Donna McKechnie - She's still got it at 70 years

[morosco]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 8:29pm

F*ckin amazing!
Turkey Lurkey Time

[morosco]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 8:30pm

Music and the Mirror

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 8:35pm

I really feel old now.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 9:12pm

Sure, the keys are lowered a bit and the choreography simplified, but, man, she's still got "it." That extra goose-bump factor. She can connect with audiences the way few performers can.

Bravo, Donna! Long may you wave!

[PurpleFanta]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 9:22pm

WOW! I can't stop watching Music and the Mirror. I'm completely blown away.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 9:45pm

By the way, who are the others doing Turkey Lurkey with her? Looks like maybe Sandahl Bergman on the right, and Valerie Pettiford on the left (I think)? Don't know who the other one is next to Donna.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 9:53pm

Valerie Pettiford, Jane Lanier, Donna McKechnie, and Sandahl Bergman.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 10:35pm

God I love this woman. She can do *no* wrong IMO.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 10:53pm

I have a hard time believing she's 70!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 11:21pm

Holy sh!t!

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 11:23pm

Would someone share the year of that video clip, please? Thanks.. RC in Austin, Texas

[binau]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 1:53am

When she was in Australia last year, performing her show "my musical comedy life" (She sung Music in the Mirror, and In Buddy's Eyes and I'm Still Here, can hardly remember the rest :P), there was one or two video cameras recording her ('professionally')..maybe there will be a DVD release?

Updated On: 4/4/11 at 01:53 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 8:10am

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer but the "Turkey Lurkey Time" clip is about 15 years old. Donna isn't built that way anymore nor can dance like that anymore.

Love me some Donna McKechnie but I don't want people to be misled to think that was Donna a week ago.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 8:47am

The Turkey Lurkey clip is from early 2008. The Music and the Mirror clip is from 2011.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 10:29am

Brody-
I saw her in 2009, she did the same amount of dance as she did in the 2011 clip, and did as much of Turkey Lurkey as one can do solo. She is still built very well, and still dances very well.

[princessem721]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:19am

and to think about all she's been through to get to that point!! have any of you read her book? in her memoir/autobiography (whatever you want to call it) she talks about how she was bed-ridden with rheumatoid arthritis in the 80s and she went through a serious depression, as she was told that she would never walk - let alone dance - again. she's an inspiration!!

[Q]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:46am

Now there's a 70yo who could still do Rose in GYPSY.

[hotjohn]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 12:28pm

Saw her do a terrific, intimate cabaret show at London's Pizza On The Park in 2009. The venue was so small and I was right up front and got slightly carried away at one point by engaging in conversation with her in between songs!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 12:36pm

I worked on Gypsy with her in Cleveland some ten years ago. Despite some vocal problems due to an illness (I can't remember if it was full out bronchitis or just a common cold) she was quite good. She was also fairly easy to work with backstage, which always adds favorably to my opinion of any star performer.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 7:04pm

The only people who should doubt that these clips are fairly recent are people who haven't seen her live lately.

The gal has got it and works her ass of to stay that way. It's her way of combatting the rheumatoid arthritis. Daily exercise (Yeah, she does it in front of an audience, and why not, if you're Donna Friggin' McKechnie?), and a healthy, very specific diet. This is the only way she's able to fight the disease, and I, for one, am thrilled that she keeps doing everything she can to "get physical."

The truly amazing part to me is seeing how she can still electrify an audience. This has nothing to do with how high she kicks (since she can't anymore), or if she's singing in the original key. That's what kills me about today's singers, dancers, and audiences. They focus on the technical achievements. And ultimately, that doen't mean sh*t.

"You either got it, or you ain't."

Truer words have never been spoken as far as actor/dancer/singer/performers go. It has NOTHING to do with technical prowess. It can't be measured by the yard, or rated on a scale, or calculated by how many riffs you do or the trajectory and radius of your fan kick. It's that intangible quality called "it."

It separates the men from the boys, and the stars from the chorus. Pure and simple.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 9:15pm

Amen to that best12bars!

Here's McKechnie as Cassie when she returned to ACL after her battle with severe arthritis. Miraculous. (I could be wrong but I think this vid is from 1986 but it's labeled as 1988.)

Did anyone EVER dance this number as fast as Donna?
Music and the Mirror

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:08pm

not to compare to Donna, but Charlotte d'Amboise asked if the tempo could be sped up for her. Donna will always BE Cassie!!! It's her story.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:17pm

Actually, Donna talks about how she did it slower than most.

I think Laurie Gamache is the fastest (based on a video from right before it closed) of the Cassie's I've seen.

And yes, that video from Donna's return is FABULOUS (and sadly, I couldn't get it to rip properly when I uploaded that video ages ago)

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 6:35am

I have no idea why they played it so slowly in the revival. I can't even listen to the recording because of it. Same thing with the opening number. The tempos are deadly.

By the time they got to Jessica Lee Goldyn, at least in that YouTube clip, the tempo was much better, except for the ending, which was still slow. You can see her almost waiting (by adding extra pauses, grabbing her head, etc.) for the music to catch up with her when she does those final steps. Terrible musical direction, especially for a dancer trying every way possible to keep the energy level up.

I've seen most of the YouTube clips of this number, and I've never heard anyone have a faster overall tempo than Donna's original/earliest rendition. Especially the last section, after the slow part. And it makes a lot of difference with the energy and fluidity of it, for sure.

EDIT: And that's no reflection of dancers, since they don't control the tempos. It's the conductor/musical director who either kicks it into high gear or doesn't. And ... tempos aren't a matter of opinion. They're a mathematical matter of fact. It's either faster or it isn't.

Updated On: 4/5/11 at 06:35 AM

[binau]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 6:39am

I love her smile :'). Love herrrr...

Updated On: 4/5/11 at 06:39 AM