Artist:Donna McKechnie w/Baayork Lee and Margo Sappington
Song:Turkey Lurkey Time
Album:Inside the Music
Turkey Lurkey Time from the 1968 Broadway show Promises, Promises caused a sensation when it was performed on the 1969 Tony Awards broadcast. The best known of these three dancers is Donna McKechnie. She won a Tony for playing Cassie in the 1975 show A Chorus Line. She had a long relationship with Michael Bennett who choreographed both shows. She was born Nov. 16, 1942 in Pontiac, MI. She began ballet classes at age five and the 1948 film The Red Shoes inspired her to become a professional dancer. Donna's parents were not happy when she moved to New York at age 17. She made her Broadway debut in the 1961 show How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying where she met legendary choreographer Bob Fosse and his wife Gwen Verdon who was the lead dancer in that show. It was while Donna was a featured dancer on the NBC show Hullaballoo that she met Bennett and they eventually married. He choreographed the 1968 show Promises, Promises and Donna was featured in Turkey Lurkey Time. Donna danced Tick Tock Time in the 1970 show Company. And of course she won a Tony for A Chorus Line. All three dancers in this number became choreographers. Baayork Lee also appeared in A Chorus Line but then became a choreographer. Margo Sappington appeared in one other show and then became a choreographer. After being diagnosed with arthritis in 1980, Donna was forced to give up dancing. She has done some TV, most notably a 1970 run in the cult TV show Dark Shadows. She also did a medley of her hits on her one woman show Inside the Music. This is available on CD. She is healthy enough where she has returned to performing occasionally. But mostly she teaches dance at HB Studio and choreographs shows. Here's Donna McKechnie, Baayork Lee and Margo Sappington performing Turkey Lurkey Time on the 1969 Tony Awards broadcast.
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