Michael Bennett (April 8, 1943 – July 2, 1987) was an American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.

Bennett choreographed Promises, Promises, Follies and Company. In 1976, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the Pulitzer Prize–winning phenomenon A Chorus Line. Bennett, under the aegis of producer Joseph Papp, created A Chorus Line based on a precedent-setting workshop process which he pioneered. He also directed and co-choreographed Dreamgirls with Michael Peters.

Early life and career[link]

Bennett was born Michael Bennett DiFiglia in Buffalo, New York, the son of Helen (Ternoff), a secretary, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, a factory worker.^[1] His father was Roman Catholic and his mother was Jewish.^[2] He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his local high school before dropping out to accept the role of Baby John in the US and European tours of West Side Story.

Bennett's career as a Broadway dancer began in the 1961 Betty Comden–Adolph Green–Jule Styne musical Subways Are For Sleeping, after which he appeared in Meredith Willson's Here's Love and the short-lived Bajour.^[3] In the mid-1960s he was a featured dancer on the NBC pop music series Hullabaloo, where he met fellow dancer Donna McKechnie.^[4]

Bennett made his choreographic debut with A Joyful Noise (1966), which lasted only twelve performances, and in 1967 followed it with another failure, Henry, Sweet Henry (based on the Peter Sellers film The World of Henry Orient).^[3] Success finally arrived in 1968, when he choreographed the hit musical Promises, Promises on Broadway. With a contemporary pop score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a wisecracking book by Neil Simon and Bennett's well-received production numbers, including "Turkey Lurkey Time", the show ran for 1,281 performances.^[5] Over the next few years, he earned praise for his work on the straight play Twigs with Sada Thompson and the musical Coco with Katharine Hepburn.^[3] These were followed by two Stephen Sondheim productions, Company and Follies co-directed with Hal Prince.^[3]

In 1973, Bennett was asked by producers Joseph Kipness and Larry Kasha to take over the ailing Cy Coleman–Dorothy Fields musical Seesaw. In replacing the director Ed Sherin and choreographer Grover Dale, he asked for absolute control over the production as director and choreographer and received credit as "having written, directed, and choreographed" the show.^[6]

[edit] A Chorus Line and the 1980s

Bennett's next project was A Chorus Line. The musical was formed out of hundreds of hours of taped sessions with Broadway dancers. Bennett was invited to the sessions originally as an observer but soon took charge.^[7] He co-choreographed and directed the production, which debuted in May 1975 off-Broadway. It won nine Tony Awards and the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He later claimed that the worldwide success of A Chorus Line became a hindrance, as the many international companies of that musical demanded his full-time attention.^[8] Bennett would later become a creative consultant for the 1985 film version of the musical but left due to creative differences. He always sought creative control over his projects, but Hollywood producers were unwilling to give him the influence he demanded.^[9]

Although the film version was but a pale imitation of the original, there are some filmed records which testify to the show's initial power. Television talk-show host Phil Donahue devoted an entire program to the original cast, during which they reminisce and recreate some of the musical numbers. The 2008 feature-length documentary "Every Little Step" chronicles the casting process of A Chorus Line's 2006 revival, with re-created choreography by Bennett's long-time associate Baayork Lee, and, in the course of the film, the saga of the original production is re-told as well, through the use of old film clips and revealing interviews from the original collaborators, including Lee, Bob Avian (who was the show's original co-choreographer with Bennett and the director of the revival), composer Marvin Hamlisch and the original's leading lady, Donna McKechnie.

Bennett's next musical was an admired project about late-life romance called Ballroom. Although financially unsuccessful, it garnered 7 Tony Award nominations, and Michael won one for Best Choreography. He admitted that any project that followed A Chorus Line was bound to be an anti-climax.^[10] Bennett had another hit in 1981 with Dreamgirls, a backstage epic about a girl-group like The Supremes and the expropriation of black music by a white recording industry. In the early 1980s, Bennett worked on various projects, one of which was titled The Children's Crusade based on a legendary story Children's Crusade, but none of them reached the stage.^[11]

He always collaborated with his assistant Bob Avian, who was a lifelong friend.^[12]

In 1985, Bennett abandoned the nearly-completed musical Scandal, by writer Treva Silverman and songwriter Jimmy Webb, which had been developing for nearly five years through a series of workshop productions.^[13] The show was sexually daring, and apparently Bennett's best work, but the conservative climate and the growing AIDS panic made it unlikely commercial material.^[14] He was then signed to direct the West End production of Chess but had to withdraw in January 1986 due to his failing health, leaving Trevor Nunn to complete the production using Bennett's already commissioned sets.^[15][16]

Analysis[link]

Unlike his more famous contemporary Bob Fosse, Bennett was not known for a particular choreographic style. Instead, Bennett's choreography was motivated by the form of the musical involved, or the distinct characters interpreted.^[17]

In Act 2 of Company, Bennett defied the usual choreographic expectations by deliberately taking the polish off the standard Broadway production number. The company stumbled through the steps of a hat and cane routine ("Side By Side") and thus revealed to the audience the physical limitations of the characters' singing and dancing. Bennett made the audience aware that this group had been flung together to perform, and that they were in over their heads. He intended the number to be not about the routine, but rather the characters behind it.^[18]

The song "One" from A Chorus Line functions in a different way. The various phases of construction/rehearsal of the number are shown, and because the show is about professional dancers, the last performance of the song-and-dance routine has all the gloss and polish expected of Broadway production values. Bennett's choreography also reveals the cost of the number to the people behind it.^[19]

Bennett was influenced by the work of Jerome Robbins. "What Michael Bennett perceived early in Robbins' work was totality, all the sums of a given piece adding to a unified whole".^[20] In Dreamgirls, Bennett's musical staging was described as a "mesmerizing sense of movement":

The most thrilling breakthrough of the extraordinary show is that whereas in A Chorus Line Michael Bennett choreographed the cast, in Dreamgirls he has choreographed the set.... Bennett's use of [the plexiglass towers that dominated the set] was revolutionary. The towers moved to create constantly changing perspectives and space, like an automated ballet.... They energized the action, driving it forcefully along. It's why there were no set-piece dance routines in the show: Dance and movement were organic to the entire action. But Bennett had made the mechanical set his dancers."^[21]

Personal life[link]

In his younger days, Bennett had a relationship with Larry Fuller, a dancer, choreographer and director.^[22]

He had a long professional and personal relationship with the virtuoso dancer Donna McKechnie, who danced his work in both Promises, Promises and Company and finally won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in the role he had created for her in A Chorus Line. They got married on December 4, 1976, but after only a few months they separated and eventually divorced in 1979.^[23]

In the late 1970s he began an affair with Sabine Cassel, the then-wife of French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel.^[24] She left her family in Paris to live with Bennett in Manhattan, but the relationship soured.^[25]

Bennett's addictions to alcohol and drugs, notably cocaine and quaaludes, severely affected his ability to work and affected many of his professional and personal relationships. His paranoia grew as his dependency did. Worried by his celebrity and his father's Italian background, he began to suspect he might fall victim to a Mafia hit.^[26]

Bennett's last lover was Gene Pruitt. In 1986 both Pruitt and friend Bob Herr lived with Bennett for the last eight months of his life in Tucson, Arizona, where he received care at the Arizona Medical Center. Bennett died from AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of forty-four.^[27] He left a portion of his estate to fund research to fight the epidemic.^[28][29] Bennett's memorial service took place at the Shubert Theatre in New York (the home at that time of A Chorus Line) on September 29, 1987.^[30]

Awards and nominations[link]

Other media[link]

A Class Act—A Musical About Musicals (2001). Bennett and lyricist Ed Kleban are portrayed in this partly ficionalized life story of Kleban, using some of Kleban's unpublished songs. A Chorus Line's number "One" is included in this musical.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hadleigh, Boze (2007). Broadway Babylon. Back Stage Books. ISBN 0-8230-8830-8.
• Kantor, Michael (2004). "Choreographer, Directors & Producers: Michael Bennett". Broadway: The American Musical. Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bennett_m.html. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
• Kelly, Kevin (1990). One Singular Sensation: The Michael Bennett Story. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-26125-X. 
• Long, Robert Emmet (2001). Broadway, the Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and the Great Choreographer-directors: 1940 to the Present. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-1462-1.
• Mandelbaum, Ken (1990). A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett. St. Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-03061-4.
• McKechnie, Donna (2006). Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-5520-8.
• Shea, Tom (2004). Broadway's Most Wanted:The Top 10 Book of Dynamic Divas, Surefire Showstoppers, and Box Office Busts. Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-596-0.
• Webb, Jimmy (1999). Tunesmith:Inside the Art of Songwriting. Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-8488-6.
• Zadan, Craig (1987). Sondheim & Co.. Pavilion Books. ISBN 1-85145-190-0.

Further reading[link]

• Chapin, Ted (2005). Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies. Applause Books. ISBN 1-55783-653-1.
• Flinn, Denny Martin (1989). What They Did for Love: The Untold Story Behind the Making of "A Chorus Line". Bantam, ISBN 0-553-34593-1.
• Hamlisch, Marvin (1992). The Way I Was (1st edition). Scribner's. ISBN 0-684-19327-2.
• Stevens, Gary (2000). The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line. Applause Books. ISBN 1-55783-221-8.
• Viagas, Robert (1990). On the Line: The Creation of A Chorus Line (2nd edition). Limelight Editions. ISBN 0-87910-336-1.

External links[link]

• Michael Bennett at the Internet Broadway Database
• Michael Bennett at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Michael Bennett at the Internet Movie Database

Justin Timberlake
Timberlake at the premiere of Shrek The Third in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Justin Randall Timberlake
Born	(1981-01-31) January 31, 1981 (age 31) Memphis, Tennessee
Origin	Shelby Forest, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Pop, dance, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, businessman
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, guitar, beatboxing
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Jive, RCA
Associated acts	'N Sync, The Y's, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado
Website	justintimberlake.com

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981)^[1] is an American singer, actor, and businessman. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez. Timberlake became famous in the late 1990s as the lead singer and youngest member of the boy band 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman.

In 2002, he released his debut solo album, Justified, which sold more than seven million copies worldwide. The album was a commercial success, spawning the hits "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body". Timberlake continued his success with his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and produced the US number-one hit singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".

Timberlake has won six Grammy Awards and four Emmy Awards. His first two albums made him one of the most commercially successful singers in the world, each selling in excess of 7 million copies. He also has an acting career, having starred in films such as The Social Network, Bad Teacher and Friends with Benefits. His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.

Early life[link]

Timberlake was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lynn Harless (née Bomar) and Randall Timberlake.^[1] Timberlake is of almost entirely English descent, however he has some very distant German and Native American ancestry.^[2][3][4] His paternal grandfather, Charles L. Timberlake, was a Baptist minister, and Timberlake was raised Baptist, though now considers himself more "spiritual than religious".^[5]

Timberlake's parents divorced in 1985, and both have remarried. His mother, who now runs an entertainment company called Just-in Time Entertainment, remarried to Paul Harless, a banker, when her son was five. His father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children, Jonathan (born c. 1993) and Steven Robert (born August 14, 1998), from his second marriage to Lisa Perry. Timberlake's half-sister, Laura Katherine, died shortly after birth on May 14, 1997, and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album *NSYNC as "My Angel in Heaven."^[6] Timberlake grew up in Shelby Forest, a small community between Memphis and Millington. His first attempts at a singing career were country music songs on Star Search as "Justin Randall."^[7]

In 1993, Timberlake joined the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. His castmates included future girlfriend and pop superstar Britney Spears, future tourmate Christina Aguilera, future bandmate JC Chasez, and future movie actor Ryan Gosling.^[8] The show ended in 1994, but late in 1995 Timberlake recruited Chasez to be in an all-male singing group organized by boy band manager Lou Pearlman^[9] that eventually became 'N Sync.

Entertainment career[link]

1995–2002: 'N Sync[link]

Timberlake and JC Chasez were the two lead singers of the popular 1990s boy band 'N Sync.^[10] The group formed in 1995, started its career 1996 in Europe, and hit it big in the United States in 1998 with the U.S. release of its debut album *NSYNC, which sold 11 million copies.^[11] The album included a number of hit singles, including "Tearin' Up My Heart". For the next two years, encouraged by similar developments with the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync engaged in a lengthy legal battle with manager Lou Pearlman. Eventually the band signed with Jive Records.^[12] In March 2000, 'N Sync released a long-awaited album, No Strings Attached, which became the fastest-selling album of all time with 2.4 million copies sold in its first week^[13] and produced a #1 single, "It's Gonna Be Me". The release was followed by the band's third album, Celebrity, which was the second-fastest selling album of all time. In 2002, after the completion of a Celebrity Tour and the release of "Girlfriend", the third single from Celebrity, the group decided to take time off, at which point Timberlake began work on his first solo album and the group went into a hiatus. In its lifetime, 'N Sync was internationally famous and performed at the Academy Awards,^[14] the Olympics,^[15] and the Super Bowl,^[16] as well as selling more than 50 million copies worldwide,^[17] becoming the third-best selling boy band in history.^[18]

In late 1999, Timberlake made his acting debut in the Disney Channel movie Model Behavior. He played Jason Sharpe, a model who falls in love with a waitress after mistaking her for another model. It was released on March 12, 2000.^[19]

As a member of 'N Sync, Timberlake developed into a major celebrity in his own right in addition to achieving respect as a musician, since he was the writer or co-writer of all three singles from Celebrity. The rise of his own stardom and the general decline in the popularity of boy bands led to the dissolution of 'N Sync. Band member Lance Bass has stated that he believes the group is finished,^[20] and is openly critical of Timberlake's actions in his memoir Out of Sync. On the other hand, Chris Kirkpatrick remarked in August 2008 that the five remain friends, and he believed a reunion was possible:^[21] he repeated that opinion in October 2009.^[22] In September 2008, Bass also made conciliatory comments.^[23] However, in 2011 and 2012, JC Chasez said that a reunion will probably never happen.^[24][25][26]

[edit] 2002–04: Justified and Super Bowl

In August 2002, after months of recording Justified, his debut solo album, Timberlake performed at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. He premiered his first single, "Like I Love You", a sparse dance track produced by The Neptunes.^[27] The song reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[28] Following the single, Timberlake released Justified on November 5, 2002.^[29] The album sold fewer copies than previous 'N Sync efforts. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release. It eventually went on to sell more than three million copies in the U.S. and more than seven million copies worldwide.^[30] The album also received critical acclaim, thanks to its heavy R&B influence provided by hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland.^[31] It spun off hits throughout late 2002 and 2003, including the top ten singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body".^[28] Timberlake supported the album by co-headlining the Justified/Stripped Tour with Christina Aguilera in the summer of 2003.^[32] At the end of the year, Timberlake recorded a song entitled "I'm Lovin' It". It was used by McDonald's as the theme to its "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. The deal with McDonald's earned Timberlake an estimated $6 million. A tour entitled Justified and Lovin' It Live was included with the deal as well.^[33] Timberlake was featured on Nelly's song, "Work It", which was remixed and included on Nelly's 2003 remix album.^[34]

In February 2004, during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XXXVIII broadcast on the CBS television network, Timberlake performed with Janet Jackson before a television audience of more than 140 million viewers. At the end of the performance, as the song drew to a close, Timberlake tore off a part of Jackson's black leather costume in a "costume reveal" meant to accompany a portion of the song lyrics. According to CBS, "both Jackson and Timberlake had confirmed they planned it 'independently and clandestinely' without informing anyone."^[35] Part of the costume detached, and Jackson's breast was briefly exposed.^[36] Timberlake apologized for the incident, stating he was "sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl...."^[37] The phrase "wardrobe malfunction" has since been used by the media to refer to the incident and has entered pop culture.^[38] As a result of the controversy, Timberlake and Jackson were threatened with exclusion from the 2004 Grammy Awards unless they agreed to apologize on screen at the event.^[39] Timberlake attended and issued a scripted apology when accepting the first of two Grammy Awards he received that night (Best Pop Vocal Album for Justified and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cry Me a River").^[40] He had also been nominated for Album of the Year for Justified, Record of the Year for "Cry Me a River", and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Where Is the Love?" with The Black Eyed Peas.^[41] In 2004 American Idol judge Simon Cowell described Timberlake in People Magazine as "just some white kid who's tried to act black over the last several years".