart of the Broadway stage, working with the likes of Bob Fosse, Gwen Verdon, Stephen Sondheim, and her one-time husband the late Michael Bennett.
She's a powerhouse of dancing talent - as this little celebratory double-bill proves...
That's knackered me out, just watching those moves...
Well, that was a particularly shit weekend, weather-wise - and now it's back to the grind again. Unfortunately.
Thanks heavens for today's birthday girl, Miss Donna McKechnie! She certainly knows how to lift the spirits on this Tacky Music Monday - as I discovered in this clip - once she gets going at "Charlie's Place"...
Never content to leave it at one marvellous musical discovery, however - how about a meeting of three great "broads"..?
Not too bad an effort, considering Miss Montevecchi was 78 and Miss Ballard was 85 at the time...
Have a good week, dear reader. Stay sane.
Arthur Laurents, writer of such classic stage musicals as West Side Story and Gypsy, has died in New York aged 93.Over at Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp today, there is more on Mr Laurents - read my blog.
The director and screenwriter died at his Manhattan home from complications of pneumonia, his agent said.
Born in Brooklyn, the attorney's son began in radio and wrote military training films during World War II.
His screen credits include the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope, Barbra Streisand romance The Way We Were and 1977 ballet drama The Turning Point.
Laurents won a Tony award in 1968 as author of the book for the musical Hallelujah, Baby!, and another, in 1984, for directing La Cage aux Folles.
He remains best known for writing the books for West Side Story and Gypsy, hit Broadway shows that were later turned into movies.
