Donna King (born 1957) is an American dancer and musical theatre performer who appeared in Broadway musicals in the 1970s and 1980s and has lived and worked mostly in England since the 1980s. She is also an actress and has appeared in theatre as well as on film and television.

Life

Originally from Kansas City, King trained at the Miller Marley School of Dance in Overland Park, Kansas.Alumni: Donna King
at millermarley.com, accessed 8 April 2018 She worked briefly on a revue in Las Vegas before starting at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

, New York City, on its opening night in 1977. She appeared as one of the good-time girls in the Broadway musical ''

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Gran ...

'' (1978), then in

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Rose ...

's 1981 revival of '' Can-Can'', before originating the part of Bombalurina at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

on Broadway in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

's ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

'',Biography
at donnakingdame.com, accessed 7 April 2018 which she played from 1982 to 1984. In September 1982, the '' New York Magazine'' ran a feature on King, who was pictured as Bombalurina in a window display at

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. ...

. She was also a lead dancer in the film ''

Grease 2 ''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and the sequel to the 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled ''More Grease'', the film was produced ...

'' (1982). In 1984, King married John Napier, a British theatre designer who had designed the set and costumes for ''Cats'', and they had two children, James (now the musician

Jimmy Napes James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Awar ...

) and Jessica. They were divorced in 1994. In 2014, Andrew Lloyd Webber said in an interview about the production team of ''Cats'' — "

Trevor Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish lang ...

, John and I all married a ‘cat’ eventually – so it really was life-changing!" The three “cats” were Sharon Lee-Hill, Donna King, and

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

, respectively. In 1991, Donna King appeared in the lead role of May in a revival of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

's '' Fool for Love'' at the Timber Street Studios, London. The ''Theatre Record'' reviewer reported that she gave a performance of great subtlety, but found King "too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" for the part. King had a notable part in

Jilly Cooper Jilly Cooper, CBE (born 21 February 1937), is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for wr ...

's ''

The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous ''The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous'' (1993) is a novel written by Jilly Cooper as part of the Rutshire Chronicles, about a womanizer who gets embroiled in a scheme to punish wayward husbands. The book was first published in hardback in 1993 a ...

'' (1997). In the opening scene, her tryst with the anti-hero, Lysander Hawkley, is interrupted by her husband, who chases Lysander out of the house naked with a crossbow.Dave Lanning
Sooper-Stud's Flight of Fancy
dated June 8, 1997, in '' The People'' (London, England) at highbeam.com, accessed 6 April 2018 She now has a studio in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

and teaches music, theatre, and film students.

Musical theatre

*''

'' (

46th Street Theatre The Richard Rodgers Theatre (formerly Chanin's 46th Street Theatre and the 46th Street Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 226 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Her ...

, 1978), as Linda Lou *'' Can-Can'' (

Minskoff Theatre The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named aft ...

, Broadway, 1981), as Mimi *''

'' (

, Broadway, 1982—1984), as Bombalurina

Films

:''This list is not complete'' *''

'' (1982) as Girl Greaser (lead dancer) *''

'' (1997) as Martha WintertonThe Man Who Made Husbands Jealous
at bfi.org.uk, accessed 8 April 2018

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Donna 1957 births Living people American expatriates in England American female dancers American television actors Dancers from Kansas Dance teachers 21st-century American women