Donna McKechnie (born November 16, 1942) is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is perhaps best known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1976.
McKechnie was born in Pontiac, Michigan where she began ba...
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Donna McKechnie (born November 16, 1942) is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is perhaps best known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1976.
McKechnie was born in Pontiac, Michigan where she began ballet classes at age five. Her earliest influence was the classic British ballet film The Red Shoes (1948), which prompted her, at age six, to plan a career as a ballerina. She studied for many years at the Rose Marie Floyd School of Dance in Royal Oak. Despite her parents' strong misgivings, she moved to New York City when she was 17. Rejected after an audition for the American Ballet Theatre, she found employment in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall but walked off the job on the day of dress rehearsal to do summer stock at the...
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