One of my all-time favorite Broadway icons. Star of my #1 favorite movie ever, All That Jazz, who famously had to audition to play a fictionalized version of herself.
A legendary performer who bore Fosse’s legacy with power, intelligence, and grace, who channeled her history into becoming a famed mentor and teacher, who was the ultimate *original*.
No one else has ever been like her. Sounded like her, moved like her, had her wildly unique spirit on stage and screen.
I don’t have a great Ann Reinking story. I wish I did. We briefly chatted on the phone once and I was reeling about it for days. It was enough.
It was enough to hear her iconic voice crackling through my iPhone and know that she really existed, that the mythic star of All That Jazz, Annie, Chicago, Birdie, Charity, Over Here!, Chorus Line & Dancin’ was living her life, going about her day, dialing my number that 1 time.