Gennaro, Peter

▪ 2001

      American dancer and choreographer (b. Nov. 23, 1919, Metairie, La.—d. Sept. 28, 2000, New York, N.Y.), gained public attention as a member of the trio who danced the Bob Fosse number “Steam Heat” in the Broadway production The Pajama Game (1954), sustained that attention with the “Mu Cha Cha” number with Judy Holliday in Bells Are Ringing (1956), and went on to further acclaim for his Broadway, television, and film performances and choreography. By the time he was four Gennaro was already winning dance competitions. He pursued dance training throughout his school years, and during World War II, after enlisting in the army and ending up in India as a result of a mix-up, he was recruited into an entertainment group and performed for the troops as a dancer. After the war Gennaro worked briefly at his father's bar but then moved to New York City. There he studied at the American Theater Wing and at the Katherine Dunham School, and in 1947 he secured a job in the chorus of the San Carlo Opera Company. Gennaro's Broadway debut came in 1948 in the chorus of Make Mine Manhattan. Dancing roles in such shows as Kiss Me, Kate (1948), Arms and the Girl (1950), and Guys and Dolls (1950) followed, and he also branched out into teaching dance to other professional performers. Gennaro began choreographing shows with the musical Seventh Heaven (1955) and in 1956 assisted Jerome Robbins on West Side Story, creating most of the “America” number and the Sharks' dance-at-the-gym routines. Later Broadway choreographic efforts included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello! (1959), which garnered him his first Tony Award nomination; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960), the 1964 movie version of which he also choreographed; Mr. President (1962); Bajour (1964); Irene (1973); and Annie (1977), for which he won a Tony. Gennaro amassed extensive television credits in the 1950s and '60s—among them the Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, Your Hit Parade, and The Steve Allen Show, on many of which he appeared with the Peter Gennaro Dancers—and between 1974 and 1980 he staged the spectacular shows at New York City's Radio City Music Hall.

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