Thommie Walsh, 57
Thommie Walsh, a Tony-winning choreographer who was in the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line," has died after a long battle with lymphoma. He was 57. Walsh died Saturday at his mother's home in Auburn, N.Y., his manager, Robert Duva, said Monday.
Walsh was best known for creating the role of Bobby in "A Chorus Line," Michael Bennett's backstage look at dancers' auditions for a big Broadway musical. The show based on dancers' real-life stories opened at the Public Theater off-Broadway in April 1975 before moving to Broadway's Shubert Theatre for a 6,137-performance run.
Using the name Thomas J. Walsh, he made his Broadway debut in "Seesaw," in 1973, dancing in the chorus of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields musical directed and choreographed by Bennett. The show featured performer Tommy Tune, who later teamed with Walsh on several musicals.
The two co-choreographed "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (1978) and then "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine" (1980), for which they received a Tony Award for best choreography. Tune and Walsh also co-directed and co-choreographed "My One and Only" (1983), a new musical using old Gershwin songs and which starred Tune and Twiggy. It also won the duo a choreography Tony.
Walsh received solo choreography credit for Nine and received his second Tony nomination for Best Choreography. On "My Only and Only," he and Tune shared staging and choreography credits and received Tony nominations for both direction and choreography, winning the Tony for the latter category.
Mr. Walsh's other Broadway credits included the musical staging of "The 1940's Radio Hour" (1979), "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" (1982) and "My Favorite Year" (1992).
Among the many artists Mr. Walsh directed and staged musical numbers for are Chita Rivera, Sandy Duncan, Whoopi Goldberg, Lorna Luft, Joel Grey and Barbara Cook. Mr. Walsh also had a long working relationship with Tony winner Donna McKechnie, the singer-actress-dancer he shared a stage with in "A Chorus Line." Walsh directed McKechnie's acclaimed autobiographical concert, Donna McKechnie: Inside the Music.
Among his later projects were directing and choreographing the 2001 national tour of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," starring Ann-Margret.