Broadway star and legendary entertainer Donna McKechnie will be heating up two different Florida Stages this month, beginning this weekend, where she’ll be doing two performances of MY MUSICAL COMEDY LIFE, launching the inaugural season of the new Plaza Theatre in Manalapan, which has been engineered by Florida based Producer, Alan Jacobson.
Jacobson wanted to re–open the 252 seat theatre with a bang and thought Tony-Winner McKechnie fit the bill perfectly.
Tickets for thes how, which include a post show reception on opening night, are $55 per person February 17th and $39 per person February 18th. McKechnie will also hold a master class reception on Saturday, February 18 prior to her show. There are a limited number of seats for the master class so reservations are required. Tickets and reservations for the class can be made by calling (561) 585-2683. The show is directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and the Musical Director is Alex Rybeck.
Later in the month, Donna will be starring in the role of Marmee, in LITTLE WOMEN: THE MUSICAL by Jason Howland, Mindi Dickstein and Allan Knee, playing at The Theatre Zone in Naples, Florida from March 8th – Mach 18th. Click Here for More Information.
Donna McKechnie is the quintessential Broadway "triple threat" who can do it all - dance, sing and act. She is also a noted choreographer and author of MY MUSICAL COMEDY LIFE.
She won her Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1976 when she collaborated with choreographer Michael Bennett on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line. She is also known for playing Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey on the Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, from 1969 to 1970.
She recently appeared in John Doyle's Ten Cents A Dance at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. She has performed extensively around the world and on Broadway, her credits including: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Promises Promises, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (national tour); Company and State Fair for which she received the Fred Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer for the 1995-1996 season.
Moving between Broadway and television, McKechnie counted herself lucky when she became a dancer on "Hullabaloo," a weekly pop music show. She was often paired with Michael Bennett, another dancer and an aspiring choreographer.
As he began working on A Chorus Line, Bennett told McKechnie it was to be a showcase for her. McKechnie was able to capture her own deepest feelings about being a dancer and about her passion to perform. A Chorus Line hit Broadway in 1975 breaking all records and winning every award, including a Pulitzer Prize.
Bob Fosse invited McKechnie to play the lead in his last production, a national tour of Sweet Charity, for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. The New York Times review of her cabaret show, Gyspy in My Soul, compared her to "legends Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon as a brass- knuckled trouper with a heart of gold in a breezy, happy to be here celebration."
