Ann Reinking

Ann Reinking was Fosse’s smoldering brunette muse, dancing his choreography elegantly, exactly and seductively in Sweet Charity, Pippin, Chicago, and, in an instance of art imitating life, as a version of herself in his brilliant semi-autobio pic, All That Jazz. But little did Fosse know that Reinking would actually be smoldering during a brunch mishap in 1978. On a Monday afternoon, enjoying her dark day from a challenging run in the musical revue, Dancin', Reinking woke up in her lover Fosse's embrace, after a saucy evening of cocaine-fueled sex play. While Fosse put in his eyedrops, swallowed two Dexadrine with Alka Seltzer and declared, "It's Showtime, Folks!" into his bathroom mirror, Reinking wondered aloud if food might be a good idea. Fosse agreed, and the two of them went to the Moonlight Diner in Chelsea for eggs and juice. While waiting for her omelet, Ann flipped through the New York Post, and came across an article about "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz's sentencing to 25 years in prison. Tsk-tsking the state of affairs these days, Reinking's expression turned sour. And Fosse, in an attempt to cheer her up, got up and joined his lover on her side of the booth, put his arm around her, and turned the page of the Post in efforts of finding happier news. He landed on the funny pages, and pointed out to Ann the exploits of a brand new cartoon character on the scene: Garfield the cat, whose strip was introduced in June of 1978. Although she was reading "Garfield" for the first time, Ann needed no back story on this overweight feline's antics, and delighted immediately to the mishaps of Garfield, Odie, Jon, and Jon's mustachioed roommate, Lyman. She laughed out loud as though Fosse was tickling her, until Fosse actually began tickling her, which became disastrous once the lit cigarette dangled from his mouth—his trademark, really, besides iconic choreography, drug addiction and womanizing—dropped its cherry on Reinking's rayon blouse. The newsprint of the Post pages only fanned the flames of the ensuing blaze, and one of the Moonlight Diner busboys who threw a pitcher of ice water on Reinking's chest would later remark, "That Garfield strip looks hilarious."