Choreographer Michael Kidd, an icon both on Broadway and in Hollywood, died on Sunday at the age of 92. Kidd, who won was born Milton Greenwalk in New York City in 1915, succumbed to cancer in Los Angeles. While he had his greatest success on the stage as both a choreographer and director, he is best remembered for staging the stunning athletic dances in the classic 1954 movie musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. If you’ve never seen his “Barn Raising” sequence, you should grab the DVD…tonight.
Kidd started in the theater as a dancer in 1939 after giving up on becoming a chemical engineer. His first Tony came in 1947 for choreographing “Finian’s Rainbow” and he picked up four more choreography Tony Awards by 1959. In 1952, the lure of Tinseltown led him to choreograph a Ray Bolger film called Where’s Charley?. The next year, he staged the musical numbers for the Fred Astaire film, The Band Wagon, named to the National Film Registry in 1995. He then choreographed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and staged the musical numbers for Guys and Dolls. He eventually worked his way up to director/choreographer for the Danny Kaye movie, Merry Andrew in 1958. This was his only director credit (although he directed television) but he continued to direct on stage until 1993 when he was nominated for a Tony for directing “The Goodbye Girl.” His final film credit was for choreographing Hello, Dolly! in 1969.
Kidd’s Oscar came in 1997 for “his services to the art of the dance in the art of the screen.” Since his work was primarily in choreography or staging musical numbers, he did not qualify under any of the Oscar categories. His influence in 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s both on Broadway and in Hollywood can not be understated. Watching movies like The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Guys and Dolls is a pleasurable experience as he effortlessly brought together ballet, jazz, and gymnastics to effectively convey emotion or plot development. While he has been out of the limelight for most of the last 35 years, his name is still a symbol of quality in terms of staging musical numbers; he will be missed.
