Obit: Ann Miller--dancer and singer (1923-2004)

Subject: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 12:47 AM

One of the greats in the dance world has died. Ann Miller was 81.

She made lots of musicals, but you see only a handful of them any more. On The Town and Kiss Me Kate were masterpieces.

She's not folk or blues, but she was great, right up there with fellow Texans Mary Martin and Ginger Rogers.

SRS

Subject: OBIT: singer/dancer Ann Miller
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 01:27 AM

Ann Miller's "Prehistoric Man" from On the Town was a memorable performance. It's a terribly corny song, but she did a womnderful job of it - and her dancing was terrific. Her tabletop performance of "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me Kate was just about perfect - and it's just about a perfect song, too. She was an extraordinary performer.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 01:33 AM

And performed for a long time as well. One of the best and most energetic hoofers I know. Never anyone else quite like her.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 02:12 AM

Some of her routines must have been worked out by Busby Berkeley. There was a strong similarity between some of Miller's sequences and what Eleanor Powell did a decade or two earlier.

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: fat B****rd
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 03:50 AM

RIP Miss Miller. I always love watching you and Cyd doing what you two did best.

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Peter T.
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 09:33 AM

Energy afoot. I have often thought of her as a real American - bursting with energy! A great life.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From:
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 06:41 PM

What a shame. I remember getting to see her and Mickey Rooney live in a tour of that show they did, based on vaudeville acts. Can't recall the name of the show. It was in the early '80s, I believe. They came to Vancouver.

She's one of my favourite performers in the musicals going back to the early MGM days.

What a performer! What a pair of legs!

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 04 - 08:04 PM

George, this was at the bottom of the obit link I posted:

In later years, she astounded audiences in New York, Las Vegas and on the road with her dynamic tapping in Sugar Babies when she was in her 60s. In 1990, she commented that Sugar Babies had made her financially independent.

Before each performance (including 1,700 on Broadway), she practiced for an hour.

"Honestly, I have had to live like a high priestess in this show," she remarked in a 1984 interview. "It is a very, very lonely life. When you work the way I work -- that means hard -- there's no time for play."

I can believe it.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: GUEST,spie
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 02:23 PM

How can I get DVDs of Ann Miller?

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 03:32 PM

On the Town DVD is available from Amazon, etc. It also had Gene Kelly, another of my favorite dancers.
Several others are still available.

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 03:33 PM

NetFlix

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 03:38 PM

The old B&W "Reveille with Beverly" is available. Many of the great musicians of the WW2 1940s; forget about the plot and enjoy the music and dance.

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:07 PM

She will be missed.

As a young woman she was as cute as a chipmunk

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:56 PM

Don, this started seven years ago, when she died. Revived by a request for her videos.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer (Jan '04
From: Max Johnson
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 12:54 PM

A great sequence from 'Easter Parade'. Stay with it 'till the end...

Anne Miller shakin' the blues away

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--great dancer and singer (Jan '04
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:17 PM

Lot's below to choose from. I especially like the clip with the Mexican heartthrob, Tito Guizar. The clip is "The Thrill of Brazil".

http://www.videosurf.com/videos/ann+miller+tap

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--dancer and singer (1923-2004)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 04:59 AM

I guess Ann Miller didn't play leading lady very often, but she was often a supporting actress, a great singer and dancer. I liked her best singing "Too Darn Hot" in Kiss Me Kate, and in her part in On the Town with Sinatra and Gene Kelly.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Obit: Ann Miller--dancer and singer (1923-2004)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 11:02 AM

Joe, I love that Too Darn Hot song for so many reasons.

Ann Miller did for tap I think what Cyd Charisse did for ballet and modern dance, she provided the highest octane talent for the novelty number that appeared in some films of the day. And she was frequently in ensemble casts, not the lead, but not in the background either.

SRS