Jerome Robbins was born 96 years ago today. Robbins was a theater producer, director and choreographer known primarily for Broadway theater and ballet/dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work ranged from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater. Among the numerous stage productions he worked on were On the Town, Peter Pan, High Button Shoes, The King And I, The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable and Fiddler on the Roof. Robbins was a five time Tony Award winner and a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. He received two Academy Awards, including the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for West Side Story. A documentary about his life and work, Something to Dance About, featuring excerpts from his journals, archival performance and rehearsal footage, and interviews with Robbins and his colleagues, premiered on PBS in 2009. Following a bicycle accident in 1990 and heart-valve surgery in 1994, in 1996 Robbins began showing signs of a form of Parkinsons disease, and his hearing was quickly deteriorating. He nevertheless staged Les Noces for City Ballet in 1998, his last project. He suffered a stroke two months later, and died at his home in New York City on July 29, 1998. On the evening of his death, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for a moment in tribute. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean. Here, Robbins rehearses with Charlotte DAmboise, Robert LaFosse and Debbie Shapiro prior to the opening of the 1989 Tony Award winning musical “Jerome Robbins Broadway.”
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 04:06:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015