The Colorado 150, Part 5 of 6: Meet everyone from Roseanne to Kent Haruf to Bob Dylan to Harry Tuft to the Colorado Springs actor whose hard, real life inspired one of the iconic roles in musical theater history
Put simply: No Kelly Bishop, no Sheila in “A Chorus Line.”
Imagine one of the most famous musicals in history without the street-smart, fiercely confident older dancer clinging to her last shot at a Broadway show. Sheila spends her stage time trying to hide a traumatic, unhappy childhood laid bare in the classic Broadway ballad “At the Ballet.”
That heartbreaking stage narrative wasn’t fiction. It was based entirely on the Tony Award-winning actress’ real-life experiences as a young dancer born in Colorado Springs and raised in Denver.
Bishop has pliéd her way to a No. 48 finish on The Denver Gazette’s new Colorado 150 — a sesquicentennial list of cultural pathmakers who have shaped how the world sees Colorado — and how we see ourselves. This is the fifth of six parts counting “up” the 150 honorees in blocks of 25. Each week, we choose one for a larger profile, and this week, that is Bishop…