The mind behind 2000's Big Band hit Swing!, Ms. Taylor-Corbett worked with Alvin Ailey, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and more.
She was not on the list.
Tony nominated director-choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett has died. News of her passing was confirmed by her son, Shaun Taylor-Corbett.
Ms. Taylor-Corbett was a treasured member of the theatrical dance community. Originally from Denver, Ms. Taylor-Corbett began dancing through her mother, a pianist at a ballet school. At 17, she moved to New York, initially working as an usher at the New York State Theater (now the David H. Koch Theater, the home of the New York City Ballet) before joining the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
At Ailey, she developed her choreographic tastes as part of the company's Women's Choreography Initiative, where she transformed her experiences from touring with the Ailey company in the Middle East following the Six-Day Arab-Israeli war into the ballet Prayers from the Edge. Outside of Ailey, she danced and choreographed for the small ensemble The Dance Theatre Collection, and took on a number of choreographic commissions, including a notable assignment from Mikhail Baryshnikov during his time as American Ballet Theatre's artistic director.
In musical theatre, she created the iconic screen choreography for the 1984 musical film Footloose, and was twice Tony nominated for the big band musical Swing!, which she directed and choreographed in 2000. Elsewhere on Broadway, she choreographed Shakespeare's Cabaret, The Boys of Winter, Chess, Sally Marr... and her escorts, Titanic, and Jackie. In 2008, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society awarded Ms. Taylor-Corbett with the Joseph A. Callaway Award for excellence in stage directing and choreography.
In recent years, Ms. Taylor-Corbett collaborated frequently with her son, including on the recently produced Distant Thunder. Written by the mother-son duo, with Chris Wiseman, Robert Lindsey-Nassif, and Michael Moricz, the musical is a deeply personal exploration of the adult life of a child taken from his Blackfeet tribe.
In lieu of flowers, Ms. Taylor-Corbett made it known before her passing that she would prefer donations be made to the future development of Distant Thunder, via AMASmusical.org. These donations will be used to complete the show's concept album, and produce a regional and concert premiere.
Her son, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, appeared in the children's series Hi-5 which aired on the Learning Channel. He has appeared in the off-Broadway show Altar Boyz, and in the production of In The Heights on Broadway.
She choreographed "Disney's Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular" musical by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, adapted from the screenplay by Roger Allers, Ron Clements, Ted Elliott, John Musker & Terry Rossio (Hyperion Theater at Disney's California Adventure Park, Anaheim, California, USA).
Writer
ABC Funfit (1985)
ABC Funfit
TV Series
Writer
1985
Additional Crew
Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in Bewitched (2005)
Bewitched
4.8
choreographer
2005
Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky (2001)
Vanilla Sky
6.9
choreographer: New York
2001
To Dream of Roses
8.6
Short
choreographer
1990
Steve Martin and Rick Moranis in My Blue Heaven (1990)
My Blue Heaven
6.2
choreographer
1990
Jennifer Runyon and Donovan Leitch Jr. in The in Crowd
(1988)
The in Crowd
6.3
choreographer
1988
American Ballet Theatre in San Francisco (1985)
American Ballet Theatre in San Francisco
7.8
TV Special
choreographer
1985
Footloose (1984)
Footloose
6.6
choreographer
1984
Self
Independent Lens (1999)
Independent Lens
8.1
TV Series
Self
2008
1 episode
Jock Soto in Water Flowing Together (2007)
Water Flowing Together
8.2
Self
2007
Footloose: A Modern Musical
8.1
Video
Self
2004
The 54th Annual Tony Awards (2000)
The 54th Annual Tony Awards
5.6
TV Special
Self - Nominee
2000
Working in the Theatre (1976)
Working in the Theatre
6.1
TV Series
Self
2000
1 episode
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