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Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life

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All she's ever needed was the music and the mirror and the chance to dance for you . . . Musical theatre fans will always recognize the last lines of the 11 o'clock number from A Chorus Line. The show, returning to Broadway this month in it's first revival since it closed there after 6,137 performances in 1990, starred Donna McKechnie. In her autobio, co-authored by Greg Lawrence, who wrote Dancing with Demons, the definitive bio of Jerome Robbins, there is much to like. The book, however, is not without a few jarringly uncomfortable moments.
McKechnie discusses in painful detail her brief marriage to genius director-choreographer wunderkind Michael Bennett. Bennett was gay, and was self-centered in a way mere mortals can only think about. Words like `manipulative,' `duplicitous,' `greedy,' `ambitious,' not to say `cruel,' `evil,' `mean' and `without conscience' litter remembrances of Bennett. McKechnie explains she married him, thinking, in a musical comedy ingénue kind of way, that he would change--she had known him a long time before they married, having done three Broadway hits with him, but then tells the reader entirely too much about this horrible, painful and demeaning relationship.
She recounts her battle with crippling arthritis in vivid and moving terms. Imagine being one of the most celebrated dancers in the world, then being told that not only would you never dance again, but very possibly that you'd not be able to even walk within a year. Her triumph in this battle, using traditional and holistic medicine, faith and unfailing determination, is the high point in the book. The authors try to cram as many names in as few pages as possible, and sections read like a theatre program of professionals from the last 50 years. However, in the end, it becomes a sweet, lovely show-biz bio with a measure of style, wit and grace. The satisfaction and pride McKechnie has achieved in her life and career is evident throughout the book. It's interesting that McKechnie has played, in revivals, all three female leads in Follies; her autobiography keenly illustrates that, like Carlotta, Lord knows she was there, and she's still here.

This is a wonderful read. Broadway and musical fans will be thrilled to hear the insider stories, but also saddened that a woman as talented and driven as Donna McKechnie never became a household name. Unflinchingly honest, almost painful at times. I practically inhaled the book and I recommend it highly.

Broadway stars don't get the recognition that movie stars get, but so far as Broadway stars go, Donna McKechnie is pretty well up there. After all, winning a Tony goes a long way to separate the stars from the wanna be's.

In Broadway acting there's a balance between the capabilities of the star and the play that doesn't seem to be as strong as it is in movies. Every Broadway actor has a series of talents in some combination of singing, dancing and acting. The key to success is for that actor to find a position in a play that exactly matches the mix of these talents. For Ms McKechnie that came together in 'A Chorus Line.'

This book has a lot about 'A Chorus Line.' But it's from a personal side. How do you take the talents you have, get them in front of the people making the decision about who to hire and get the job. Then what do you do afterward. How do you handle the problems that life brings you. And why does it seem that those who rise to great heights offten have problems more severe than the rest of us, try to imagine what rheumatoid arthritis does to a professional dancer. After a lifetime of working to be a dancer, to be told you will will never dance again, indeed may not be able to walk.

As has been said before, actors don't do acting because they want to, they do it because they have to. Ms. McKechnie probably has to do walk this line, but she's also doing exactly what she wants to do.

a true indispensable treasure of information for a lover of american musical shows.
simple in the text, rich in the content

When Donna McKechnie received her Tony for best actress in the musical Chorus Line, she bask in the glow of fame, success, and reaching the pinnacle recognition within the theatre world. However, up to that point and thereafter, there were many highs and lows.
Being a dancer, actress, and singer is much more than talent, it is the inner drive to become that character. Mikhail Baryshnikov best describes it as he states "When a dancer comes onstage, he is not just a blank slate that the choreographer has written on. Behind him he has all the decisions he has made in his life... each time he has chosen, and in what he is onstage, you see the result of those choices. You are looking at the person he is, the person who, at this point, he cannot help but be."

In Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life by Donna McKechnie, this extraordinary performer candidly shares her life's story. You realize that the glamorous life is full of hard work mixed in with a few tears.

Literally running away from home at sixteen, McKechnie pushed through many obstacles to live her dream of becoming a star.

If theatre mirrors life, then Donna McKechnie is the embodiment of the story within Chorus Line, a dancer who has big dreams to make it and eventually does.
Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life by Donna McKechnie will give you great insight into the hard work and dedication that it takes to bring to life a fantastic show.

As a theater person I always wondered why we have so little video or TV record of this amazing actress. In the 1970s she was the top dancer on Broadway. Thanks to YouTube we can see a few glimpses, but it is a shame that there is so few of her recorded performances to see. This woman was so talented one reads with wonderment about the many years she was out of the spotlight. Her growth as a person over her lifetime is remarkable. There is a very informative chapter on her successful fight against crippling arthritis.

donna has always been a winner..when i first met donna in charles nelson reilly's musical comedy class, 1962, at the hb studio, in nyc/greenwich village, she was already at the top of her game ..broadway dancer."how to succeed", vocal lessons with bob murdoch, also in "how to succeed".pretty,great dancer/singer & actress.............donna alaways has had that qualiy X......hard working, focused on her career...never wavering.....i am so happy for her success....movies,tv,stage, clubs.....she does it all......i will always watch her career with great interest..p.s., a nice gal, too......JACK R. ENGLISH, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.........actor/singer/film & tv production............je

TIME STEPS is dancing star Donna McKechnie's autobiography written with the assistance of Greg Lawrence (who also wrote the Jerome Robbins biography DANCE WITH DEMONS and helped Gelsey Kirkland write her bestselling autobiography DANCING ON MY GRAVE). McKechnie's story is a very interesting one on many levels. She ran away from home as a teenager and managed to carve out a career for herself as a professional dancer. Her big break came when she auditioned for producer Cy Feuer who hired her for the chorus of his new Broadway show HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING when she was still a teenager. For several heady years she went from one hit show to another, including her breakthrough moment in PROMISES, PROMISES and her spectacular turn in Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY, culminating in her triumphant Tony-wining performance in the revolutionary Michael Bennett musical A CHORUS LINE. But that turned out to be her last real hit. The next thirty years would not be so easy. She not only battled a dead-end career, but also struggled with a severely debilitating physical illness, a failed marriage, family problems and emotional misery. It's the story of a survivor, but it's not a particularly happy one. McKechnie obviously wanted to be in the spotlight an awful lot to go through this kind of life.

Although the first part of the book is quite gripping, it bogs down in the middle as McKechnie is forced to look inward to solve her unhappiness. Introspection is usually far more interesting to oneself than to others. Even though the book is ultimately more disturbing than uplifting, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone considering a career in the performing arts. It reveals the grim reality of trying to make a living as a performer, even for someone as beautiful, talented, respected and beloved as Donna McKechnie.

MS MCKECHNIE HAS WRITTEN A VERY HONEST BOOK ABOUT HER LIFE AND CAREER, BUT IT COMES ACROSS MORE AS A "CLIFF NOTES' VERISON OF WHAT MUST BE A FASCINATING STORY, AND LEFT THIS READER WANTING MUCH MUCH MORE. SHE OFFERS FRUSTRATINGLY LITTLE IN DEPTH ACCOUNTS OF HER VARIOUS THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES, ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF A CHORUS LINE - A SHOW SHE PERFORMED WELL INTO MIDDLE AGE OVER A PERIOD OF 15 OR 16 YEARS. IN ADDITION, HER TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH MICHAEL BENNETT IS, LIKE THE REST OF THE BOOK, AN OVERVIEW MORE THAN AN ACCOUNT. MY OPINION - BUY THE BOOK USED OR TAKE IT OUT OF THE LIBRARY...NOT WORTH THE PRICE, AND VERY FRUSTRATING DUE TO WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

This talented actress who worked with some of th great directors, composers and performers focusses on her rather neurotic personal life with coutless highs/lows, illnesses, failed romances and marriage. Very lilttle about the shows, the creative process (with the exception of Chorus Line) and the art of the Broadway Musical. While I wish her well in her career and personal life, I feel that Ms. McKechnie still owes me a book on her experience in musical theater. If your thinking of buying this book, just wait a few weeks and it will be on the remainder tables at book shops.