Michael Bennett Research Paper

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Pages: 3

On April 8th, 1943 Michael Bennett DiFiglia was born to Helen née Ternoff and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia in Buffalo, New York. At the age of 3 Bennett was enrolled in dance lessons and by the age of 12, he was well-versed in ballet, tap, modern and folk dancing. Bennett was both Jewish (from his mother’s side) and American Italian (from his father’s side). Since his teenage years Michael participated in the theatrical music scene. Bennett participated in many plays and musicals at his local high school while he studied dance and choreography but high school plays were not Bennett’s passion. When the opportunity arose Bennett dropped out of high school to play the part of Baby John in the US/European tours for West Side Story. That is when his dance career became the real deal and before you know it Michael Bennett was, as he stated, “the king of backstage musicals” (New York Times). …show more content…
Following Bennett danced in shows like Here's Love and Bajour. In the middle of the 1960s hit the television scene and became a recurring dancer on the NBC series Hullabaloo. This is where he met the dancer Donna McKechnie. In 1966 Bennett made a choreographic debut with the show A Joyful Noise which lasted for the short amount of twelve shows. After this disparity Bennett experienced more failure for the production Henry, Sweet Henry. Finally after two years of disappointment, in 1968 Bennett found success for his choreography in the Broadway musical hit Promises, Promises which showed for a total of 1,281 performances. The following few years Bennett was given praise for work on both Twigs and the musical