Here's what you need to know about Michael Kidd:
The 1953 Broadway musical Can-Can (1953) featured Gwen Verdon, who stopped the show cold with Kidd's "The Garden of Eden Ballet" on opening night and promptly went back to her dressing room to change costumes. So great was the audience's ovation that she was rushed back onstage to take another bow - clutching her costume in front of her, as she had not quite finished changing. Verdon won the Tony that year - her first of four - and became a star overnight Credit the dancer for the performance. Credit the choreographer for the dance.
Kidd also won a Tony Award for Can-Can - his third of five. The others were Finian's Rainbow (1947), Guys and Dolls (1950), Li'l Abner (1957) and Destry Rides Again (1959).
(Complete Broadway credits here.)
Kidd was one of the few choreographers (Fosse was the only other, really) to work successfully both on Broadway and Hollywood. His Guys and Dolls dances were re-created for the 1955 film. Other films include The Band Wagon, Star!, Hello, Dolly! and something about a bunch of horny backwoodsmen...
And on top of everything else, he was in Smile.
New York Times obit.
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