Broadway Choreographer, Donald McKayle, Passes Away at Age 87

Choreographer Donald McKayle, whose work on the musical Raisin made him the first black man to direct and choreograph a Broadway show, passed away on Friday in Irvine, California. He was 87 years old.

Mr. McKayle, who worked on Broadway for four decades, had nearly a dozen Broadway credits to his name, including Redhead, Golden Boy, Sophisticated Ladies, and It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues.

He received four Tony Award nominations for his work on Raisin, Golden Boy. and Sophisticated Ladies.

In addition to his Broadway credits, Mr. McKayle was a revered modern dance choreographer, and one of the first to address the African American experience through modern dance. For nearly 30 years, he was a professor of dance at the University of California, Irvine.

Image courtesy of the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts.