Director choreographer Bob Fosse dead at 60

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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.

See the article in its original context from September 1987.

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Washington (AP) - Director and choreographer Bob Fosse, whose high-kicking dance styles put his stamp on such Broadway hits as "Cabaret," "Sweet Charity" and "Damn Yankees," has died of a heart attack. He was 60. Fossee collapsed Wednesday evening shortly before "Sweet Charity" opened at Washington's National Theatre, said Alma Viator, a spokeswoman for the theatre.

She said Fosse had rehearsed the company earlier in the day and then returned to his hotel with Gwen Verdon, his former wife.

"He had a massive heart attack there. They rushed him to George Washington University Hospital, where they tried to revive him and could not," she said. "He never made it to opening night."

The cast of the show was told about Fosse's death after the show. They attended an opening night party at a Washington restaurant and toasted him to sustained applause. Fosse was long a mainstay of the Broadway musical theatre and one of the most widely acclaimed choreographers of recent decades.